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Security Onion vs Wazuh comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 25, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Security Onion
Ranking in Log Management
19th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Wazuh
Ranking in Log Management
1st
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (2nd), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of Security Onion is 4.5%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Wazuh is 12.2%, down from 15.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Wazuh12.2%
Security Onion4.5%
Other83.3%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

Jörg Kippe - PeerSpot reviewer
A mature and affordable solution that is easy to install and easy to update
The product takes time to learn, it's not that easy. In the beginning we had a lot of questions. If you want to use such a tool in an real (industrial) environment, you have to ask how to get the network data. Can we do a full packet capture? Can we provide agents to our end systems? There are no simple solutions to these questions. It's a general problem when running such systems in an industrial environment.
Ebenezer Okoh - PeerSpot reviewer
Innovative platform enables proactive threat hunting and endpoint monitoring
I have not seen Wazuh moving in the direction of AI-driven threat detection projects myself, but since the market is moving that way, I wouldn't be surprised if they implemented it soon. My plans to increase the usage of Wazuh or switch to another tool depend on what my boss decides. We don't refer to any community support specifically, as we rely on other platforms such as GitHub or Discord, depending on the application. I recommend that as more companies come on board with Wazuh, it will motivate those who contribute to it, but I am also cautious that as it gains attention, a large company might buy it and change its course of business. Overall, I rate Wazuh a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We use Security Onion for internal vulnerability assessment."
"The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports."
"Security Onion is the most mature solution in the market."
"I would recommend Wazuh to others."
"My company implemented Wazuh because it was relatively inexpensive. They could quickly get their hands on it to check a box for some audit and compliance."
"It offers built-in modules for file integrity and vulnerability management."
"Wazuh's most valuable features include file monitoring and compliance reporting, which do not require excessive costs."
"One of the most beneficial features of Wazuh, particularly in the context of security needs, is the machine learning data handling capability."
"Wazuh has very flexible and robust features."
"The solution is easy to maintain."
"I like the features we use, including malware detection, inventory, detection of hidden processes, and activity logs. Inventory is probably the most important feature. It tells us when processes and packages were installed and what they are, which is helpful."
 

Cons

"The product is not easy to learn."
"Security Onion's user interface could be improved."
"The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult."
"The technical support can be improved. Wazuh has some bugs that need to be fixed. It would be good if we can have automation with respect to incidence responses."
"Wazuh has a drawback with regard to Unix systems. The solution does not allow us to do real-time monitoring for Unix systems. If usage increases, it would be a heavy fall on the other SIEM solutions or event monitoring solutions."
"A more structured approach, perhaps with modular UI components, to facilitate easier integration and navigation within the Wazuh platform for custom integrations would be beneficial."
"I want more support for regional compliance standards to serve my ANZ region customers better."
"A lack of certain features creates limitations."
"Wazuh doesn't cover sources of events as well as Splunk. You can integrate Splunk with many sources of events, but it's a painful process to take care of some sources of events with Wazuh."
"The product's configuration part and lack of AI capabilities are some of the major concerns associated with Wazuh."
"They need to go towards integrating with more cloud applications and not just OS like Windows and Linux."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Security Onion is a free solution."
"Security Onion is an open-source solution."
"It is an open-source solution."
"Wazuh is open-source, but you must consider the total cost of ownership. It may be free to acquire, but you spend a lot of time and effort supporting the product and getting it to a point where it's useful."
"When I contacted customer care, they mentioned bundling options, that I found to be overall affordable."
"Wazuh is not an expensive solution."
"Wazuh is open-source, so I think it's an option for a small organization that cannot go for enterprise-grade solutions like Splunk."
"We use the free version of Wazuh."
"Wazuh is an open-source tool."
"Wazuh is totally free and open source. There are no licensing costs, only support costs if you need them."
"My client uses the open-source version of Wazuh."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
9%
University
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Security Onion?
The most valuable feature of Security Onion for security monitoring is its ability to find infected ports.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Security Onion?
Security Onion is an open-source solution. On a scale from one to ten, where ten is expensive and one is cheap, I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten.
What needs improvement with Security Onion?
The initial setup of the solution is a little bit difficult.
What do you like most about Wazuh?
Wazuh is its flexibility and open-source nature, which allows us to tailor threat detection and response across diverse client environments. Its integration capabilities with SOAR, cloud platforms,...
What needs improvement with Wazuh?
The lack of AI features is an issue at the moment in the industry. Forti provides user behavior capabilities, which I would want to see in Wazuh. In FortiSIEM, they provide user behavior understand...
What is your primary use case for Wazuh?
At the moment, I'm working in software integration, so we are working with FortiGate. To research and get an idea, I did some investigation into Wazuh. They have already used Fortinet products. The...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Wazuh All-In-One Deployment
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Security Onion vs. Wazuh and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,759 professionals have used our research since 2012.