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SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server vs Splunk Enterprise Security comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

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

SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server
Ranking in Log Management
25th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Splunk Enterprise Security
Ranking in Log Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
375
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (1st), IT Operations Analytics (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Log Management category, the mindshare of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server is 1.5%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk Enterprise Security is 7.1%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Log Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Splunk Enterprise Security7.1%
SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server1.5%
Other91.4%
Log Management
 

Featured Reviews

SJ
Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Valuable log segregation aids in auditing, but Windows integration needs enhancement
Our primary use case for Kiwi Syslog is for gathering logs necessary for auditing purposes I appreciate that with Kiwi Syslog, we can segregate the logs based on the display, such as using different colors and fonts, which helps greatly in identifying logs by their severity. This feature is…
reviewer1469784 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Helps us detect cyber threats quickly and integrate multiple feeds effectively
Overall, the product is good, but when it comes to some infrastructure issues, we have to dig into more logs. There is no straightforward indication of an issue. Health check kind of dashboards are not available. More AI would help us, and more optimization, since security products run more queries. The AI module could suggest solutions, optimizing queries or workload balancing. If the product itself advises on running queries during peak times, it would be similar to what ChatGPT currently offers. We see quite a few issues on stability. Even last week, we faced something, and identifying bottlenecks is not easy. We need more SMEs, and there is no mechanism to tell us about indexer or search head issues. Self-monitoring dashboards could be beneficial. The technical support still requires more improvement. Often, primary support takes a lot of time and forwards most solutions to the engineering side. The primary support team has very limited knowledge to provide.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server include its ability to provide network mapping and deliver information to my customers about their networks through various methods."
"Overall, I rate SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server ten out of ten."
"We are very happy with the stability of the solution."
"Simplicity is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the alerting based on the security logs."
"I appreciate that with Kiwi Syslog, we can segregate the logs based on the display, such as using different colors and fonts, which helps greatly in identifying logs by their severity."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server is its performance and management. Additionally, the solution integrates well."
"I appreciate that with Kiwi Syslog, we can segregate the logs based on the display, such as using different colors and fonts, which helps greatly in identifying logs by their severity."
"The best part of Splunk Enterprise Security is its customizable settings."
"The compatibility with the add-ons helps us add more data in the same compatible format and use data models to elaborate and make it faster."
"I have not seen any outages in the product in the past two years that it has been running in our company, so I think it is good when it comes to the stability part."
"I like the ease of setting up dashboards on Splunk. They're easy to create, manage, alter, and share. You can fine-tune them any way you see fit."
"Splunk Enterprise Security enhances business resilience and assists with threat detection by centralizing security data."
"It is very easy to use and integrate. There are connectors for every technology."
"The investigation feature helps the team seamlessly put everything together, providing a consistent view of all relevant artifacts for incidents."
"The dashboard and reporting are very good... It provides very good visibility in a hybrid cloud environment, and you can build custom utilization APIs using Splunk."
 

Cons

"The Windows log forwarder is not functioning properly."
"SolarWinds pricing is perceived as very high in the market, which can be a barrier for many customers."
"I would like to have email notifications for emergency logs."
"Technical support could definitely be better."
"I would like to see a more user-friendly and customizable dashboard."
"SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server could improve by reducing the price."
"The Windows log forwarder is not functioning properly. This is a significant concern, as it led to losing a deal due to the inability to provide Windows logs effectively."
"I would like to see better search functions and better filters in the next release."
"The solution has a high learning curve for users. It's a little complicated when you're trying to figure out all the features and what they do."
"Splunk needs local technical support."
"If you have to do your own stuff, such as customized charts, it is a little bit more work, but once you're familiar with the Splunk query language, you can pretty much do whatever you want. In terms of features, it should probably have the features that other competitors provide."
"Cybersecurity and infrastructure monitoring have room for improvement."
"The CIM model is the method Splunk uses to normalize data and categorize its important parts, but it is quite complex."
"Splunk is very expensive. The license is based on the volume of the logs ingested. I was responsible for managing the contract with our service integrator. I don't know the precise details of the competing solution, but I have heard that Splunk is more expensive than others. I don't know what the going rate is on the market, but I think there are at least two competitors that are less expensive. We have experienced a few issues with our service providers in terms of log filtering and ingestion, so we continue to pay a bit more per day for our logs."
"The tool should include more real-world use case examples built out either through videos or in the community."
"I do not like the pricing model. It is expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We subscribe and pay directly on the website."
"The price of SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server could improve."
"Splunk Enterprise Security is cheaper than competitors, but I do not know whether it is just our contract."
"You will eat up whatever you purchase quickly. The level of insights that Splunk empowers is addictive."
"Splunk ES is quite expensive compared to some products on the market."
"Splunk has always been on the expensive side."
"Setup cost is cheap: It is free, it is user-friendly, and it is fast."
"We have an unlimited one, and we pay yearly, but I don't know how much it costs. Previously, I worked for a startup, and when they started building it up, it was complicated for them because they didn't have the budget for that many licenses. It was very costly for them. So, startups might find it a little bit problematic because of the licensing, but for bigger companies, there is no issue."
"Splunk Enterprise Security's pricing is based on data volume, which generally suits large enterprises."
"It can be expensive, especially the licensing costs. However, there is added value in what it can do, not just log aggregation."
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Comparison Review

VS
Manager, Enterprise Risk Consulting at a tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Feb 26, 2015
HP ArcSight vs. IBM QRadar vs. ​McAfee Nitro vs. Splunk vs. RSA Security vs. LogRhythm
We at Infosecnirvana.com have done several posts on SIEM. After the Dummies Guide on SIEM, we are following it up with a SIEM Product Comparison – 101 deck. So, here it is for your viewing pleasure. Let me know what you think by posting your comments below. The key products compared here are…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business109
Midsize Enterprise50
Large Enterprise264
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server?
SolarWinds pricing is perceived as very high in the market, which can be a barrier for many customers.
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server?
The Windows log forwarder is not functioning properly. This is a significant concern, as it led to losing a deal due to the inability to provide Windows logs effectively. It should be more user-fri...
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server?
Our primary use case for Kiwi Syslog is for gathering logs necessary for auditing purposes.
What SOC product do you recommend?
For tools I’d recommend: -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is asking to miss details that are critical, and ending up a statistic. Also, rememb...
What is a better choice, Splunk or Azure Sentinel?
It would really depend on (1) which logs you need to ingest and (2) what are your use cases Splunk is easy for ingestion of anything, but the charge per GB/Day Indexed and it gets expensive as log ...
How does Splunk compare with Azure Monitor?
Splunk handles a high amount of data very well. We use Splunk to capture information and as an aggregator for monitoring information from different sources. Splunk is very good at alerting us if we...
 

Also Known As

Kiwi Syslog Server
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Holy Cross Energy, West Texas A&M University, Medium Enterprise Industrial Manufacturing Company
Splunk has more than 7,000 customers spread across over 90 countries. These customers include Telenor, UniCredit, ideeli, McKenney's, Tesco, and SurveyMonkey.
Find out what your peers are saying about SolarWinds Kiwi Syslog Server vs. Splunk Enterprise Security and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.