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SolarWinds Security Event Manager vs Splunk Enterprise Security comparison

SolarWinds and Splunk are both solutions in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category. SolarWinds is ranked #35 with an average rating of 7.8, while Splunk is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3. SolarWinds holds a 0.7% mindshare in SIEM, compared to Splunk’s 9.4% mindshare. Additionally, 82% of SolarWinds users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Splunk users who would recommend it.
SolarWinds Security Event M...
Read 26 SolarWinds Security Event Manager reviews
  • 1,084 Views
  • 1,019 Comparison Views
82% willing to recommend
Splunk Enterprise Security
Read 327 Splunk Enterprise Security reviews
  • 24,919 Views
  • 12,958 Comparison Views
93% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

Splunk Enterprise Security and SolarWinds Security Event Manager are two leading products in the security event and log management category. Splunk appears to have the upper hand in complex data queries and third-party integration capabilities.

Features: Splunk Enterprise Security is noted for comprehensive log management, adaptable schema-on-read technology, advanced query capabilities via SPL, and excellent integration across multiple environments. SolarWinds Security Event Manager offers ease of setup, timely alerts, and effective cross-platform integration, making it particularly useful for straightforward monitoring and management.

Room for Improvement: Splunk Enterprise Security could enhance its visualization and machine learning tools, streamline cloud integration support, and address its steep learning curve and pricing. SolarWinds Security Event Manager could benefit from better correlation capabilities, scalability improvements, and a more modern user interface, as well as additional out-of-the-box dashboards and business-level KPIs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Splunk Enterprise Security offers flexible deployment options across various cloud setups but can be costly and challenging to learn, though it has a supportive online community. SolarWinds Security Event Manager is known for quick on-premises deployment, efficient customer support, and cost savings, albeit with fewer community resources and issues with complex architectures.

Pricing and ROI: Splunk Enterprise Security is recognized for depth but comes with a high price tag based on data ingestion, which might be prohibitive for smaller businesses. SolarWinds Security Event Manager is more budget-friendly, with flexible licensing that offers a good return on investment, prioritizing usability and integration efficiency over advanced features.

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To learn more, read our detailed SolarWinds Security Event Manager vs. Splunk Enterprise Security Report (Updated: July 2025).
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds Security Event Manager vs. Splunk Enterprise Security
July 2025
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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 Security Event M...
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
35th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Splunk Enterprise Security
Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
327
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (2nd), IT Operations Analytics (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is 0.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk Enterprise Security is 9.4%, down from 11.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
 

Featured Reviews

Rafal-Stas - PeerSpot reviewer
Helpful in areas like event management, log viewing, and information management
The product's initial setup phase on the cloud is pretty easy but on an on-premises version, I think it is of a moderate level. The solution is deployed on the cloud and on an on-premises model. The time required to deploy the solution depends on the customers' infrastructure, and it may range from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, as it depends on how many additional custom configurations are required. Around two to three engineers are usually involved in the tool's installation process.
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ROBERT-CHRISTIAN - PeerSpot reviewer
Has many predefined correlation rules and is brilliant for investigation and log analysis
It is very complicated to write your own correlation rules without the help of Splunk support. What Splunk could do better is to create an API to the standard SIEM tools, such as Microsoft Sentinel. The idea would be to make it less painful. In ELK Stack, Kibana is the query language with which you can search log files. I believe Splunk has also a query language in which they search their log files, but once you have identified the log file that you want to use for further security correlation, you want to very quickly transport that into your SIEM tool, such as Microsoft Sentinel. That is something that Splunk could make a little bit less painful because it is a lot of effort to find that log file and forward it. An API with Microsoft Sentinel or a similar SIEM tool would be a good idea.
Read full review

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 feature is the reporting."
"The most valuable feature of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is the analysis and the knowledge about the incidence that we trace."
"It's extremely easy to deploy."
"SolarWinds is effective for server, network, and log monitoring. It's also good for IP address management. We also have a patch manager, but we're still working on getting that operational."
"The graphical user interface is very user-friendly. SolarWinds is a hybrid solution so you can use it across many platforms."
"Some of the rules are most valuable because you can be notified about various things, such as spyware or things that are going on in the internal network."
"It performs network behavior monitoring, log monitoring, and disaster recovery monitoring."
"The product's most effective part in improving security stems from the fact that the solution is deployed for event management, log viewing, and information management."
More SolarWinds Security Event Manager pros
"The graph visualization is the most valuable feature."
"We can quickly search for almost anything across many log sources in seconds."
"Splunk simplifies real-time problem identification and resolution by seamlessly integrating existing customer and vendor systems."
"The most valuable feature of Splunk is the management and built-in workflows."
"The consolidated overview of all the events that come in through our environment and an easy-to-access interface for all our end users are valuable."
"It provides a lot of analytics with the underlying AI engine, and it is a lot easier than other solutions. There are some products that do automated AI-based detection and drawing up charts, but for network monitoring and all of the monitoring aspects, it is quite a nice tool. It is very convenient for business users because they get more or less a lot of data readily available. If you're familiar with the Splunk query language, you can pretty much do whatever you want."
"Compared to IBM QRadar, Splunk Enterprise Security offers faster alert resolution."
"There are lots of free learning materials on their website."
More Splunk Enterprise Security pros
 

Cons

"Under the new system, it is not upgradable the way they say. When you try to do an upgrade, it doesn't really work unless you dump everything and start from scratch. You lose a lot of your nodes. Whenever you set your nodes up and everything else, they don't want to bring those nodes back in, so you have to really go back and restructure all your nodes. I went from version 6.5 to version 6.6 and then to version 6.7. I then went to version 2019, and now it is version 2020. It would be good if we can upgrade without having to delete everything and start from scratch. They can maybe build more KPIs and other things for the dashboard. Some of the other systems already have built-in KPIs. SolarWinds is starting to catch up, but it is not there yet. They can include some of the business or industry standards for tracking the time, that is, the meantime to detect (MTTD) and the meantime to resolve (MTTR). They can also find a way to build a KPI that measures the number of instances of port scans experienced in a week or a month."
"I would like to be able to dig deeper into the visibility of events or incidents to determine whether they are malicious, such as by doing behavior analysis."
"Training for this solution needs to be improved, as new employees are sometimes unfamiliar with the product."
"The product should improve the ease with which you can create event alerts. They are not as hard now but you need to have an easier way."
"SolarWinds should improve its correlation capabilities. The correlation does not automatically detect and reduce the events fast enough. You have to manually do a correlation report, which means the tool is not scalable in many ways."
"We have automated threat detection in the Alliance Security, Antoinette. However, if these features could be further enhanced, it would simplify my work, potentially allowing me to allocate more time to address complex issues."
"We'd like more customization capabilities."
"I think the customization area in the tool can be considered as an area of concern where improvements are required."
More SolarWinds Security Event Manager cons
"Configuring a few apps is complex, not straightforward."
"Splunk Enterprise Security can be improved mainly from the user interface regarding the visualizations. They are working on it, yet there are only five to ten very basic visualizations."
"Splunk's reporting functionality would benefit from enhanced customization capabilities, allowing users to tailor reports to their specific needs for better data visualization and analysis."
"Splunk isn't appropriate for smaller companies. It's too expensive."
"I've noticed that onboarding data from various multi-cloud sources and diverse products, such as security network devices, can be challenging."
"Given the ever-increasing number of threats, I would like Splunk to update its threat signatures more frequently."
"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."
"The documentation and training resources available for knowledge and training can be expanded. We need to learn more about Splunk Enterprise Security and new security attacks."
More Splunk Enterprise Security cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing is on devices, so if you have many, then this may be high."
"Licenses can only be purchased in blocks of fifty at a time."
"The tool is available at a good price for customers compared to other solutions in the market. I rate the product's price as an eight out of ten."
"The price of SolarWinds Security Event Manager is reasonable."
"It is in the appropriate mid-range. It is not as expensive as some of the other solutions. It is also not cheap."
"The pricing model would benefit from having package deals with other SolarWinds products."
"We do a yearly license renewal. For a year, the solution costs roughly $500,000 USD. There are no costs beyond this yearly fee."
"Splunk Enterprise Security is a worthwhile investment given the comprehensive range of features it offers."
"Splunk Enterprise Security is expensive."
"Splunk Enterprise Security is priced lower than competitors."
"Splunk is really expensive compared to all the other tools on the market, including Microsoft Sentinel."
"Our ROI is high."
"Truly evaluate the data you want to ingest and go slow. Pulling in data that can provide no use to your mission only wastes data against your license."
"Pricing is probably its weakest spot. As compared to some competitors, Splunk is really expensive."
"The price of this solution is expensive. However, it has great features. If you want a great solution you need to pay a price matching the features."
More Splunk Enterprise Security pricing and cost advice
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Comparison Review

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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…
Read full review
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Insurance Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?
The solution helps you monitor database instances, application instances, other customer application things, Linux servers, IBM servers, and Oracle servers.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?
The tool is available at a good price for customers compared to other solutions in the market. I rate the product's price as an eight out of ten.
See all answers
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Security Event Manager ?
I think the customization area in the tool can be considered as an area of concern where improvements are required In the future, I want to see the tool have better customization abilities with som...
See all answers
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...
See all answers
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 ...
See all answers
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...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Compared 35% of the time
IBM Security QRadar vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager Logo
IBM Security QRadar vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager
Compared 11% of the time
LogRhythm SIEM vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager Logo
LogRhythm SIEM vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager
Compared 8% of the time
ManageEngine Log360 vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager Logo
ManageEngine Log360 vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager
Compared 8% of the time
Rapid7 InsightIDR vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager Logo
Rapid7 InsightIDR vs SolarWinds Security Event Manager
Compared 8% of the time
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IBM Security QRadar vs Splunk Enterprise Security Logo
IBM Security QRadar vs Splunk Enterprise Security
Compared 8% of the time
Wazuh vs Splunk Enterprise Security Logo
Wazuh vs Splunk Enterprise Security
Compared 7% of the time
Dynatrace vs Splunk Enterprise Security Logo
Dynatrace vs Splunk Enterprise Security
Compared 7% of the time
Datadog vs Splunk Enterprise Security Logo
Datadog vs Splunk Enterprise Security
Compared 5% of the time
Security Onion vs Splunk Enterprise Security Logo
Security Onion vs Splunk Enterprise Security
Compared 4% of the time
More Splunk Enterprise Security Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds Security Event Manager
July 2025
SolarWinds Security Event Manager reportDownload SolarWinds Security Event Manager product report
Buyer's Guide
Splunk Enterprise Security
July 2025
Splunk Enterprise Security reportDownload Splunk Enterprise Security product report
 

Also Known As

SolarWinds LEM, Solarwinds SIEM, TriGeo, Log and Event Manager
No data available
 

Overview

When TriGeo was acquired by SolarWinds, TriGeo SIM became known as SolarWinds Log & Event Manager. This product is a leading Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) product and log management solution, which provides log collection, analysis, and real-time correlation.

SolarWinds

Splunk Enterprise Security is widely used for security operations, including threat detection, incident response, and log monitoring. It centralizes log management, offers security analytics, and ensures compliance, enhancing the overall security posture of organizations.

Companies leverage Splunk Enterprise Security to monitor endpoints, networks, and users, detecting anomalies, brute force attacks, and unauthorized access. They use it for fraud detection, machine learning, and real-time alerts within their SOCs. The platform enhances visibility and correlates data from multiple sources to identify security threats efficiently. Key features include comprehensive dashboards, excellent reporting capabilities, robust log aggregation, and flexible data ingestion. Users appreciate its SIEM capabilities, threat intelligence, risk-based alerting, and correlation searches. Highly scalable and stable, it suits multi-cloud environments, reducing alert volumes and speeding up investigations.

What are the key features?
  • Comprehensive Dashboards: Provide a holistic view of security operations.
  • Flexible Data Ingestion: Supports various data sources for better analysis.
  • Robust Log Aggregation: Centralizes log management for easier monitoring.
  • Machine Learning Toolkit: Enhances threat detection and prediction capabilities.
  • SIEM Capabilities: Integrates security information and event management.
  • Threat Intelligence: Utilizes external information to improve security measures.
  • Risk-Based Alerting: Prioritizes alerts based on the risk they pose.
  • Correlation Searches: Identifies and correlates security events effectively.
What benefits or ROI should users look for?
  • Enhanced Visibility: Improves monitoring across endpoints, networks, and users.
  • Faster Incident Response: Speeds up identification and resolution of security issues.
  • Reduced Alert Volumes: Lowers false positives and enhances signal-to-noise ratio.
  • Scalability: Adapts to growing and changing security needs.
  • Improved Security Operations: Integrates multiple security facets into one platform.

Splunk Enterprise Security is implemented across industries like finance, healthcare, and retail. Financial institutions use it for fraud detection and compliance, while healthcare organizations leverage its capabilities to safeguard patient data. Retailers deploy it to protect customer information and ensure secure transactions.

Splunk
 

Sample Customers

NetSuite, EasyStreet, Legacy Texas Bank, and Energy Federal Credit Union, to name a few.
Splunk has more than 7,000 customers spread across over 90 countries. These customers include Telenor, UniCredit, ideeli, McKenney's, Tesco, and SurveyMonkey.
Buyer's Guide
SolarWinds Security Event Manager vs. Splunk Enterprise Security
July 2025
Free Report: SolarWinds Security Event Manager vs. Splunk Enterprise Security
Find out what your peers are saying about SolarWinds Security Event Manager vs. Splunk Enterprise Security and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
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We monitor all Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.