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  3. Security Onion
Logo of Security Onion

Security Onion

bySecurity Onion
in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems
4.5

Overview

Product Information on Security Onion

Updated 13th October 2025

What is Security Onion?

Security Onion is a software for network security monitoring, intrusion detection, and log management. The software aggregates data from multiple sources to provide comprehensive network visibility and facilitates the detection, investigation, and response to security incidents. Security Onion integrates tools for full packet capture, traffic analysis, and threat hunting, enabling security teams to identify suspicious activity, analyze network events, and correlate security data. The software offers indexing and search capabilities for logs and network metadata, supporting the efficient management and analysis of security information to address challenges in incident detection and response within organizational networks.

Security Onion Pricing

Security Onion software uses an open-source licensing model, allowing users to download and use the software without a subscription fee. Support and deployment services are offered for a fee and are structured as annual subscriptions or professional service agreements, depending on the scope and type of support required.

Overall experience with Security Onion

Security Architect
10B - 30B USD, Banking
FAVORABLE

“No-Cost Software Offers Support for Custom Development”

5.0
May 25, 2024
The software is free and totally functional without cost to run. Purchasing support hours can assist with setup and troubleshooting. These hours can also be used for custom development. The staff are incredible with support and development. There is a huge list of already supported data sources but they will develop the ability for more if needed.
Sr ICS CyberSecurity Advisor
3B - 10B USD, Consumer Goods
CRITICAL

“Product is open source and cost-effective, however it requires significant customization”

3.0
Oct 8, 2019
We used security onion to setup a demo lab where we could monitor our ICS environment. We like the fact that the tool is open source but it requires significant customization and support

About Company

Company Description

Updated 24th March 2025

Security Onion Solutions, founded in 2014 by Doug Burks, provides a free and open source platform for intrusion detection, network security monitoring, and log management. The platform, called the Security Onion project, was started by Doug Burks in 2008 to analyze network layers. Additionally, Security Onion Solutions offers professional services and training related to the use of their platform.

Company Details

Updated 29th April 2025
Company type
Private
Year Founded
2014
Head office location
Evans, United States
Number of employees
11 - 50
Website
https://securityonionsolutions.com

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Key Insights

A Snapshot of What Matters - Based on Validated User Reviews

Reviewer Insights for: Security Onion
Deciding Factors: Security Onion Vs. Market Average
Performance of Security Onion Across Market Features

Security Onion Likes & Dislikes

Like

- Cost - Support - Flexibility

Like

It is open source and cost-effective, the platform is easily extendable and incorporates all facets of a modering ICS IDS/IPS solution

Like

Having a lot of components, this product is very reliable with a user-friendly web user interface.

Dislike

- The platform is rapid with development, after upgrades there is a learning process on setup of data sources. - A previous upgrade had a complex upgrade path vs a rebuild. - Consideration is needed during initial deployment to prevent issues during use.

Dislike

It requires significant customization to achieve target state

Dislike

weakening in high-load, pure threat intelligence, unsupported hardware appliance

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Peer Discussions

Security Onion Reviews and Ratings

4.5

(42 Ratings)

Rating Distribution

5 Star
43%
4 Star
50%
3 Star
7%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%
Why ratings and reviews count differ?

Customer Experience

Evaluation & Contracting

4.4

Integration & Deployment

4.4

Service & Support

4.3

Product Capabilities

4.6

Filter Reviews
Sort By:
Most helpful
Last 12 Months
Star Rating
Reviewer Type
Reviewer's Company Size
Reviewer's Industry
Reviewer's Region
Reviewer's Job Function
  • Security Architect
    10B+ USD
    Banking
    Review Source

    No-Cost Software Offers Support for Custom Development

    5.0
    May 25, 2024
    The software is free and totally functional without cost to run. Purchasing support hours can assist with setup and troubleshooting. These hours can also be used for custom development. The staff are incredible with support and development. There is a huge list of already supported data sources but they will develop the ability for more if needed.
  • SENIOR SOC CONSULTANT
    50M-1B USD
    IT Services
    Review Source

    Every SIEM geeks should try Security Onion. Even for once, Which will not be the last!

    4.0
    Jan 8, 2024
    The Security Onion is the most complete, suitable, reliable, and integrated packages produced as an Open-Source SIEM.
  • Deputy Chief IT Engineer
    1B-10B USD
    Energy and Utilities
    Review Source

    Setting up SOC with Security Onion

    4.0
    Jul 27, 2022
    We have used SO for setting up our on-premises SOC. We are impressed with the product for its capabilities and maturity.
  • Customer Experience
    50M-1B USD
    Miscellaneous
    Review Source

    Good product for network security

    5.0
    Nov 4, 2019
    It works great to keep your online connections secure, it's a quality product yet there are other products that comes with more tools
  • Vice-President
    50M-1B USD
    Miscellaneous
    Review Source

    Amazing tool to keep everything safe

    4.0
    Oct 17, 2019
    Nowdays having your information protected is a must, Security Onion provides you the security that you need and that will keep you calm
...
Showing Result 1-5 of 42

Recommended Gartner Research

  • Market Guide for Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems

Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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