Elastic Security vs Splunk Enterprise Security comparison

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Microsoft Logo
31,886 views|17,713 comparisons
92% willing to recommend
Elastic Logo
14,976 views|12,423 comparisons
86% willing to recommend
Splunk Logo
24,689 views|20,244 comparisons
92% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on May 25, 2022

We performed a comparison between Elastic Security and Splunk based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: All Elastic Security users agree that its setup is a straightforward and easy process. While many Splunk users say the initial setup is straightforward, several users disagree and say it is complex.
  • Features: Users of both products are happy with their stability and scalability. Elastic Security reviewers report that it is fast and flexible but needs better AI capabilities. Splunk users are happy with its performance, flexibility, log management, and ease of use, but mention that it is difficult to configure.
  • Pricing: Elastic Security users feel that it is fairly priced. In contrast, Splunk users feel that the price of the product is high.
  • ROI: Elastic Security users do not mention ROI. Splunk users report an impressive ROI.
  • Service and Support: Elastic Security users give mixed reviews for the level of support they receive. Most Splunk users report being satisfied with the level of support they receive.

Comparison Results: Splunk comes out on top in this comparison. It is easier to use and has better support than Elastic Security. Splunk users also report a significant ROI. Elastic Security does come out on top in the pricing and ease of deployment categories, however.

To learn more, read our detailed Elastic Security vs. Splunk Enterprise Security Report (Updated: April 2024).
771,157 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"Sentinel improved how we investigate incidents. We can create watchlists and update them to align with the latest threat intelligence. The information Microsoft provides enables us to understand thoroughly and improve as we go along. It allows us to provide monthly reports to our clients on their security posture.""Microsoft Sentinel provides the capability to integrate different log sources. On top of having several data connectors in place, you can also do integration with a threat intelligence platform to enhance and enrich the data that's available. You can collect as many logs and build all the use cases.""Native integration with Microsoft security products or other Microsoft software is also crucial. For example, we can integrate Sentinel with Office 365 with one click. Other integrations aren't as easy. Sometimes, we have to do it manually.""Sentinel enables us to ingest data from our entire ecosystem. In addition to integrating our Cisco ASA Firewall logs, we get our Palo Alto proxy logs and some on-premises data coming from our hardware devices... That is very important and is one way Sentinel is playing a wider role in our environment.""The data connectors that Microsoft Sentinel provides are easy to integrate when we work with a Microsoft agent.""The log analysis is excellent; it can predict what can or will happen regarding use patterns and vulnerabilities.""I believe one of the main advantages is Microsoft Sentinel's seamless integration with other Microsoft products.""The main benefit is the ease of integration."

More Microsoft Sentinel Pros →

"It can handle millions of loads at a time, and you can always use the filters to find exactly what you are looking for and detect errors in every log message you are searching for, basically.""It's simple and easy to use.""The feature that we have found the most valuable is scalability.""It is very quick to react. I can set it to check anomalies or suspicious behavior every 30 seconds. It is very fast.""Elastic has a lot of beats, such as Winlogbeat and Filebeat. Beats are the agents that have to be installed on the terminals to send the data. When we install beats or Elastic agents on every terminal, they don't overload the terminals. In other SIEM solutions such as Splunk or QRadar, when beats or agents are installed on endpoints, they are very heavy for the terminals. They consume a lot of power of the terminals, whereas Elastic agents hardly consume any power and don't overload the terminals.""The stability of the solution is good.""It's very customizable, which is quite helpful.""It's a good platform and the very best in the current market. We looked at the Forester report from December 2022 where it was said to be a leader."

More Elastic Security Pros →

"What I really like is that even if you have already collected the data, you can extract fields and can build searches.""Splunk is quite flexible for our customers. Splunk does not filter from a specific lock, you can define it later.""The Splunk user community and forum are most valuable.""The speed of the search engine""The best part of Splunk Enterprise Security is its customizable settings.""The security part is useful as it helps secure the entire environment.""We are using Microsoft 365 and we're using the Exchange Mail Service. It's good for monitoring that in particular.""I am satisfied with the support."

More Splunk Enterprise Security Pros →

Cons
"If Sentinel had a graphical user interface, it would be easier to use. I would also like it to be more customizable.""If Azure Sentinel had the ability to ingest Azure services from different tenants into another tenant that was hosting Azure Sentinel, and not lose any metadata, that would be a huge benefit to a lot of companies.""Sentinel provides decent visibility, but it's sometimes a little cumbersome to get to the information I want because there is so much information. I would also like to see more seamless integration between Sentinel and third-party security products.""The playbook is a bit difficult and could be improved.""Not all information shows up in Sentinel. Sometimes there are items provided in 365 and if you looked in Sentinel you would not see them and therefore think they do not exist. There can be discrepancies between Microsoft tools.""They should just add more and more out-of-the-box connectors. It is quite a new product, and it has a lot of connectors, and even more would be good.""Sentinel's alerts and notifications are not fully optimized for mobile devices. The overall reporting and the analytics processes for the end user should also be improved. Also, the compatibility and availability of data sources and reports are not always perfect.""I can't think of anything other than just getting the name out there. I think a lot of customers don't fully understand the full capabilities of Azure Sentinel yet. It is kind of like when they're first starting to use Azure, it might not be something they first think about. So, they should just kind of get to the point where it is more widely used."

More Microsoft Sentinel Cons →

"An area for improvement in Elastic Security is the pricing. It could be better. Right now, when you increase the volume of logs to be collected, the price also increases a lot.""If the documentation were improved and made more clear for beginners, or even professionals, then we would be more attracted to this solution.""With Elastic, you have to build the use cases for the specific requirement. Other products have a simple integration and more use cases to integrate out-of-the-box solutions for SIEM.""The Integration module could be improved. It is a pain to build integration with any product. We have to do parking and so on. It's not like other commercial solutions that use profile integration. I would also see more detection features on the SIEM side.""The tool should improve its scalability.""In terms of improvement, there could be more automation in responding to and evaluating detections.""The biggest challenge has been related to the implementation.""Elastic has one problem. In the past, Elastic Security was free. Now, they currently only offer the basic license or a certain period of time."

More Elastic Security Cons →

"The initial setup is complex, but this is necessary. We needed to take into consideration how to direct log files from thousands of machines to Splunk, and how to ingest those files.""The GUI can be improved to include some of the capabilities that other BI solutions have.""I feel the solution to be too slow.""It currently has limited default rules and customizations. If they can concentrate more on the compliance part and the security information part, it would be helpful. The platform part is good, but it requires many features from the security aspect.""Custom visualizations are real hard. While the default visualizations are good, creating enhanced visualizations are complex.""Sometimes the communication with support happens with multiple staff. They should reduce the time to resolution.""We'd like Splunk to reduce false positives.""While Splunk offers SOAR as a separate product, integrating it into the next version of Splunk Enterprise Security as a unified solution would be beneficial."

More Splunk Enterprise Security Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "It comes with a Microsoft subscription which the customer has, so they don't have to invest somewhere else."
  • "It is a consumption-based license model. bands at 100, 200, 400 GB per day etc. Azure Sentinel Pricing | Microsoft Azure"
  • "Good monthly operational cost model for the detection and response outcomes delivered, M365 logs don't count toward the limits which is a good benefit."
  • "I have had mixed feedback. At one point, I heard a client say that it sometimes seems more expensive. Most of the clients are on Office 365 or M365, and they are forced to take Azure SIEM because of the integration."
  • "It is kind of like a sliding scale. There are different tiers of pricing that go from $100 per day up to $3,500 per day. So, it just kind of depends on how much data is being stored. There can be additional costs to the standard license other than the additional data. It just kind of depends on what other services you're spinning up in Azure, or if you're using something like Azure log analytics."
  • "I am just paying for the log space with Azure Sentinel. It costs us about $2,000 a month. Most of the logs are free. We are only paying money for Azure Firewall logs because email logs or Azure AD logs are free to use for us."
  • "Sentinel is a bit expensive. If you can figure a way of configuring it to meet your needs, then you can find a way around the cost."
  • "Azure Sentinel is very costly, or at least it appears to be very costly. The costs vary based on your ingestion and your retention charges."
  • More Microsoft Sentinel Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "We use the open-source version, so there is no charge for this solution."
  • "We are using the free, open-source version of this solution."
  • "Elastic Stack is an open-source tool. You don't have to pay anything for the components."
  • "There is no charge for using the open-source version."
  • "This is an open-source product, so there are no costs."
  • "It's a monthly cost with Elastic SIEM, but I am not sure of the exact cost."
  • "It is easy to deploy, easy to use, and you get everything you need to become operational with it, and have nothing further to pay unless you want the OLED plugin."
  • "Compared to other products such as Dynatrace, this is one of the cheaper options."
  • More Elastic Security Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Pricing and licensing is quite expensive. But for the value the product provides, it seems at par in the market."
  • "Although Splunk is an expensive product, it is designed to be utilized across your organization in order to maximize your ROI and lower your TCO."
  • "It is not cheap."
  • "Splunk Enterprise becomes extremely expensive after the 20GB/month license."
  • "You will eat up whatever you purchase quickly. The level of insights that Splunk empowers is addictive."
  • "Splunk licensing model might seem expensive but with all the gain in functionalities you will have compared to traditional SIEM solutions I think it’s worth the price."
  • "Pricing is pretty fair."
  • "While licensing can be a concern, there are ways to reduce the licensing costs including filtering some events."
  • More Splunk Enterprise Security Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Comparison Review
    Vinod Shankar
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Yes, Azure Sentinel is a SIEM on the Cloud. Multiple data sources can be uploaded and analyzed with Azure Sentinel and… more »
    Top Answer:It would really depend on (1) which logs you need to ingest and (2) what are your use cases Splunk is easy for… more »
    Top Answer:We like that Azure Sentinel does not require as much maintenance as legacy SIEMs that are on-premises. Azure Sentinel is… more »
    Top Answer:With Datadog, we have near-live visibility across our entire platform. We have seen APM metrics impacted several times… more »
    Top Answer:It is an extremely stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
    Top Answer:The product offers an amazing pricing structure. Price-wise, the product is very competitive.
    Top Answer:For tools I’d recommend:  -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is… more »
    Top Answer:Splunk handles a high amount of data very well. We use Splunk to capture information and as an aggregator for monitoring… more »
    Top Answer:There are a lot of third-party applications that can be installed.
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Azure Sentinel
    Elastic SIEM, ELK Logstash
    Learn More
    Overview

    Microsoft Sentinel is a scalable, cloud-native, security information event management (SIEM) and security orchestration automated response (SOAR) solution that lets you see and stop threats before they cause harm. Microsoft Sentinel delivers intelligent security analytics and threat intelligence across the enterprise, providing a single solution for alert detection, threat visibility, proactive hunting, and threat response. Eliminate security infrastructure setup and maintenance, and elastically scale to meet your security needs—while reducing IT costs. With Microsoft Sentinel, you can:

    - Collect data at cloud scale—across all users, devices, applications, and infrastructure, both on-premises and in multiple clouds

    - Detect previously uncovered threats and minimize false positives using analytics and unparalleled threat intelligence from Microsoft

    - Investigate threats with AI and hunt suspicious activities at scale, tapping into decades of cybersecurity work at Microsoft

    - Respond to incidents rapidly with built-in orchestration and automation of common tasks

    To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

    Elastic Security is a robust, open-source security solution designed to offer integrated threat prevention, detection, and response capabilities across an organization's entire digital estate. Part of the Elastic Stack (which includes Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana), Elastic Security leverages the power of search, analytics, and data aggregation to provide real-time insight into threats and vulnerabilities. It is a comprehensive platform that supports a wide range of security needs, from endpoint protection to cloud and network security, making it a versatile choice for organizations looking to enhance their cybersecurity posture.


    Elastic Security combines the features of a security information and event management (SIEM) system with endpoint protection, allowing organizations to detect, investigate, and respond to threats in real time. This unified approach helps reduce complexity and improve the efficiency of security operations.

    Additional offerings and benefits:

    • The platform utilizes advanced analytics, machine learning algorithms, and anomaly detection to identify threats and suspicious activities.
    • It offers extensive integration options with other tools and platforms, facilitating a more cohesive and comprehensive security ecosystem.
    • With Kibana, users gain access to powerful visualization tools and dashboards that provide real-time insight into security data.

    Finally, Elastic Security benefits from a global community of users who contribute to its threat intelligence, helping to enhance its detection capabilities. This collaborative approach ensures that the solution remains on the cutting edge of cybersecurity, with up-to-date information on the latest threats and vulnerabilities.

    Splunk Enterprise Security is a SIEM, log management, and IT operations analytics tool. The solution provides users with the ability to secure their information and manage their data in the cloud, data centers, or other applications. Splunk Enterprise Security also offers visibility from different areas, levels, and devices, rather than from a single system, thus, providing its users with flexibility. Splunk Enterprise Security can monitor data and analyze, detect, and prevent intrusions. This benefits users as it provides alerts to possible intrusions, helps users to be proactive, and reduces risk factors. 

    Full visibility across your environment

    Break down data silos and gain actionable intelligence by ingesting data from multicloud and on-premises deployments. Get full visibility to quickly detect malicious threats in your environment.

    Fast threat detection

    Defend against threats with advanced security analytics, machine learning and threat intelligence that focus detection and provide high-fidelity alerts to shorten triage times and raise true positive rates.

    Efficient investigations

    Gather all the context you need and initiate flexible investigations with security analytics at your fingertips. The built-in open and extensible data platform boosts productivity and drives down fatigue.

    Open and scalable

    Built on an open and scalable data platform, you can stay agile in the face of evolving threats and business needs. Splunk meets you where you are on your cloud journey, and integrates across your data, tools and content.

    Sample Customers
    Microsoft Sentinel is trusted by companies of all sizes including ABM, ASOS, Uniper, First West Credit Union, Avanade, and more.
    Texas A&M, U.S. Air Force, NuScale Power, Martin's Point Health Care
    Splunk has more than 7,000 customers spread across over 90 countries. These customers include Telenor, UniCredit, ideeli, McKenney's, Tesco, and SurveyMonkey.
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm22%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm29%
    Computer Software Company25%
    Healthcare Company13%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government9%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company20%
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Government9%
    Energy/Utilities Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Government9%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise47%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise59%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business60%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise23%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise56%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise57%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise68%
    Buyer's Guide
    Elastic Security vs. Splunk Enterprise Security
    April 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Elastic Security vs. Splunk Enterprise Security and other solutions. Updated: April 2024.
    771,157 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Elastic Security is ranked 5th in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) with 59 reviews while Splunk Enterprise Security is ranked 1st in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) with 240 reviews. Elastic Security is rated 7.6, while Splunk Enterprise Security is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Elastic Security writes "A stable and scalable tool that provides visibility along with the consolidation of logs to its users". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Splunk Enterprise Security writes "It has a drag-and-drop interface, so you don't need to know SQL or Java to construct a query ". Elastic Security is most compared with Wazuh, IBM Security QRadar, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, CrowdStrike Falcon and AlienVault OSSIM, whereas Splunk Enterprise Security is most compared with Wazuh, Dynatrace, IBM Security QRadar, Datadog and Azure Monitor. See our Elastic Security vs. Splunk Enterprise Security report.

    See our list of best Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) vendors and best Log Management vendors.

    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.