Security Onion vs Wazuh

Security Onion and Wazuh are both free, open-source security platforms with optional paid tiers, but they're architecturally different: Security Onion is…

Best for Security Onion: Security Onion fits teams needing network security monitoring and threat hunting built on established tools (Suricata, Zeek, Elastic Stack), with a 2008 founding and long track record across government, defense, Fortune 500, and academic sectors.
Best for Wazuh: Wazuh fits teams needing endpoint-centric SIEM/XDR — configuration assessment, malware detection, file integrity monitoring, and active on-device response — at no licensing cost, reporting 15+ million protected endpoints.

At a Glance

 Security OnionWazuh
Primary categorySecuritySecurity
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelFree and open source software, with paid training, support, and professional services sold separatelyopen-source
Starting priceFree (open-source distribution); paid training and support plans available on requestFree (open source); Wazuh Cloud managed service priced on request
Free planNot documentedNot documented
Free trialNot documentedNot documented
PlatformsWebWeb
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresYesNot documented
Public APINot documentedYes

Key Differences

Underlying Architecture

Security Onion: Security Onion is built on Suricata, Zeek, and the Elastic Stack for full network visibility, combining these established open-source tools into one integrated platform.

Wazuh: Wazuh is architected around Active XDR with real-time correlation and granular, on-device active responses, alongside dedicated Endpoint Security and SIEM Capabilities features.

The underlying architecture determines whether a tool excels at network traffic analysis or host/endpoint-level detection.

AI Features

Security Onion: Security Onion offers Onion AI for AI-assisted alert analysis and detection tuning, with local model support available in the paid Pro tier launched in 2024.

Wazuh: Wazuh's documented feature list does not include an AI-assisted analysis capability.

AI-assisted triage can reduce analyst workload when reviewing high alert volumes.

Founding & Track Record

Security Onion: Security Onion was founded in 2008 by Doug Burks, with Security Onion Solutions, LLC established in 2014, and reports over 2 million downloads by 2021.

Wazuh: Wazuh's founding year and headquarters are not disclosed in available facts, though it reports 15+ million protected endpoints and 100,000+ enterprise users.

Company history and disclosed scale metrics help buyers assess vendor maturity, though both tools show strong adoption signals via different metrics.

Compliance Focus

Security Onion: Security Onion's documented features focus on network security monitoring, threat hunting, and log management rather than compliance-specific reporting.

Wazuh: Wazuh's SIEM Capabilities explicitly include regulatory compliance support alongside centralized monitoring and alerting.

Organizations under specific regulatory regimes need compliance reporting built into their monitoring stack, not bolted on separately.

Paid Tier Structure

Security Onion: Security Onion Pro adds Onion AI Assistant, local model support, and enhanced AI-driven capabilities, with pricing not publicly disclosed.

Wazuh: Wazuh's paid options are optional managed Wazuh Cloud and professional support/training, also not publicly listed.

Neither tool publishes paid pricing, so both require a sales conversation once a team outgrows the free community edition.

Feature-by-Feature

Network & Threat Detection

FeatureSecurity OnionWazuh
Network security monitoringAvailableNot documented
Threat hunting toolsAvailableAvailable
Log managementAvailableAvailable
Community detection rulesAvailableNot documented

Endpoint & Compliance

FeatureSecurity OnionWazuh
Endpoint file integrity monitoringNot documentedAvailable
Active/automated responseNot documentedAvailable
Regulatory compliance monitoringNot documentedAvailable
Cloud/container securityNot documentedAvailable

AI & Pricing

FeatureSecurity OnionWazuh
AI-assisted alert analysisLimitedUnavailable
Free core planAvailableAvailable
Published paid tier pricingUnavailableUnavailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Security Onion

Security Onion Software — Free N/A
On-Demand Training (Free tier) — Free N/A
On-Demand Training (Premium tier) — Custom quote Contact sales
Instructor-Led Training — Custom quote Contact sales
Support and Professional Services — Custom quote Contact sales

Wazuh

Open Source (self-hosted) — $0 n/a
Wazuh Cloud — Custom, quote-based custom

Pros & Cons

Security Onion

Pros

  • Completely free and open-source with no licensing cost at any deployment scale
  • Bundles proven, widely trusted security tools like Suricata, Zeek, and the Elastic Stack into one distribution
  • Backed by an official company, Security Onion Solutions LLC, offering legitimate paid training and support
  • Large reported install base with over 1,000,000 downloads across nearly every country
  • Government pricing available through partner IntelliGenesis for public sector buyers

Cons

  • No public pricing for official training, support, or professional services, requiring direct contact with sales
  • Self-managing a Security Onion deployment without paid support requires significant in-house security expertise
  • As a bundle of multiple complex open-source tools, initial setup and tuning can be resource-intensive
  • Community-based free support may be slower than paid support tiers for urgent issues
  • Requires dedicated hardware or infrastructure sizing planning, especially for larger network monitoring deployments

Wazuh

Pros

  • Fully open source with no licensing cost, unlike most commercial SIEM and XDR platforms
  • Broad feature set spanning log analysis, file integrity, vulnerability, and compliance monitoring
  • Active open source community with frequent updates and extensive documentation
  • Integrates with major cloud providers and container platforms
  • No vendor lock-in since organizations fully control their own deployment and data

Cons

  • Self-hosted deployments require security and infrastructure expertise to set up and maintain
  • Managed Wazuh Cloud pricing is not publicly listed and requires a sales quote
  • Scaling log ingestion for large environments can require significant infrastructure investment
  • Lacks some of the polished enterprise support and SLAs offered by large commercial SIEM vendors

Use Cases

Choose Security Onion: Security Onion fits teams needing network security monitoring and threat hunting built on established tools (Suricata, Zeek, Elastic Stack), with a 2008 founding and long track record across government, defense, Fortune 500, and academic sectors.
Choose Wazuh: Wazuh fits teams needing endpoint-centric SIEM/XDR — configuration assessment, malware detection, file integrity monitoring, and active on-device response — at no licensing cost, reporting 15+ million protected endpoints.
Need both: A security operations center could deploy Security Onion for network-level visibility (packet capture, IDS alerts via Suricata/Zeek) while running Wazuh in parallel for endpoint-level detection and file integrity monitoring, correlating both data sources for a fuller picture than either tool provides alone.

Security Onion

  • Network security monitoring for security operations centers — SOC teams deploy Security Onion to combine Suricata, Zeek, and the Elastic Stack into a unified threat hunting and monitoring platform.
  • Budget-conscious threat hunting for small IT teams — Small IT and security teams use Security Onion's free distribution to gain enterprise-grade monitoring capability without software licensing costs.
  • Hands-on cybersecurity training and labs — Educators and individual practitioners use Security Onion's free and paid training offerings to build practical network security monitoring skills.

Wazuh

  • Centralized threat detection — Security teams monitor logs, files, and system activity across their infrastructure from a single Wazuh dashboard to detect and investigate threats.
  • Regulatory compliance monitoring — Organizations use Wazuh's compliance mapping and reporting to support audits for frameworks like PCI DSS and HIPAA.
  • Cost-effective SIEM replacement — Companies replace or supplement expensive commercial SIEM licenses with Wazuh's free, self-hosted open source platform.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Security Onion or Wazuh free?

Both are free and open source at their core. Security Onion's Community edition is free, with an optional paid Pro tier for AI-driven features. Wazuh's Community (self-hosted) plan is free with the full SIEM/XDR feature set, with optional paid Wazuh Cloud and support.

Which tool is better for network traffic analysis?

Security Onion is purpose-built for this, combining Suricata, Zeek, and the Elastic Stack for full network visibility. Wazuh's documented strengths are endpoint security and SIEM/XDR correlation rather than deep network packet analysis.

Does either tool have AI features?

Security Onion offers Onion AI for AI-assisted alert analysis and detection tuning, with local model support in the paid Pro tier. Wazuh's documented feature list does not include an AI capability.

How long has each tool existed?

Security Onion was founded in 2008 by Doug Burks, with Security Onion Solutions, LLC established in 2014. Wazuh's founding year is not disclosed in available facts.

Which tool has stronger compliance reporting?

Wazuh explicitly lists regulatory compliance support as part of its SIEM Capabilities. Security Onion's documented features center on network monitoring and threat hunting rather than compliance-specific reporting.

How many organizations use each platform?

Security Onion reports over 2 million downloads by 2021 and use across government, defense, Fortune 500, and academic sectors. Wazuh reports 15+ million protected endpoints and 100,000+ enterprise users.

Read the full Security Onion review · Read the full Wazuh review