AlienVault OSSIM vs Sentinel comparison

AT&T and OpenText are both solutions in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category. AT&T is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.4, while OpenText is ranked #18 with an average rating of 7.5. AT&T holds a 1.4% mindshare in SIEM, compared to OpenText’s 2.9% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of AT&T users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 82% of OpenText users who would recommend it.

AlienVault OSSIM

Read 31 AlienVault OSSIM reviews

4,551 Views
4,460 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Sentinel

Read 17 Sentinel reviews

5,367 Views
5,260 Comparison Views

82% willing to recommend

AlienVault OSSIM

Sentinel

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Sentinel and AlienVault OSSIM compete in the cybersecurity sector. Sentinel has the upper hand in pricing and customer service, while AlienVault OSSIM is preferred for its robust features.

Features: Sentinel users like its real-time threat detection, comprehensive reporting tools, and user-friendly interface. AlienVault OSSIM users value its integration capabilities with various security tools, extensive threat intelligence, and advanced monitoring features.

Room for Improvement: Users suggest Sentinel improve scalability, alert management, and user interface intuitiveness. AlienVault OSSIM users highlight the need for a more intuitive interface, faster processing speeds, and better user documentation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Sentinel is praised for its straightforward deployment process and responsive customer service. AlienVault OSSIM users find the setup more complex but recognize the comprehensive support provided post-deployment.

Pricing and ROI: Sentinel is generally seen as cost-effective with a quicker ROI. Users find AlienVault OSSIM pricier with a longer ROI period, but its advanced capabilities justify the investment.

To learn more, read our detailed AlienVault OSSIM vs. Sentinel Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

AlienVault OSSIM vs. Sentinel

April 2026

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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

AlienVault OSSIM

Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

13th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Sentinel

Ranking in Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

18th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) category, the mindshare of AlienVault OSSIM is 1.4%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sentinel is 2.9%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
AlienVault OSSIM	1.4%
Sentinel	2.9%
Other	95.7%

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

Featured Reviews

Brandon Pearce

Independent Contractor at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees

Enables cost-effective security management for small businesses

Scaling for USM is always challenging for any product unless it is purpose-built or overbuilt at the front end. They will use Palo Alto and its competitors, and LevelBlue will manage that implementation. The main area where the AlienVault product was lacking around the 2018 timeframe was in its ability to scale. By pushing it to a cloud-based system, they've largely alleviated scale issues. It's native in Amazon but will also run in Azure. They have worked with cloud service providers to offer enough throughput at a cost reasonable for a corporation. Scaling was their biggest problem, and they've largely conquered those issues.

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Simon Johnston

Manager, Customer Success at Coltek Business Soltuions

Simple antivirus solution integrates well but could improve pricing and currency options

I don't really have experience working with these solutions. I promote them for our clients, but I don't work with them. I can't share my experience with these tools as I make assumptions about that. For both Adlumin and CrowdStrike, both confirm that they're scalable and enterprise-ready and all those kinds of things. We haven't had any specific problem with either of those. We just have a preference for which one we would prefer. If somebody says they want to use a different one from the one that we prefer, then we have to find reasons why they aren't. But scalability is not one of the reasons that one is better over the other. I don't really have advice for people that are looking into using Sentinel; just do your research across what is available. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Sentinel a seven.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is free to use."

"There are a lot of people you will find using OSSIM since they are also offering OTX as a service"

"The most valuable features of AlienVault OSSIM are vulnerability assessment, network intrusion detection system, response to critical events, and awareness of the whole network."

"A very good feature of AlienVault OSSIM is that it has many domains that can be integrated from different solutions."

"The most valuable features of AlienVault OSSIM are case management, ease of configuration, and investigation."

"The solution has a very good open source community, and whenever we have problems, we are always able to resolve it online."

"Technical support is excellent; they are very helpful and responsive."

"I have deployed it widely because I find that it gives value for money."

More AlienVault OSSIM pros

"The solution's Kusto Query Language (KQL) execution time is pretty good."

"The tool is simple to use."

"Sentinel gave us logs to tell us what's going right and wrong in your environment so we could secure the network."

"The most valuable feature is the flexible log for identifying security threats inside an application. Sentinel is very good at this."

"It makes everything easier by automating some tasks and growing with our needs."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it provides a central locking system for many event sources."

"One of the most valuable features is the business intelligence engine; it's very important because it keeps track of everything that's happening and alerts us if something is different than expected."

"The native integration with out-of-the box format is hassle free and allows data to be used advantageously."

More Sentinel pros

Cons

"AlienVault OSSIM could improve by having better integration with some of the newer tools."

"It does not give me a prompt response for any such malicious traffic; it takes time to get that alert from the AlienVault system."

"From a management console perspective and the maturity of the dashboards, I would probably put it slightly behind some of the other players that have been in the market for ages."

"They can add more compliance templates."

"It's under heavy traffic. If you have heavy traffic, the system is slow."

"The user interface needs to be friendlier across the board."

"The biggest thing I always complain about is that the user intake is a very old version."

"When comparing AlienVault OSSIM to other solutions it looks a bit outdated. Additionally, they need to improve their integration."

More AlienVault OSSIM cons

"Creating a drag-and-drop dashboard or workbook in Sentinel is a little more complex compared to other tools like LogRhythm and IBM QRadar."

"The dashboard and customer view should be improved"

"This product's connection to certain types of cloud systems could be improved. We can do Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, but there are a lot of other things happening in the cloud that we do not connect well enough to. This product could be improved with better connection to cloud-based solutions."

"There is no integration in the web-side of the tool."

"I would like to see a better reporting work structure on the dashboard."

"I rate Sentinel a six out of ten for scalability."

"The solution does not allow outsourced authorizations."

"Documentation for security aspects could be improved. It is difficult to find clear information about encryption or risks that are addressed."

More Sentinel cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."

"The solution is open source, so it's free to use."

"AlienVault OSSIM is expensive compared to its competitors."

"OSSIM is open source, and USM is the paid license. So, if you want, you can switch to USM. There you will have to buy a license, and they have a support team that helps you out on issues you face."

"When comparing AlienVault OSSIM to Microsoft Sentinel, AlienVault OSSIM incurs additional costs due to its licensing price structure. If you are using AlienVault for security purposes at a certain level it can have a higher price point than the current pricing of Microsoft Sentinel."

"I used the paid version of the tool and found it to be expensive. It has been a while since I changed to Securonix. I will have to check whether AlienVault charges per device, user, or log."

"We are using a free version of the solution. If you purchase a license there are more features available but the price is a little high. The solution should be cheaper to allow more customers to be able to afford it."

"OSSIM is free."

More AlienVault OSSIM pricing and cost advice

"We inquired about getting support from the vendor, Micro Focus, but the cost was very high."

"Sentinel's slightly on the expensive side."

"Sentinel is a subscription-based solution."

"The solution’s pricing is aligned with its competitors."

"We receive a pricing discount because of our ongoing partnership with Micro Focus."

"Sentinel is moderately priced."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Comms Service Provider

14%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	18
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AlienVault OSSIM?

Asset discovery is good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AlienVault OSSIM?

It depends. I would need to review their cost models, but generally, they are on a scaled basis based on throughput usage. Because it's a software as a service solution for their core product for U...

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What needs improvement with AlienVault OSSIM?

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetIQ Sentinel?

I don't have too many comments overall about pricing as we're in South Africa, so it makes more sense if it's billed in rand. They nearly always bill it in dollars, so if it can be billed in our cu...

See all answers

What needs improvement with NetIQ Sentinel?

I'm not sure what the room for improvement is for Sentinel. It needs to stay current, and it does, so I suppose that's fine. I don't have a high demand for what it should do. Price is always a cons...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for NetIQ Sentinel?

It's our go-to choice for antivirus. I use Sentinel a lot.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 24% of the time

Venusense USM vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 10% of the time

USM Anywhere vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 7% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 7% of the time

IBM Security QRadar vs AlienVault OSSIM

Compared 3% of the time

More AlienVault OSSIM Competitors

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Sentinel

Compared 19% of the time

IBM Security QRadar vs Sentinel

Compared 11% of the time

Wazuh vs Sentinel

Compared 6% of the time

Cortex XSIAM vs Sentinel

Compared 4% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Sentinel

Compared 4% of the time

More Sentinel Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AlienVault OSSIM

April 2026

Download AlienVault OSSIM product report

Buyer's Guide

Sentinel

March 2026

Download Sentinel product report

Also Known As

OSSIM

NetIQ Sentinel, Novell SIEM

Overview

AlienVault OSSIM, Open Source Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), provides you with a feature-rich open source SIEM complete with event collection, normalization and correlation. Launched by security engineers because of the lack of available open source products, AlienVault OSSIM was created specifically to address the reality many security professionals face: A SIEM, whether it is open source or commercial, is virtually useless without the basic security controls necessary for security visibility.

AT&T

Sentinel is a full-featured Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution that simplifies the deployment, management and day-to-day use of SIEM, readily adapts to dynamic enterprise environments and delivers the true "actionable intelligence" security professionals need to quickly understand their threat posture and prioritize response.

OpenText

Sample Customers

Council Rock School District

Faysal Bank, GaVI, Handelsbanken, ISC Mªnster, Lambeth Council, Swisscard, The Municipality of Siena, Tukes, University of Dayton, University of the Sunshine Coast

Buyer's Guide

AlienVault OSSIM vs. Sentinel

April 2026

Free Report: AlienVault OSSIM vs. Sentinel

Find out what your peers are saying about AlienVault OSSIM vs. Sentinel and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

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