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Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs Splunk User Behavior Analytics comparison

Cisco and Splunk are both solutions in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category. Cisco is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.0, while Splunk is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.8. Cisco holds a 3.1% mindshare in ID, compared to Splunk’s 2.0% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Splunk users who would recommend it.
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
Read 20 Cisco Sourcefire SNORT reviews
  • 1,142 Views
  • 971 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
Splunk User Behavior Analytics
Read 25 Splunk User Behavior Analytics reviews
  • 3,050 Views
  • 732 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Cisco Sourcefire SNORT and Splunk User Behavior Analytics compete in the cybersecurity domain. Splunk holds the upper hand due to its advanced analytics capabilities offering superior insights.

Features: Cisco Sourcefire SNORT provides real-time network traffic monitoring, a comprehensive intrusion detection system, and an adaptable open-source rule-based alert system. Splunk User Behavior Analytics offers advanced threat detection, comprehensive log analysis, and detailed insights into user actions. It is desirable for situations requiring extended feature sets and sophisticated analytics.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Sourcefire SNORT could improve in areas such as providing more intuitive reporting tools, enhancing user-interface design, and integrating more automated threat intelligence updates. Splunk User Behavior Analytics might focus on reducing deployment complexity, offering more out-of-the-box integrations, and optimizing cost-effectiveness for small to medium-sized enterprises.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is known for its easy deployment model and strong community support, allowing quick implementation. Splunk User Behavior Analytics, while requiring more detailed setup due to its complexity, benefits from thorough documentation and professional support, appealing to organizations seeking extensive guidance.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Sourcefire SNORT has a low initial setup cost, offering ROI through proactive threat mitigation. Splunk User Behavior Analytics requires a higher initial investment but justifies this with significant ROI via enhanced security insights and improved operational efficiency, attracting businesses prioritizing long-term returns and deep analytics.

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To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs. Splunk User Behavior Analytics Report (Updated: December 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs. Splunk User Behavior Analytics
December 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

Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
14th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Splunk User Behavior Analytics
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is 3.1%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Splunk User Behavior Analytics is 2.0%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Splunk User Behavior Analytics2.0%
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT3.1%
Other94.9%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2772102 - PeerSpot reviewer
reviewer2772102
Cloud Architect at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Logging and customizable rules have helped improve threat monitoring and detection
The logging is mainly what I consider one of the best features with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT. Being able to log and store it in a file allows you to push it to a centralized repository. The logging and reporting help improve incident response. You should always be logging threats, any sort of misconfiguration, and anything that could be an issue. It's important to at least log and monitor it. The basic rules provide a good baseline in assessing Cisco Sourcefire SNORT's ability in providing real-time analytics for threat detection, but as a professional, you should look to constantly modify that baseline. They provide extensive customizability so you can define your own rules. The customizability allows it to be adaptable in protecting against diverse network threats to the constant change.
Read full review
SK
Siva Kuppala
Enterprise Architect at Wipro Limited
Offers intuitive deployment with strong customer support and advanced analytics features
There are improvements that could be made to Splunk User Behavior Analytics as any product will have advantages and disadvantages. Scalability is one consideration. For example, the advantages include rapid auto scaling to meet demand. A disadvantage is that it can lead to cost overrun if not properly factored or governed. The speed of deployment offers faster provisioning as an advantage, but it can require substantial automation skills and infrastructure as code expertise, which can be challenging. Cloud provides major operational benefits such as agility, automation, resilience, and global access when setting up on Cloud. However, it introduces challenges such as cost control, complexity, and vendor dependency. For example, global reach allows deployment of apps and services closer to users worldwide, but data sovereignty concerns exist and region selection must align with compliance requirements.
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

"I like most of Cisco's features, like malware detection and URL filtering."
"It is quite an intelligent product."
"The solution is rather easy to use."
"The most valuable feature is the visibility that we have across the virtual environment."
"The tool's most valuable feature is threat detection, which is important because we have multiple layers not only in Cisco."
"The solution is stable."
"Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is easy to configure and the reporting is great. It's also very user-friendly."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to automatically learn the traffic in our environment, and change the merit recommendations based on that."
More Cisco Sourcefire SNORT pros
"This is a good security product."
"The most valuable feature is being able to take data and put it into other systems so that we could see the output, and to see where we need to apply our focus."
"It is a solution that helps test and measure customer satisfaction."
"Splunk's technical support is amazing."
"It's easily scalable."
"It's straightforward in terms of configuration and troubleshooting and log management and monitoring as well. These are the edge points in addition to it being a modular solution where you can capitalize on your current licenses with extra licensing models, which can match the customer's business requirement and it can help the customer to design or to actually plan for their own roadmap."
"Because of some of the visualizations that we utilize, we are able to understand strange, unusual traffic on our networks."
"We are really pleased with Splunk and its features. It would be practically impossible to function without it. To provide a general overview of the system, it's important to note that the standard log files are currently around 250 gigabytes per day. It would be impossible to manually walk through these logs by hand, which is why automation is essential."
More Splunk User Behavior Analytics pros
 

Cons

"I don't think this solution is a time-based control system, because one cannot filter traffic based on time."
"I did not experience any pain points that required improvement. Maybe a couple of false-positives, but that's about it."
"There are problems setting up VPNs for some regions."
"The main dashboard of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT could improve."
"Integration with other components — even Cisco's own products — can be enhanced to improve administrative experience."
"I want to see a better dashboard for the product. The dashboard can be a bit modified or enhanced."
"The customization of the rules can be simplified."
"The pricing needs to be improved. We have lots of low-budget clients around us. Budget constraints are always a deterrent in our market."
More Cisco Sourcefire SNORT cons
"The machine learning algorithm in Splunk User Behavior Analytics is actually the core thing that needs to be updated because this feeds all the other functions inside it."
"A disadvantage is that it can lead to cost overrun if not properly factored or governed."
"They should work to add more built-in correlation searches and more use cases based on worldwide customer experiences. They need more ready-made use cases."
"The initial setup was complex because some of the configurations that we required needed customization."
"High data ingestion costs can be an issue, especially for large enterprises, as Splunk charges based on the amount of data processed."
"It could be easier to scale the solution if you are using it on-premise, not in the cloud."
"The dashboard part could be improved."
"I'm not aware of any lacking features."
More Splunk User Behavior Analytics cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a three-year license for this solution."
"I don't know the exact amount, but most of the time when I go to a company with a proposition, they will say, "This thing that you are selling is good, but it's expensive. Why don't you propose something like FortiGate, Check Point, or Palo Alto?" Cisco device are expensive compared to other devices."
"Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."
"If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five."
"The cost is per port and can be expensive but it does include training and support for three years."
"Pricing varies based on the packages you choose and the volume of your usage."
"The licensing costs is around 10,000 dollars."
"My biggest complaint is the way they do pricing... You can never know the pricing for next year. Every single time you adjust to something new, the price goes up. It's impossible to truly budget for it. It goes up constantly."
"There are additional costs associated with the integrator."
"I am not aware of the price, but it is expensive."
"I hope we can increase the free license to be more than 5 gig a day. This would help people who want to introduce a POC or a demo license for the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise12
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five. There are some other tools in the market that are more expensive than Cisco. There are no additional c...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
I have not had much experience with the community-driven rule set while utilizing Cisco Sourcefire SNORT. I don't have experience with recognizing zero-day vulnerabilities, but based on my knowledg...
See all answers
What do you like most about Splunk User Behavior Analytics?
The solution's most valuable feature is Splunk queries, which allow us to query the logs and analyze the attack vectors.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Splunk User Behavior Analytics?
Splunk User Behavior Analytics is a premium product. Compared to all other products in the market, it is the most expensive one in all aspects including professional service and licenses, even the ...
See all answers
What needs improvement with Splunk User Behavior Analytics?
Splunk User Behavior Analytics is still an immature product, so it still needs some R&D to be able to be mature in the market. The prediction, algorithms, and ML codes behind Splunk User Behavi...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
Compared 16% of the time
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT Logo
Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
Compared 14% of the time
ExtremeCloud IQ vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT Logo
ExtremeCloud IQ vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
Compared 10% of the time
Check Point IPS vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT Logo
Check Point IPS vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
Compared 5% of the time
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Compared 44% of the time
Exabeam vs Splunk User Behavior Analytics Logo
Exabeam vs Splunk User Behavior Analytics
Compared 7% of the time
Darktrace vs Splunk User Behavior Analytics Logo
Darktrace vs Splunk User Behavior Analytics
Compared 5% of the time
Gurucul UEBA vs Splunk User Behavior Analytics Logo
Gurucul UEBA vs Splunk User Behavior Analytics
Compared 3% of the time
Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Splunk User Behavior Analytics Logo
Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Splunk User Behavior Analytics
Compared 3% of the time
More Splunk User Behavior Analytics Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
December 2025
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT reportDownload Cisco Sourcefire SNORT product report
Buyer's Guide
Splunk User Behavior Analytics
December 2025
Splunk User Behavior Analytics reportDownload Splunk User Behavior Analytics product report
 

Also Known As

Sourcefire SNORT
Caspida, Splunk UBA
 

Overview

Snort is an open-source, rule-based, intrusion detection and prevention system. It combines the benefits of signature-, protocol-, and anomaly-based inspection methods to deliver flexible protection from malware attacks. Snort gained notoriety for being able to accurately detect threats at high speeds.

Cisco

Splunk User Behavior Analytics is a behavior-based threat detection is based on machine learning methodologies that require no signatures or human analysis, enabling multi-entity behavior profiling and peer group analytics for users, devices, service accounts and applications. It detects insider threats and external attacks using out-of-the-box purpose-built that helps organizations find known, unknown and hidden threats, but extensible unsupervised machine learning (ML) algorithms, provides context around the threat via ML driven anomaly correlation and visual mapping of stitched anomalies over various phases of the attack lifecycle (Kill-Chain View). It uses a data science driven approach that produces actionable results with risk ratings and supporting evidence that increases SOC efficiency and supports bi-directional integration with Splunk Enterprise for data ingestion and correlation and with Splunk Enterprise Security for incident scoping, workflow management and automated response. The result is automated, accurate threat and anomaly detection.

Splunk
 

Sample Customers

CareCore, City of Biel, Dimension Data, LightEdge, Lone Star College System, National Rugby League, Port Aventura, Smart City Networks, Telecom Italia, The Department of Education in Western Australia
8 Securities, AAA Western, AdvancedMD, Amaya, Cerner Corporation, CJ O Shopping, CloudShare, Crossroads Foundation, 7-Eleven Indonesia
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs. Splunk User Behavior Analytics
December 2025
Free Report: Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs. Splunk User Behavior Analytics
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