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Cuckoo Sandbox vs VirusTotal comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

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

Cuckoo Sandbox
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
15th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VirusTotal
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Threat Intelligence Platforms (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Anti-Malware Tools category, the mindshare of Cuckoo Sandbox is 3.0%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VirusTotal is 5.5%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Anti-Malware Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Adrián Rodriguez Garcia - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides detailed behavior analysis while needing improvements in signature detection
I use Cuckoo Sandbox primarily for automated malware behavior analysis. Specifically, it helps me extract indicators of compromise (IOC) to add to different platforms in the security environment of my company Cuckoo can show me every behavior in a machine. For example, it shows all files…
Chinmay Banerjee - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps businesses collect threat data while keeping privacy in mind and apable of detecting, blocking, and removing viruses and malware
There are two gray areas I still need to explore. I have worked with VirusTotal because it easily integrates with over seventy antivirus scanners and blacklisting services. In addition to those there is much scope to improve and add other services or integrations. The areas for improvement are that VirusTotal is not using much AI or generative AI models, while other competitors are starting to build them. For example, VirusTotal's work is based on the setup done by their engineers. If you want to do scanning or protection activities for a specific site, app, or device, that is the area VirusTotal is currently focused on. But other competitors are building AI models that can do things like left-side scanning and provide auto-generated reports. VirusTotal has predefined reports, but there is a lot of manual effort involved. Secondly, the API is very limited if I want to integrate VirusTotal with other applications. They need to build more connectors and provide support for Webhook connectors for the API. If you can't build your own connector, it's always good to have provisions for Webhook setup connectors across platforms. Thirdly, Kaspersky, a competitor of VirusTotal, is using a methodology called "gatekeeper." A gatekeeper is a security system that protects the inside of a building from outside threats. This is the model Kaspersky is currently using. You have your website set up, but the entire army of VirusTotal or Kaspersky is standing guard, protecting you from the first gate itself. Right now, VirusTotal detects threats from your domain, but it is always better to verify inside the domain and protect it from the first level when people or malware are entering. This first level of protection is lacking in VirusTotal right now. The security bridge and protection gate are missing.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cuckoo Sandbox is very stable and reliable."
"Cuckoo Sandbox is very stable and reliable."
"The scalability is an eight out of ten."
"The dynamic analysis feature in Cuckoo Sandbox is excellent compared to others."
"I have never had any problems with stability or bugs while using VirusTotal."
"The feature I like the most is the ability to see the MD5 or SHA-256 signature of the file, and also the composition of the file according to its segments."
"It provides detailed insights into possible malicious behavior, dropped files, and TCP connections."
"The most valuable feature is the worldwide malware information database."
"VirusTotal provides 95% to 98% accurate information."
"It allows us to see if there have been previous reports on certain indicators of compromise, providing insights from other security professionals."
"The initial setup is easy."
"It is quite simple for anyone if they just want to check some suspicious URLs."
 

Cons

"I want the command to be quicker."
"It lacks correlation with other types of information, such as explaining why a particular file was modified or identifying the specific process responsible."
"The only issue is with the installation, which requires some adjustments."
"Cuckoo Sandbox could improve its signature detection because it currently only shows simple file modifications and connections to different botnets."
"VirusTotal is hard to understand because you need to know Google Docs to create queries, and it doesn't have documentation for that."
"I would like to see improvements in the score consistency and accuracy."
"VirusTotal has different versions, and sometimes the parameters of the API are not very clear."
"I would like to see improvements in the score consistency and accuracy."
"There should be room for improvement, particularly in the API side of things."
"The platform could improve in the areas of endpoints and networks."
"There is room for improvement, particularly in making some of the most useful features more accessible in the non-paid version."
"I would like to see improved correlation with other threat intelligence sources, not just reliant on its own database, to enhance the database of threat intelligence that VirusTotal offers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have to pay five to ten thousand dollars for this solution."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"VirusTotal is an expensive solution."
"The pricing is very economical."
"We are using VirusTotal with free licenses, managing the license limits across three or four accounts, thus incurring no costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Educational Organization
13%
University
9%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cuckoo Sandbox?
I don't know the price as I always use the free version of Cuckoo Sandbox.
What needs improvement with Cuckoo Sandbox?
The only issue is with the installation, which requires some adjustments. We need to check the OS level for compatibility. This can be challenging for those who are new to Cuckoo Sandbox.
What is your primary use case for Cuckoo Sandbox?
We are using Cuckoo Sandbox ( /products/cuckoo-sandbox-reviews ) for phishing emails and malware analysis.
What do you like most about VirusTotal?
With VirusTotal, I can check for any hash, malware, file, domain, IP URL, or malicious URL, and Kaspersky stays clean.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VirusTotal?
I do not know about the pricing or licensing as our organization services VirusTotal for our clients.
What needs improvement with VirusTotal?
I would like to see improvements in the score consistency and accuracy. VirusTotal should add more details like those from competitors such as URL Void or Symantec URL Checker, which show the categ...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Cuckoo Sandbox vs. VirusTotal and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
842,296 professionals have used our research since 2012.