Security Onion review
An open-source SOC platform that brings network and host monitoring, hunting, and case workflows together.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Security Onion brings network and host security monitoring into one platform for security operations teams. Its open-source Community edition combines network event visibility from Zeek and Suricata with host event collection through Elastic Agent. Analysts can review alerts, hunt through data with dashboards, manage cases and observables, and retrieve full packet captures. The product also supports intrusion-detection honeypots through OpenCanary and static analysis of imported PCAP and Windows EVTX files. It suits teams building an open-source, network-centric SOC that also wants host events and investigation workflows in the same environment.
The platform spans collection, analysis, and response workflows rather than focusing on a single detection function. Grid and node management supports standalone installations as well as distributed multi-node deployments. Its listed integrations include Elastic Fleet, Elasticsearch, Strelka, and Slack alongside Zeek, Suricata, Elastic Agent, and OpenCanary. That breadth makes it relevant to teams that need packet-level visibility and case handling together, while organizations seeking only a lightweight alert viewer may find its wider operational scope unnecessary. Security Onion is available for web and Linux, with self-hosted and cloud deployment options.
The Community edition is free. Security Onion Pro adds enterprise features and support through a paid license; the standard license covers up to ten nodes, with smaller-grid licenses and additional node packs also available. The platform lists email and phone support, and SSO via SAML among its compliance-related capabilities. Teams should consider Pro if they need its additional features or support, and assess node licensing against their deployment design. Security Onion is a stronger fit for security teams prepared to operate a broad monitoring platform than for buyers seeking a narrowly scoped, plug-in alerting service.
Security Onion pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Combines Zeek and Suricata network visibility with Elastic Agent host events.
- Includes packet capture, threat hunting, alert review, and case management.
- Supports standalone or distributed multi-node deployments.
- Where it doesn't
- Security Onion Pro requires a paid license for enterprise features and support.
- The standard Pro license covers up to ten nodes; larger grids need node packs.
- Its broad monitoring and management scope may exceed teams seeking a narrow tool.
Security Onion fact sheet, pricing and score →
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