Alternatives to Security Onion

A free Linux distribution for network security monitoring, packet capture, detection and threat hunting. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as Security Onion.

  • Malcolm

    A self-hosted network traffic analysis suite that turns PCAP files, Zeek logs and Suricata alerts into searchable dashboards.

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxSelf-hosted

    Malcolm is open source and combines PCAP, Zeek and Suricata data with Arkime and OpenSearch dashboards, deployable with Docker, Kubernetes or an ISO.

  • Arkime

    Store and search captured network traffic through a web interface.

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxSelf-hostedWeb

    Arkime is an Apache-2.0 tool focused on storing and searching full packet captures, without Security Onion's detection rules and threat hunting suite.

  • RITA

    A network traffic analysis framework that detects command and control communication such as beaconing.

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxCommand line

    RITA is a narrower open-source framework that detects beaconing and command and control traffic from existing logs, installed via a script or Docker.

  • ntopng

    Web-based network traffic probe that shows real-time and historical flows by host, protocol and application.

    FreemiumProprietaryWindowsmacOSLinuxSelf-hosted

    ntopng is a web traffic probe showing flows by host and application via nDPI, focused on usage rather than intrusion detection, with some features paid.

Also worth comparing

These listings name Security Onion as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • Snort

    Open-source intrusion detection and prevention system.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsLinuxSelf-hosted

    Security Onion is a full Linux monitoring distribution installed from one ISO, bundling detection, packet capture and threat hunting, but it needs dedicated hardware and setup time.

  • Suricata

    Inspect network traffic with an intrusion-detection engine.

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxCommand line

    Security Onion is a complete monitoring distribution installed from one ISO with detection, packet capture and threat hunting, needing dedicated hardware and more setup.

  • Zeek

    Network analysis framework that turns traffic into high-level activity logs.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinux

    Security Onion installs a complete monitoring platform with packet capture, detection and threat hunting from one ISO, and needs dedicated hardware or virtual machines.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.