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Security Onion vs Packetbeat: catalog facts
Security Onion	Packetbeat
Freemium The platform is free, while Onion AI features are offered through sales representatives.	Free Free to download; paid Elastic offerings exist for the wider stack.
Linux, Self-hosted	Command line
Complete monitoring platform installed from a single ISO Includes packet capture, detection rules and threat hunting	Decodes many application protocols Passive capture with no latency added
Needs dedicated hardware or virtual machines and setup time Onion AI details are only available through sales	Needs Elasticsearch or Logstash to be useful Agent with no interface of its own
Self-hosted, Operating system	Downloadable app
Closed source	Closed source
License not stated	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.