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Security Onion vs Snort: catalog facts
Security Onion	Snort
Freemium The platform is free, while Onion AI features are offered through sales representatives.	Free Free and open source under the GPL. Subscriber rule sets are paid.
Linux, Self-hosted	Windows, Linux, Self-hosted
Complete monitoring platform installed from a single ISO Includes packet capture, detection rules and threat hunting	Mature rule language and a large body of community and vendor rules Runs in detection or inline prevention mode
Needs dedicated hardware or virtual machines and setup time Onion AI details are only available through sales	Rule tuning is required or the alert volume is unusable The subscriber rule set, with the newest rules, is paid
Self-hosted, Operating system	Downloadable app
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: GPL-2.0
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is 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 September 22, 2026

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