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Suricata vs Security Onion: catalog facts
Suricata	Security Onion
Free The open-source software is available without a license fee. Hosting, hardware and…	Freemium The platform is free, while Onion AI features are offered through sales representatives.
Linux, Command line	Linux, Self-hosted
Supports monitoring, detection and inline prevention deployments.	Complete monitoring platform installed from a single ISO Includes packet capture, detection rules and threat hunting
Requires suitable traffic access and maintained rules.	Needs dedicated hardware or virtual machines and setup time Onion AI details are only available through sales
Downloadable app	Self-hosted, Operating system
Open source	Closed source
License: GPL-2.0	License not stated
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 22, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

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