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Capsule8, now part of Sophos vs. LevelBlue USM Anywhere vs. Splunk Enterprise

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Capsule8, now part of Sophos

    Score10 out of 10
    N/ACapsule8 from Sophos (acquired 2021) provides attack protection for enterprise Linux -- whether containerized, virtualized, or bare metal. It is an EDR solution the vendor presents as performant and purpose built Linux detection that protects against threats, provides consistent visibility and ensures availability for production infrastructure in hybrid muti-cloud environments regardless of workload.N/A

    LevelBlue USM Anywhere

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AThe LevelBlue USM Anywhere XDR platform (replacing the former AlienVault USM) delivers threat detection, incident response, and compliance management.

    $1,075

    per month

    Splunk Enterprise

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ASplunk is software for searching, monitoring, and analyzing machine-generated big data, via a web-style interface. It captures, indexes and correlates real-time data in a searchable repository from which it can generate graphs, reports, alerts, dashboards and visualizations.N/A
    Pricing
    Capsule8, now part of SophosLevelBlue USM AnywhereSplunk Enterprise
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Essentials
    $1,075
    per month
    Standard
    $1,695
    per month
    Premium
    $2,595
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Capsule8, now part of SophosLevelBlue USM AnywhereSplunk Enterprise
    Free Trial
    NoYesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Capsule8, now part of SophosLevelBlue USM AnywhereSplunk Enterprise
    Considered Multiple Products
    Sophos
    No answer on this topic
    LevelBlue
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    AlienVault provides a much simpler implementation than Zabbix but of course the cost is much lower. While both do a good job, AlienVault USM does the best for vulnerability scanning and reporting but Zabbix excels much better with integration with Splunk for alerting.
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    AlienVault was given to us, even though we already had Secureworks. Both SecureWorks and Fireye are more of a Managed solution. It's fine to say we'll use AlienVault but it requires a lot of expertise to get it running and alerting correctly. And even then, if no one is …
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    Splunk is more customisable but we liked USM Anywhere more because they offered more support and it was easier to use.
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    I evaluated Splunk in the past but found the interface and work required to build queries and manage alerting was more work than I was willing to take on. I didn't like having to learn another language just to search for what I wanted.
    Through a managed service provider I also …
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    We looked at Splunk and compared it to AlienVault USM,but their offerings weren't as friendly both in implementation and pricing. One of the biggest pluses of AlienVault USM is the offering of an on-premise virtual appliance. We are still a shop where we like to be hands-on …
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    Splunk's ES is a paid add-on on top of an already pricey product. Finding a MSSP that supports Splunk and isn't a 6 figure annual commitment seems unlikely.

    LogRhythm did not have a cloud-based solution when we were considering SIEMs. Fantastic product though and have a good …
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    As a SIEM, USM is easier and more user friendly than Splunk. however, Splunk isn't only geared for security. As a network engineering tool, USM isn't a good fit. We use both. Nessus is a great vulnerability scanning tool. But it does not serve the wider purpose of USM, which is …
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    I have used Splunk before and it is also a good product. I feel that AlienVault has a lower learning curve and is easier to setup and query. I would liken the comparison to Splunk is like using command line for setup and normalization where as AlienVault would be using a GUI …
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    I have used Splunk before, and they are both good products. I generally like AlienVault more than Splunk, and one of the main reason is cost. For medium-sized managed service providers, cost is a big thing, and justifying that cost to customers is a hard thing to do. I also …
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    We already had familiarity with the platform but we needed cloud support so we upgraded to USM. We reviewed a few other options but decided USM was the best fit our requirements and price point.
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    The tools reviewed were quite sophisticated. The reason for choosing AlienVault USM was mainly inclusiveness (multiple services integrated) of the solution as well as the cost-benefit ratio. Integrating the solution into our current infrastructure also appeared relatively …
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    Compared to the main competitor's products, the AlienVault USM is particularly good in terms of cost effectiveness. Your company does not need to spend a huge amount of money in the first place just to test out the result. By using AlienVault USM, you can also get great support …
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    For us, AlienVault sat in the goldilocks zone of feature richness, flexibility, and ease of management as compared to other solutions.
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    This solution was not the cheapest, but covered the feature set we needed.
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    Mostly a price matter. In terms of the free version of AlienVault, it's just too much work to set it up properly.
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    Balancing what each product had to offer, the grade of difficulty of implementation and the investment it represented for our company AlienVault came out as the better option for our infrastructure.
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    The tool works well compared with the two others. As I said previously, AlienVault USM gives you a lot of visibility right out of the box and with very little configuration.

    However, I like the ability to customize pieces, such as log parsers and dashboards, as I see fit without …
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    1. Easy to implement out of the box with good return on investment very early on in the process.
    2. Good price point orginally compared to some of the other enterprise products.
    3. Good support, responsive to requests for specific features, etc.
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    AlienVault provides a much more comprehensive solution and is much easier to use and configure.
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    Alienvault was the most aggressive in their pricing and marketing of ease of deployment. The ease of deployment was what really aided in their ability to win our business. The ROI was worth the investment for our security at the time. Also being a market leader aided in our …
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    AlienVault seems to have a better UI and easier integration than the rest of the products. The price was slightly lower and had more features/easier integrations with external components. Overall AlienVault was selected based on the SOC 2 requirements we needed to fill. When …
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    AlienVault was much less expensive with less effort to install and manage.
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    Honestly, pricing is the main reason. AlienVault was already purchased when I was hired as Director, and the company did not have enough budget for anything else. Implementation was subpar, very disappointing, and renewal was a nightmare.
    Incentivized
    Chose LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    I felt like AlienVault just fit the mold of what we were looking for in our SIEM better.
    Incentivized
    Cisco
    Chose Splunk Enterprise
    We used this first but are considering moving away due to log space limitations because of cost.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    86%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    97%
    Would buy again
    59 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    94%
    Delivers good value for the price
    49 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    59 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    43 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    86%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    50 Answers
    Features
    Capsule8, now part of SophosLevelBlue USM AnywhereSplunk Enterprise
    Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
    Comparison of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) features of Capsule8, now part of Sophos and LevelBlue USM Anywhere and Splunk Enterprise
    Feature
    Capsule8, now part of Sophos
    -
    Ratings
    LevelBlue USM Anywhere
    -
    Ratings
    Splunk Enterprise
    8.2
    91 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Centralized event and log data collection00 Ratings00 Ratings9.085 Ratings
    Correlation00 Ratings00 Ratings8.487 Ratings
    Event and log normalization/management00 Ratings00 Ratings8.488 Ratings
    Deployment flexibility00 Ratings00 Ratings8.081 Ratings
    Integration with Identity and Access Management Tools00 Ratings00 Ratings8.282 Ratings
    Custom dashboards and workspaces00 Ratings00 Ratings8.887 Ratings
    Host and network-based intrusion detection00 Ratings00 Ratings7.865 Ratings
    Data integration/API management00 Ratings00 Ratings8.334 Ratings
    Behavioral analytics and baselining00 Ratings00 Ratings7.732 Ratings
    Rules-based and algorithmic detection thresholds00 Ratings00 Ratings7.933 Ratings
    Response orchestration and automation00 Ratings00 Ratings7.529 Ratings
    Reporting and compliance management00 Ratings00 Ratings8.634 Ratings
    Incident indexing/searching00 Ratings00 Ratings8.737 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Capsule8, now part of SophosLevelBlue USM AnywhereSplunk Enterprise
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft Defender XDR
    Score8.7 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Snort
    Score9 out of 10
    InsightIDR
    Score8.5 out of 10
    IBM Security QRadar SIEM
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Proofpoint Advanced Threat Protection
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Microsoft Defender XDR
    Score8.7 out of 10
    SolarWinds Security Event Manager (SEM)
    Score8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Capsule8, now part of SophosLevelBlue USM AnywhereSplunk Enterprise
    Likelihood to Recommend
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.8
    (390 ratings)
    8.7
    (112 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.2
    (18 ratings)
    8.5
    (25 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.7
    (34 ratings)
    8.5
    (45 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.4
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (25 ratings)
    8.0
    (19 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.3
    (6 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.4
    (38 ratings)
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.3
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.6
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Capsule8, now part of SophosLevelBlue USM AnywhereSplunk Enterprise
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    At this point I'm saying a 4. While the marketing material make it appear to be easy to use and it was relatively easy to set up, as previously mentioned, each event description is based upon the individual asset making it nearly impossible for the administrator to be a SME for each asset. For example, if one of the assets reporting is a router, the administrator monitoring alerts would need to know what the various events are that can be triggered as an event for the particular router; however, if the asset is a workstation, the administrator would need to know the various events that are triggered for workstations.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    I'm liking the newer products, and I'm looking forward to how they integrate with the overall product when they come together. Just log in and be able to query a large number of systems for similar issues or a unique one. That is a great fit for Splunk Enterprise, looking for a simple case or a simple String or something of that nature across multiple machines. It's a great fit for that to identify issues or particular software, whatever your scenario is, String, to find it across any particular server or group of servers, so that you can update or do a deployment or whatever it is you're looking to do.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    • AlienVault USM is simple and easy to deploy. Sensors can be deployed in as little as 15 minutes through the setup wizard.
    • The USM UI is easy to understand. I've trained multiple analysts who are able to perform their duties on their first day, in part because of USM Anywhere's ease of use.
    • Top-notch built-in compliance templates and reporting features.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • It is very useful in creating custom rules for analyzing system logs and display relevant information. The query language is very easy to learn.
    • We can create custom UI to visualize the output of our data. The interface is very flexible. It also allows the sharing of rules among users.
    • There is an open online community to help others. Stackoverflow also has a splunk community. These resources make it more convenient to learn.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    • Personally, I've wished I could purchase a service that would configure AV for my environment. I get a lot of traffic on a daily basis and I almost need to hire an analyst that just works on AV.
    • Some of the filters when looking for a specific alert aren't that easy to use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    • Splunk light limits number of users to 5. Wish there was a flexible license, where one could add more users.
    • Splunk light does not let you add > few realtime alerts. Wish there was a flexible license, where one could add as many realtime alerts as wanted.
    • Better insight into daily ingestion values
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    The centralized logging and retention for PCI compliance was our main driver, and it is meeting that need. Otherwise there has been enough frustration with the lack of documentation and the need to customize through the CLI that I would be open to alternatives.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    We are using Splunk extensively in our projects and we have recently upgraded to Splunk version 6.0 which is quite efficient and giving expected results. We keep track of updates and new features Splunk introduces periodically and try to introduce those features in our day to day activities for improvement in our reporting system and other tasks.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    Once you are able to navigate the different panels, finding what you need is quite easily. Before getting used it it can be a bit of challenge . Each panel is quite well laid out and the filtering search capabilities are quite strong.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    You can literally throw in a single word into Splunk and it will pull back all instances of that word across all of your logs for the time span you select (provided you have permission to see that data). We have several users who have taken a few of the free courses from Splunk that are able to pull data out of it everyday with little help at all.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    We do have issues with maintenance on the AlienVault USM as the disk fills up from time to time with other data sources. Sources for scanning logs and net flow data isn't calculated in regular disk maintenance and can easily fill up our disk if we do not keep an eye on it with some custom Nagios plugins. The system does properly trim logging data from logging sources properly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    When properly setup and configured, Splunk is extremely reliable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    With the latest release of AlienVault USM overall performance has not been an issue. We have noticed single source events per second does not scale well with the overall system. 2,000eps on a vmware system with a single source produces delays of up to an hour for us. Pages, reporting and even raw log searches are rather quick though.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    The support we received from alienvault was excellent. They went above and beyond in making sure everything was working as it needed to be. They REALLY want their product implementation to be a success and our security goals be achieved. They are like a member of our security team.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cisco
    Splunk maintains a well resourced support system that has been consistent since we purchased the product. They help out in a timely manner and provide expert level information as needed. We typically open cases online and communicate when possible via e-mail and are able to resolve most issues with that method.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    I did not have any experience with "in person" training directly. The free online classes offered for a half a day are based on the actual training offered. These little teasers are very good and well worth your time to learn a few quick and dirty ways of getting more information from your SIEM
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    It was very well organized and helpful in using the product to the fullest extent. The instructor allowed time for folks who were involved with managed services to receive tuning tips in order to better support their customers. In addition, the course materials were automatically updated when the new version came out.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    The online course was simple clear and described the main capabilities of the solution. There is also an initial module that can be done for free so anyone can familiarize themselves with the functionality of this solution. On the other hand, however, there could be more free online courses. Maybe even with a certificate, this would broaden the group of people who are familiar with the platform while increasing familiarity with the solution itself.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    AlienVault USM was a very simple to implement and get up and running. We started with a trial version and had that up and going within an hour of receiving email instructions from the sales engineer. We never had to contact support to get the system up and going. It was extremely easy to convert over to a full license once we started with a paid version.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Smooth without too many major issues.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    Splunk's ES is a paid add-on on top of an already pricey product. Finding a MSSP that supports Splunk and isn't a 6 figure annual commitment seems unlikely. LogRhythm did not have a cloud-based solution when we were considering SIEMs. Fantastic product though and have a good MSSP base. Devo did not have a MSSP partner base when we looked. Their product is fantastic too. AlienVault USM has good partners to choose from as well as an affordable cloud model, that's why we chose it.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    A lot of products have natively inside their own dashboards and or their own logging repositories. And each one is difficult to learn or they're too complex or they're not verbose in the sense that they're not easy to mine the data that you're looking for. So that could be anything from the native logging that you find in other Cisco products. It's easier to use Splunk to draw the data that you're looking for as opposed to going to the individual's products themselves to get the logs that you're looking for.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    The AlienVault USM is not very scalable. Some scalability can be achieved by installing additional sensors, but this only offers 500eps per sensor and is still overall limited by the installation type of VM or physical. We have also noticed the EPS (events per second) is rated overall and not towards a single source. A single source on a very healthy VMware partition tops out at 2,000eps for us, no matter how we configure it. Maybe this is a problem of the 5.2 release?
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    Splunk can scale in to the petabyte per day range which of course is awesome
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Sophos
    No answers on this topic
    LevelBlue
    • Once you hit the 150 asset mark, you have to jump to their unlimited license. There is no middle ground. We were only 10 or so assets above the 150 so we had to chose to either not monitor those assets or pay the price of the upgrade.
    • AlienVault brings all the information to one place which makes it much quicker to track down problems.
    Incentivized
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    Cisco
    • Splunk has allowed developers to diagnose production issues when access of control was taken away from them to be allowed to view items in production environments and I believe that is invaluable.
    • At times some developers weren't super happy about using it, but it was more of the fact that they were used to having production access and not creating their splunk queries to get information.
    • Going one place to view logs was very beneficial to have.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots