Sumo Logic vs. Splunk: Comprehensive Reviews and Alternatives (Paid and Free) (2023)

Sumo Logic and Splunk share several similarities and key features that you might be looking for in a SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) tool. Both brands are industry-leading security and log management tools capable of collecting log data across multiple servers and providing real-time security insights and historical forensic audits.

Similarities: Sumo Logic vs Splunk

Both Sumo Logic and Splunk act as an ongoing security monitor for your organization, detecting and removing threats that firewalls and antivirus software often miss. As a SIEM tool, both products can be configured to detect insider threats, outside intruders and track APTs (Advanced Persistent Threats) on a network.

Both companies have an impressive number of international and corporate clients. Sumo Logic catered to giants like Samsung, Whole Foods and Pitney Bowes. Splunk, on the other hand, has worked with industry leaders like Intel, Comcast and Coca-Cola. Splunk and Sumo Logic have served Fortune 500 customers and are well designed for enterprise environments.

From a dashboard perspective, both products present incoming data and new information through an intuitive user interface. Views are fully customizable as per your needs through drag and drop style templates.

Sumo-Logic

Sumo Logic brings security, business and operational intelligence from structured and unstructured data streams into a single, manageable platform. A key difference between Sumo Logic and Spunk is that Sumo Logic is currently only available for cloud configuration, which means that data collected from your devices and networks is stored on one.private cloud.This is not a problem for most companies, but it can be an issue for organizations that are looking for an on-premises solution only.

Main features:

  • Flexible data collection tool
  • Ready-to-use research tools, so-called apps
  • query builder
  • alarm setting function
  • free version

A collector retrieves unmanaged data from multiple sources. This collector is a lightweight agent that can be manually installed or scheduled. The setup process is quite simple and it supports multiple hosts such as Linux, Windows, macOS or as a binary package. Once the connector is deployed through the setup wizard, you will see your active connector underManage Data > Collection > Collectionsection of your Sumo Logic control panel.

Sumo Logic makes it easy for you to start getting value from your data relatively quickly through a set of wizards, integration support and an intuitive interface. After configuring your sinks, use another wizard to identify a source for your data. This adds context to the data the collector is starting to pull.

(Video) Why Sumo Logic Cloud SOAR

When it comes to visualizing your data, you can manually configure metrics from any source to display information in a graph. This can take a while during the initial setup. Fortunately, Sumo Logic has an entire section called Applications dedicated to creating ready-to-use insights that you can apply to your data. Deploying an app to your data is as simple as selecting the app or data you want for your data and clicking install.

Running manual queries of your log data is an easy process, especially if you've already queried data from logs or other search engines. Like Splunk, Sumo Logic automatically populates the search bar with parameters and data sources to save you time remembering search functions. If you are new to working with searches and queries, Sumo Logic offers a number ofuseful cheat sheetswhich contain all the common search functions for querying your data.

To create meaningful alerts, you must first create a query based on that alert. Once this query is recorded, you can specify a condition to trigger this alert and set a threshold. You can use an outlier operator to position your boundaries to expand and contrast with web traffic. Creating alerts is easy as long as you've written your query correctly. Notifications can be sent via email or webhook via third-party integrations.

benefits:

  • Supports multiple environments (Linux, Windows and Mac OS)
  • Easy installation: use wizards to speed up installation and add-ons
  • It has a variety of pre-built templates and assets that make the experience easy to use.

Disadvantages:

  • Best suited for small and medium-sized businesses

Sumo Logic offers a seamless integration process with minimal setup required to start collecting business intelligence. There is a free version of Sumo Logic that you can use to start collecting and analyzing limited data. The current pricing model is divided into four tiers based on data usage and uses a credit system for flexible billing. Small business logging and monitoring starts at $2.50 per gigabyte with a data limit of 10 GB per day.

See too: sumo logic review

splunk

Splunk is a SIEM tool that aims to provide enterprise-grade information security and log management for customers. The Splunk platform offers a wide range of services and features, including insider threat detection, forensic auditing, and even fraud detection. While Splunk mostly advertises that it is cloud-based, there is an option for an on-premise installation. This can be done through the VMware infrastructure, but compared to deploying in the cloud, it can take a significant amount of time to ensure that requirements are met and the correct resources are allocated.

(Video) Sumo Logic’s architecture: How we built it, and how it’s paying off for our customers

Main features:

  • On-premise or cloud platform
  • data analytics platform
  • records management service
  • SIEM option
  • Alert creation mechanism

Like most SIEM products, Splunk uses its own agent called an indexer to collect data. This indexer requires some configuration, depending on the operating system environment in which it is installed. Once the indexer is configured and installed, you can configure Splunk to start receiving data by accessingSettings > Forwarding and Receivingand enter your agent's listening port.

The setup process can sometimes be complex and involves redirects and installing "apps" designed to simplify the onboarding process and prevent misconfigurations. Depending on the complexity of your environment and the number of domain controllers and servers you need to define policies for, integration time can vary. Splunk's support team has a professional services department that can help with integration, data migration, and configuration.

After the initial onboarding process, Splunk's ease of use really starts to shine. Splunk has some of the most intuitive and flexible dashboards in the SIEM space, allowing drag-and-drop editing via the view editor and XML configuration to make changes on the fly. Dashboard dashboards are designed for teams, giving you the ability to create specific views based on departments or groups. This ensures that no team is overwhelmed with information that is not relevant to their tasks.

Researching Splunk can be a complex but rewarding task. Splunk uses its own query processing language (SPL) to filter and sort data. This SPL can sometimes have a steep learning curve, but it allows for the generation of complicated and complex queries. One of the most powerful features of Splunks SPL is the ability to view your survey data in real time. Whether it's a numerical value in a graph or a geolocation tag, this information can be visualized as you develop and refine your query.

You can create notifications in Splunk based on a query by simply typing that query as a search and clickingSave asbutton and selectionAlarm. From here, an alert workflow is created that allows you to select the conditions for triggering the alert, as well as the permission level and schedule for running the alert script. Once saved, all notifications will automatically appear on your notification panel, where you can get an overview of their current status and how often they were triggered.

benefits:

  • It has a great interface for viewing data and monitoring live metrics
  • Supports physical and virtual environments
  • It offers excellent support to companies and a wide range of integrations.

Disadvantages:

  • More geared towards corporate customers

Splunk has a proven track record of serving enterprise customers and bringing a truly comprehensive SIEM tool to market. Splunk's dashboards and alerting features are designed for ease of use and scalability. Splunk has a unique and comprehensive pricing modelfour different pricing optionsdepending on the different ways your business wants to scale. Expect Splunk Enterprise pricing to start at $2000.00 per year on a 1GB/day data plan.

(Video) Adversary hunting and monitoring in Sumo Logic

See too: Splunk Review

Main differences between Sumo Logic and Splunk

When comparing Sumo Logic and Splunk, there were some key differences that you might want to delve into mastering SIEM before committing to either tool.

Splunk has a bigger community and more features.Splunk took its profits and reinvested them heavily in the Splunk platform. This has allowed the platform to achieve "hockey stick" growth while maintaining a competitive advantage over other SIEM tools.

Features like Augmented Reality (Splunk AI) allow you to visualize data in real-time, and new developments in the Splunk mobile app give data a new level of versatility compared to other platforms. Although Splunk is not open source, it still has a large community that helps other users answer questions, share best practices, and request new features.

Splunk has extensive documentation and more support options.While both Sumo Logic and Splunk offer various forms of support, Splunk has extensive documentation andadditional funding programsfor those who demand a superior level of service. Splunk has five different support models, from basic documentation access to premium 24/7 support with a minimum response time of 30 minutes.

While not all companies require this level of granularity in their support contract, Splunk has taken the time to create these plans to better serve our customers.

Sumo Logic has a smaller learning curve.If you don't have the budget or want to delve into proficiency with a SIEM, Sumo Logic is an easier option. Sumo Logic offers the best security and records management without spending dozens of hours on training. Splunk's SPL search engine may be powerful, but it adds many layers of complexity to the mix that smaller companies may not even need to use.

Splunk has more third-party integrations.While both platforms have the ability to use webhooks and API integrations, Splunk has many more plugins and features out of the box. Currently, Splunk has over 600 different types of apps and plug-ins that extend and enhance the platform's usefulness. Splunk also has many other security and business intelligence tools that make integrating these new features relatively easy.

Which tool is best for you?

In the case of Sumo Logic vs. Splunk, the comparison was head-to-head. Both products offer flexible, competitive pricing while providing state-of-the-art features and records management. If you're a large business or enterprise looking to scale and leverage data over the long term, Splunk is probably your best bet. While the learning curve may be greater, you'll have more opportunity to evolve later on and have less trouble incorporating these features in the future.

For smaller companies looking to implement security and log management in their environment, Sumo Logic is a good choice due to its ease of use and flexible pricing.

Alternatives to Sumo Logic and Splunk

Our method for choosing an alternative to Sumo Logic and Splunk

We analyze the records management systems market and review tools based on the following criteria:

  • Collection and consolidation of records
  • Create and iterate over log files
  • Reasonably named log file directories in a logical structure
  • log data viewer
  • Log Data Lookup Tool
  • A free trial or demo option that offers a risk-free trial opportunity
  • Value for money represented by a records management system offered at a good price or free to use
(Video) Sumo Logic Illuminate 2021 Opening Keynote

With these selection criteria in mind, we identified log management tools that compete well with Sumo Logic and Splunk.

Below is a short list of alternatives to Sumo Logic and Splunk:

  1. data dogLeverage real-time and historical data to deliver actionable insights, automated remediation, and alerts on-premises or in the cloud.
  2. Centinela.ioProvides logging solutions primarily focused on software development teams and the DevOps industry.
  3. ELKPopular free open source log management tool that includes tools like Elasticsearch, Logstash and Kibana for advanced features.
  4. Log StashPowered by Elastic, LogStash makes data management accessible to small development teams and researchers.

If you're still comparing SIEM products, check ours out.best SIEM toolsMail.

Frequently Asked Questions about Sumo Logic vs. splunk

Is Sumo Logic like Splunk?

Sumo Logic is a SIEM tool that processes log messages and looks for signs of security holes. Splunk is a data mining tool that can be used for many purposes, including detecting security breaches. Therefore, Sumo Logic is very similar to Splunk Enterprise Security, a SIEM application that is an add-on package to Splunk.

Who competes in Sumo Logic?

Sumo Logic is a SIEM system in the cloud. There are several very competent competitors in this field:

  • Splunk Enterprise Security
  • Datadog Cloud SIEM
  • Centinela.io
  • LogRhythm NetGen SIEM
  • Rapid7 InsightIDR

What is the purpose of sumo logic?

Sumo Logic is a cloud-based service that uses an on-premises agent to collect log messages from across an organization's system. Once these messages are uploaded, they are converted to a common format, stored and also scanned for signs of security breaches. This is a SIEM system.

FAQs

Is Sumo Logic better than Splunk? ›

Splunk has extensive documentation and more support options.

While both Sumo Logic and Splunk have multiple forms of support, Splunk has extensive documentation and additional support programs for those who need a higher level of service.

What is the difference between Splunk and Sumo Logic? ›

Splunk is geared towards large enterprises with a need for a vast integration/plugin library. These options, however, come at a premium. In contrast, Sumo Logic is a cost-effective solution for organizations in need of a SaaS-based platform that's extensible and easy to get acquainted with.

Who competes with Sumo Logic? ›

Sumo Logic's top competitors include Splunk, Dynatrace, and Datadog. Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK) provides a software platform that enables organizations to gain operational intelligence.

Is Sumo Logic a good company? ›

Is Sumo Logic a good company to work for? Sumo Logic has an overall rating of 4.0 out of 5, based on over 417 reviews left anonymously by employees. 82% of employees would recommend working at Sumo Logic to a friend and 70% have a positive outlook for the business.

Who is Splunk's biggest competitor? ›

Top Splunk Alternatives
  • IBM.
  • LogRhythm.
  • Elastic.
  • SolarWinds.
  • AT&T Cybersecurity.
  • Microsoft.
  • Fortinet.
  • Micro Focus.

Does the military use Splunk? ›

All four branches of the U.S. military and many agencies in the intelligence community already rely on Splunk to make confident decisions and take decisive action at mission speeds.

Is Splunk free or proprietary? ›

Splunk is proprietary, whereas Spark is an open-source tool. Splunk is for collecting machine-generated data and to visualize it. Spark is the in-memory processing of big data.

What is the free version of Splunk? ›

Splunk Free license grants you limited access to Splunk Enterprise, the Free license does not expire. With a Splunk free license you can index 500 MB a day. If you go over the 500 MB limit you will receive a license violation, 3 license violations during a 30-day period will prevent you from searching in Splunk.

Is Sumo Logic open-source? ›

Sumo Logic provides open-source solutions and resources for customers via GitHub.

What makes Sumo Logic different? ›

Sumo Logic is delivered as a simple to use web application and you can start troubleshooting and root-cause analysis of your applications and IT infrastructure in less than 15 minutes. With Sumo Logic, you get deep analytics into how your applications behave, and thus can better serve your customers.

Is Sumo a SIEM logic? ›

Sumo Logic as the SIEM cutting-edge choice

Sumo Logic's state-of-the-art functionality, organizational capabilities, automated tools, machine learning applications, and advanced forensics insights will give you everything you need to protect your networks and analyze your data with ease and efficiency.

Who is Redhat's biggest competitor? ›

Top Red Hat Alternatives
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • IBM.
  • Apache Software Foundation.
  • Oracle.
  • Microsoft.
  • Google.
  • Docker.
  • Cloud Foundry.

What is the rating of Sumo Logic? ›

Sumo Logic has 114 reviews with an overall average rating of 4.4.

Where is Sumo Logic based? ›

Sumo Logic was founded in April 2010 by ArcSight veterans Kumar Saurabh and Christian Beedgen, and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

Should I buy sumo stock? ›

Valuation metrics show that Sumo Logic, Inc. may be overvalued. Its Value Score of F indicates it would be a bad pick for value investors. The financial health and growth prospects of SUMO, demonstrate its potential to underperform the market.

Does Amazon use Splunk? ›

Partner Benefits. AWS and Splunk provide a cloud-based, analytics-driven security information and event management (SIEM) solution that enables your security team to detect and respond to ransomware and other issues in real time.

What is comparable to Splunk? ›

Top Splunk Alternatives
  • Nagios.
  • Cisco.
  • Broadcom.
  • Microsoft.
  • SolarWinds.
  • ManageEngine.
  • Riverbed.
  • Dynatrace.

Does Google use Splunk? ›

As organizations continue to adopt cloud-first initiatives, the powerful combination of Google Cloud's secure infrastructure and Splunk's Data-to-Everything platform allows innovators across the world to turn data into doing.

What big companies use Splunk? ›

Who uses Splunk?
CompanyWebsiteCompany Size
California State University-Stanislauscsustan.edu1000-5000
NetSuite Incnetsuite.com>10000
Red Hat Incredhat.com>10000
Blackfriars Groupblackfriarsgroup.com>10000
1 more row

Why is Splunk so popular? ›

Splunk allows customers to do more with their data — and now offers more flexible streaming, storage, search, and workload-based pricing giving customers the freedom to choose how and where they manage their data.

Does Splunk compete with Microsoft? ›

Splunk generally gets better ratings for quality of support and ease of doing business. Most people trust Microsoft's products more, including its Network Management, Incident Management, and Security Intelligence. The only areas Splunk tends to excel are in event management and incident reporting.

How much does Splunk really cost? ›

Splunk Pricing
Daily IndexPerpetual LicenseAnnual Term License
1 GB/day$4,500$1,800
10 GB/day$2,500$1,000
50 GB/day$1,900$760
100 GB/day$1,500$600
2 more rows
Mar 9, 2017

What are the features not available in Splunk free? ›

Splunk Free does not include below features: Authentication and scheduled searches/alerting. Distributed search. Forwarding in TCP/HTTP (to non-Splunk)

What are the disadvantages of using Splunk? ›

Disadvantages of Splunk
  • Expensive for Very Large Data Volumes. Besides the amazing features of Splunk, it's a little expensive for very large data volumes. ...
  • Difficult to Implement Optimizing Searches for Speed. ...
  • Less Reliability. ...
  • High Competition From Competitors.
Jan 17, 2023

What is the free limit for Splunk? ›

Free License

This means that you'll only have access to some Splunk Enterprise features. Also, the indexing limit for the free license is 500MB of data per day.

How long does Splunk free trial last? ›

Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring

Try it as part of the Splunk Observability Cloud trial — free for 14 days, no credit card required.

Does the government use Splunk? ›

Confident decisions and actions at mission speeds

Thousands of U.S. public sector organizations use Splunk's security, IT and observability solutions, including: All three branches of the federal government and more than a dozen cabinet-level departments.

What database does Sumo Logic use? ›

The Sumo Logic App for PostgreSQL is a unified logs and metrics app for monitoring your PostgreSQL database. The app provides operational insights into the PostgreSQL database—installed on your local hardware—for real time analysis.

What is new Sumo Logic? ›

We've rolled out the ability to customize your alert recovery notifications. So when setting up Sumo Logic webhook connections, you can now design and test both your alert and recovery JSON payloads.

What does Sumo Logic sell? ›

Sumo Logic, Inc. provides cloud-native software-as-a-service platform that enables organizations to address the challenges and opportunities presented by digital transformation, modern applications, and cloud computing worldwide.

Is sumo still popular? ›

Nowadays, sumo is one of the most beloved sports in Japan, and its top-ranking wrestlers are extremely popular. If you wish to watch this fascinating sport, there are six tournaments every year, three of which are held in Tokyo.

Why use Sumo Logic? ›

Why use Sumo Logic? Sumo Logic helps you monitor, troubleshoot and secure your applications with a single SaaS analytics platform. It's easy to signup. Register with your email to get a free Sumo Logic account, including Enterprise access for the first thirty days.

What makes Splunk better? ›

Splunk provides the flexibility to ask questions of unstructured data and add structure on the fly with our proprietary schema-on-read technology. With full-fidelity data coverage and pervasive AI, you can get the real-time insights you need to simplify workstreams and efficiently scale operations.

What are two popular SIEM platforms? ›

What are Gartner's Top SIEM Solutions?
  • #1 – Exabeam. Exabeam Fusion SIEM, previously known as SaaS Cloud, is available as a SaaS in hybrid and local co-deployment. ...
  • #2 – IBM. ...
  • #3 – LogRhythm. ...
  • #4 – Rapid7. ...
  • #5 – Securonix. ...
  • #6 – Splunk. ...
  • Related content: Gartner SIEM Magic Quadrant Report.
  • Related content: SIEM Architecture.

What are the most popular SIEM? ›

Following is a handpicked list of Top SIEM tool with their popular features and website links.
...
FAQ:
  • SolarWinds Security Event Manager.
  • Paessler Security.
  • Log360.
  • Splunk Enterprise Security.
  • IBM QRadar.
  • AT&T Cybersecurity.
  • Datadog Security Monitoring.
  • LogRhythm NextGen SIEM Platform.
Jan 31, 2023

What SIEM does Google use? ›

Part of Chronicle Security Operations, Chronicle SIEM delivers modern threat detection and investigation with integrated threat intelligence at unprecedented speed and scale, and at a disruptive and predictable price point. 10x your Security Operations. Watch our demo that highlights Google Cloud's SecOps Suite.

What is the free alternative to Redhat? ›

The best alternative is Ubuntu, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Red Hat Enterprise Linux are Linux Mint, Debian, Arch Linux and Manjaro Linux.

What are the common key competitors of RHEL? ›

CentOS, Oracle Linux, Ubuntu, Fedora, and Debian are the most popular alternatives and competitors to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

Who are kantars competitors? ›

Most Commonly Comparedto Kantar Marketplace
  • Nielsen Marketing Cloud. Compare.
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  • Snowflake. Compare.
  • Reputation.com. Compare.
  • Medallia. Compare. Learn More.
  • Opinion Stage. Compare.
  • D&B Connect. Compare. Learn More.
  • Qualtrics. Compare.

Is Splunk the best tool for log monitoring? ›

Best for Server and API log monitoring

We use the log observer to investigate and monitor our application servers, cloud as well as API logs. Splunk Log Observer is overall best in understanding issues and has plan to resolve those issues.

Is Splunk the best SIEM? ›

Splunk is an excellent SIEM solution and its integration with almost any network and security device makes it a unique player in the market. The user interface is easy to navigate and understand.

What is equivalent to Splunk? ›

Sumo Logic is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) logging platform that received attention for marketing itself as a cloud-based competitor to Splunk. Sumo Logic automatically scales to your log volume as a hosted service, claiming to support multiple terabytes of ingested data per day.

Does Splunk have a free version? ›

If you want to run Splunk Enterprise to practice searches, data ingestion, and other tasks without worrying about a license, Splunk Free is the tool for you.

What is the best log management tool? ›

20+ Best Log Management Tools for Monitoring, Analytics & More: Pros & Cons Comparison [2023]
  • Sematext Logs.
  • Splunk.
  • Sumo Logic.
  • SolarWinds PaperTrail.
  • SolarWinds Loggly.
  • ManageEngine EventLog Analyzer.
  • Datadog.
  • LogDNA.
Jan 6, 2023

What are two popular SIEM platforms choose two? ›

What are Gartner's Top SIEM Solutions?
  • #1 – Exabeam. Exabeam Fusion SIEM, previously known as SaaS Cloud, is available as a SaaS in hybrid and local co-deployment. ...
  • #2 – IBM. ...
  • #3 – LogRhythm. ...
  • #4 – Rapid7. ...
  • #5 – Securonix. ...
  • #6 – Splunk. ...
  • Related content: Gartner SIEM Magic Quadrant Report.
  • Related content: SIEM Architecture.

Is Splunk worth buying? ›

29 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Splunk in the last twelve months. There are currently 11 hold ratings and 18 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that investors should "buy" SPLK shares. View SPLK analyst ratings or view top-rated stocks.

Why Splunk is better than other tools? ›

What makes Splunk's technology different? The Unified Security and Observability Platform provides comprehensive visibility of digital systems, and the ability to detect, investigate and respond, rapidly and at scale.

What version of Python is Splunk using? ›

x, Splunk Web supports only Python version 3.7. Any scripts that depend on Splunk Web must be upgraded to use syntax compatible with both Python 2.7 and 3.7.

Videos

1. Sumo Logic Cloud SIEM Fundamentals
(Sumo Logic, Inc.)
2. Sumo Logic Cert Jam - Fundamentals
(Sumo Logic, Inc.)
3. Sumo Logic QuickStart
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4. Reviewing 5 APM Stocks: $DDOG, $DT, $ESTC, $SPLK, $NEWR
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5. Tutorial: Set up an AWS CloudTrail Source
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6. Sumo Logic Metrics Mastery Certification
(Sumo Logic, Inc.)

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