Wazuh vs Splunk
Wazuh is a free, open-source security platform that combines SIEM and XDR on one agent, covering log analysis, intrusion detection, file integrity monitoring, vulnerability detection and configuration assessment across endpoints and cloud workloads. Splunk is a commercial SIEM and analytics platform, now part of Cisco, known for its SPL search language and large app ecosystem, with UEBA and SOAR in the wider portfolio. The choice usually turns on budget and in-house skills against scale, support and ecosystem.
Updated Sep 2026Summary
Choose Wazuh if licence cost matters most and you have the skills to run it, or want a managed service at a fixed monthly price. Choose Splunk if you need to correlate large, mixed IT and security data sets with enterprise support and a broad app ecosystem, and can budget for it.
Choose Wazuh if:
- You want SIEM and endpoint detection with no licence cost
- You have the skills to deploy and run the stack yourself
- You want file integrity monitoring, vulnerability detection and configuration assessment from the same agent
- You need compliance reporting for PCI DSS, HIPAA or GDPR
- You may want a managed service later: Wazuh Cloud starts at $571 a month for up to 100 agents
Choose Splunk if:
- You need to search and correlate large volumes of mixed IT and security data
- You want a large ecosystem of apps and integrations
- You want enterprise support and training
- Your team already writes SPL, or wants a mature query language
- You want a choice of activity-based, workload or ingest pricing
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Wazuh | Splunk |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | Open source, free | Commercial |
| Pricing | Free; Wazuh Cloud from $571/month for up to 100 agents | Activity-based, workload or ingest pricing; quote required |
| Endpoint agent | Single agent for XDR and SIEM data | Collects machine data through its ecosystem of apps and integrations |
| Detection | Log analysis, intrusion detection, vulnerability detection | Real-time monitoring, ML threat detection, UEBA |
| Response | Incident response | SOAR for orchestration and automation |
| Compliance | PCI DSS, HIPAA and GDPR reporting | Compliance reporting and dashboards |
| Certifications | Wazuh Cloud is PCI DSS and SOC 2 certified | SOC 2, ISO 27001, FedRAMP, PCI DSS, HIPAA |
| Support | Community, with paid support available | Enterprise support and training |