Calculate exact infrastructure requirements, compare 15 SIEM vendors side-by-side, and get real Q3 2025 pricing data. Built from analyzing 500+ production SIEM deployments.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a critical security technology that aggregates, analyzes, and correlates log data from across your entire IT infrastructure. SIEM platforms help detect threats, investigate incidents, and meet compliance requirements by providing centralized visibility into security events.
Undersizing leads to lost logs and blind spots. Oversizing wastes hundreds of thousands in licensing costs. Our calculator helps you size perfectly for your needs based on real-world deployments.
SIEM vendors use different pricing: GB ingested (Splunk, Sentinel), EPS (QRadar, LogRhythm), or user-based (Rapid7). We compare all models apples-to-apples so you can make informed decisions.
Our sizing recommendations come from analyzing 500+ enterprise SIEM deployments. We know what actually works at scale, not just vendor marketing specs.
❌ Mistake #1: Using vendor "typical" event sizes. Real logs vary wildly: Syslog (300-600 bytes), Windows Events (800-1200 bytes), Cloud logs (400-800 bytes), Network flows (200-500 bytes).
❌ Mistake #2: Ignoring compression ratios. Splunk achieves 8-12:1, QRadar 6-8:1, Elastic 5-7:1. This dramatically affects storage costs.
❌ Mistake #3: Not planning for growth. Plan for 30-50% annual log volume growth or you'll be undersized in year 2.
❌ Mistake #4: Forgetting indexing overhead. Splunk and Elastic need 15-25% extra storage for indexes and metadata.
Adjust the sliders below to match your environment. Get instant sizing recommendations and vendor-specific pricing.
💡 Average log events processed per second across all sources
💡 Typical: Syslog 300-600, Windows 800-1200, Cloud 400-800 bytes
💡 Compliance requirements: PCI 1yr, HIPAA 6yr, SOX 7yr
💡 Fast SSD/NVMe for recent searches. Rest goes to cheaper warm/cold storage
💡 Splunk: 8-12:1, QRadar: 6-8:1, Elastic: 5-7:1, Sentinel: 10-15:1
💡 Impacts CPU/RAM requirements for search heads
Adjust the parameters on the left and click Calculate to see your personalized SIEM sizing recommendations and vendor comparison.
Compare all 15 vendors side-by-side with apples-to-apples pricing for 1,000 EPS baseline
| Vendor | 1K EPS/Year Cost | 10K EPS/Year Cost | Pricing Model | Deployment | Search Speed | Best For | Complexity | Official Docs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Splunk Enterprise | $65,700 | $657,000 | GB Ingested | Hybrid | ⚡⚡⚡⚡ Excellent | Enterprise SOC | High | Docs → |
| IBM QRadar | $30,000 | $300,000 | EPS + Flows | Hybrid | ⚡⚡⚡ Good | Compliance | High | Docs → |
| Microsoft Sentinel | $33,396 | $333,960 | GB Ingested | Cloud | ⚡⚡⚡⚡ Excellent | Azure/M365 | Medium | Docs → |
| Elastic Security | $39,420 | $394,200 | GB Storage | Hybrid | ⚡⚡⚡⚡ Excellent | DevSecOps | Medium | Docs → |
| Google Chronicle | $21,900 | $219,000 | GB Ingested | Cloud | ⚡⚡⚡⚡⚡ Blazing | Petabyte Scale | Low | Docs → |
| LogRhythm SIEM | $35,000 | $350,000 | EPS | Hybrid | ⚡⚡⚡ Good | Mid-Market | Medium | Docs → |
| Securonix UEBA | $45,000 | $450,000 | EPS | Cloud | ⚡⚡⚡ Good | Advanced Analytics | High | Docs → |
| Exabeam Fusion | $50,000 | $500,000 | EPS | Hybrid | ⚡⚡⚡ Good | User-Centric | Medium | Docs → |
| Rapid7 InsightIDR | $18,000 | $180,000 | Per User | Cloud | ⚡⚡⚡ Good | SMB/Mid-Market | Low | Docs → |
| Sumo Logic | $43,800 | $438,000 | GB Ingested | Cloud | ⚡⚡⚡ Good | Cloud-Native | Medium | Docs → |
| Datadog Security | $18,250 | $182,500 | GB Ingested | Cloud | ⚡⚡⚡⚡ Excellent | APM + Security | Low | Docs → |
| Graylog Enterprise | $15,000 | $150,000 | Flat Rate | Hybrid | ⚡⚡ Fair | Open Source | Medium | Docs → |
| Micro Focus ArcSight | $40,000 | $400,000 | EPS | On-Prem | ⚡⚡ Fair | Legacy Enterprise | High | Docs → |
| Devo Platform | $36,500 | $365,000 | GB Ingested | Cloud | ⚡⚡⚡⚡ Excellent | Real-time | Medium | Docs → |
| AT&T AlienVault | $27,375 | $273,750 | GB Ingested | Hybrid | ⚡⚡⚡ Good | All-in-One USM | Medium | Docs → |
Baseline Calculation: All costs calculated for 1,000 EPS generating approximately 180 GB/day (~438 bytes avg event size). Assumes 365-day retention with typical compression ratios per vendor.
Disclaimer: Pricing collected Q3 2025 from public sources and community contributions. Actual costs vary based on negotiation, commitment term, and support level. Always request official quotes.
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