CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Elastic vs Splunk

Elastic sells Elastic Security, an open, agentic security operations platform that offers SIEM, endpoint security, and native automation. Splunk sells a data platform for security, observability, and AI, and says the platform unifies petabyte-scale machine data wherever it lives. CISO Tribune files both under SIEM and SOAR and security automation. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Elastic
  • Splunk
Elastic vs Splunk: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
ElasticElastic sells Elastic Security, an open, agentic security operations platform that offers SIEM, endpoint security, and native automation.elastic.coSplunkSplunk sells a data platform for security, observability, and AI, and says the platform unifies petabyte-scale machine data wherever it lives.splunk.com
What it sells
  • Elastic Security[1][3][5][13]An open, agentic security operations platform that offers SIEM, endpoint security, and native automation.
  • SIEM[1][5]A SIEM offered as part of the Elastic Security platform.
  • Elastic XDR[1]Elastic XDR investigates and surfaces findings for approval when something slips through.
  • Attack Discovery[1]Correlates alerts into attack chains.
  • Cloud detection and response[5]A capability of Elastic Security that takes a vendor-agnostic, data-centric approach to cloud security.
  • Elastic Observability[3]Elastic Observability covers logs, metrics, traces, and APM.
  • Elasticsearch[3][7]A distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine.
  • Splunk Cloud Platform[12][22][23][24]A platform to collect, index, and visualize data in the cloud.
  • Splunk Enterprise[1][12][14][17][18][22][24]A platform to collect, index, and visualize data using an on-premises engine.
  • Splunk Enterprise Security[1][14][17][18]A Splunk solution for security operations.
  • Federated Search[15][19]A search layer across the data estate.
  • Splunk AI Assistant[19]A natural-language entry point to the search workflow.
  • Splunk Edge Processor[21]A processor that applies cryptographic functions to data as it flows on-premises.
  • Splunk AI Toolkit[20]Guided workflows to build and deploy models.
  • Splunk Log Observer Connect[22]An integration that links logs to Splunk Observability Cloud.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesSan Jose, United States[4]
Founded
Not stated on its pages2003[3]
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesOwned by Cisco[2][15][16][25]
Named customers
Not stated on its pages
Recent news
  • October 7, 2026Elastic introduced AlertZero, an AI SOC automation feature for Elastic Security that uses four agents, each with one job.[13]
  • September 15, 2026Cisco released Cisco AI POD for Splunk, which brings Splunk AI features to on-premises customers on Cisco infrastructure with NVIDIA computing.[10]
  • May 28, 2026Splunk reported that Cisco has completed its acquisition of Galileo, with plans to integrate Galileo technology into Splunk Observability.[25]
  • April 9, 2026Cisco agreed to buy AI observability startup Galileo Technologies to add its agent monitoring tools to the Splunk observability platform.[11]
  • February 18, 2026Splunk announced that its hosted AI models are generally available for Splunk Cloud Platform customers.[23]
  • January 16, 2026Splunk announced the release of Splunk Enterprise 10.2 and Splunk Cloud Platform 10.2.[24]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[14]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 3, 2026[16]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
Financial institutions are a named audience, with Elastic saying it helps them harness all their data to uncover insights and optimize operations. Security teams that already run cloud security tools can bring their analytics into Elastic Security. Elastic offers deployment in the cloud, on-premises, or serverless for organizations that require a particular environment.From its own pages, Splunk sells mainly to organisations that want security, observability, and AI data on one platform. Splunk describes SOC teams that index authentication and firewall data for real-time detections. Splunk describes a healthcare organization that monitors logs from medical devices. Splunk offers material for CISOs and boards on priorities, budgeting, compliance, and success metrics. Splunk describes deployments on Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud Platform.
Last verified
November 3, 2026October 10, 2026

Where they overlap

  • SIEM is the primary category of both Elastic and Splunk; both are also filed under SOAR and security automation.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Elastic is also filed under EDR and XDR. Splunk is also filed under Security data lakes and pipelines.
  • Elastic lists Elastic Security, SIEM, Elastic XDR, Attack Discovery, Cloud detection and response and 2 more. Splunk lists Splunk Cloud Platform, Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Federated Search, Splunk AI Assistant and 3 more.
  • Splunk is headquartered in San Jose, United States.
  • Splunk was founded in 2003.
  • Splunk is owned by Cisco.
  • Splunk publicly names Carrefour, Intel, FINRA, Alaska Airlines and Honda of Alabama.

How they differ

CISO Tribune files Elastic under SIEM, EDR and XDR, and SOAR and security automation, with SIEM as its primary category. CISO Tribune files Splunk under SIEM, SOAR and security automation, and Security data lakes and pipelines, also with SIEM as its primary category. Elastic sells Elastic Security, which it describes as an open, agentic security operations platform with SIEM, endpoint security, and native automation. Elastic also sells Elasticsearch and Elastic Observability, which makes three solutions in total. Splunk describes a data platform for security, observability, and AI, and sells Splunk Cloud Platform, Splunk Enterprise, and Splunk Enterprise Security.

On the overlap, both companies sell SIEM, and both describe AI agents for security work. Elastic names Attack Discovery, which correlates alerts into attack chains, and a cloud detection and response capability. Splunk names a Triage Agent and an Automation Builder Agent, both in alpha, and describes a SOAR system with playbook automation and case management. Splunk also sells Federated Search, which covers Splunk-managed locations and customer-managed stores such as Amazon S3 and Snowflake. Elastic says its platform runs in the cloud, on-premises, or serverless.

Splunk is headquartered in San Jose, United States, was founded in 2003, and is owned by Cisco. Splunk publicly names Carrefour, Intel, FINRA, Alaska Airlines, and Honda of Alabama as customers. On October 7, 2026, Elastic introduced AlertZero, an AI SOC automation feature for Elastic Security that uses four agents. On September 15, 2026, Cisco released Cisco AI POD for Splunk, which brings Splunk AI features to on-premises customers.

What it sells: Elastic

What Elastic Security does[1][3][5][13]
Agents work the full lifecycle from ingestion through response and show how they got there. The platform includes native SIEM, XDR, and automation capabilities.
What SIEM does[1][5]
Elastic Security chases down alerts, finds correlations and gives visibility into what it found. Elastic Security offers continuous monitoring and detection across cloud workloads, containers, infrastructure, network traffic, APIs, audits, and system logs, directly within the SIEM.
What Elastic XDR does[1]
When something slips through, Elastic XDR and the agentic layer investigate and surface findings for approval. Elastic Security offers endpoint security as part of its platform.
What Elastic Observability does[3]
Elastic Observability is one of three solutions that Elastic offers. Elastic Observability is available via Elastic Cloud Serverless, Elastic Cloud Hosted, or self-managed deployment.
What Elasticsearch does[3][7]
Elasticsearch is a distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine that can store every shape of data efficiently. Elasticsearch is the core component of the Elastic Stack and is built on Apache Lucene, an open source search library. Elasticsearch covers enterprise search, vector search, vector database, and RAG.

What it sells: Splunk

What Splunk Cloud Platform does[12][22][23][24]
Splunk Cloud Platform is described as a way to collect, index, and visualize data in the cloud. Splunk says data can be brought in with agents, Splunk-supported integrations, and developer add-ons.
What Splunk Enterprise Security does[1][14][17][18]
Splunk names Splunk Enterprise Security among its solutions that use pre-written macros. Splunk describes AI Assistant in Security as available to cloud customers of Splunk Enterprise Security.
What Federated Search does[15][19]
Federated Search is described as the unifying search layer across the data estate. It covers Splunk-managed locations and supported customer-managed stores such as Amazon S3 and Snowflake.
What Splunk AI Assistant does[19]
Splunk AI Assistant provides a natural-language entry point to the search workflow. With Agent Mode enabled, an analyst can describe the investigation to perform instead of constructing each search.

Questions about Elastic and Splunk

What do Elastic and Splunk sell?
Elastic sells Elastic Security, SIEM, Elastic XDR, Attack Discovery, Cloud detection and response and 2 more. Splunk sells Splunk Cloud Platform, Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Enterprise Security, Federated Search, Splunk AI Assistant and 3 more.
Are Elastic and Splunk in the same category?
Yes. SIEM is the primary category of both on CISO Tribune.
Where are Elastic and Splunk headquartered?
Splunk is headquartered in San Jose, United States.
When were Elastic and Splunk founded?
Splunk was founded in 2003.
Who owns Elastic and Splunk?
Splunk is owned by Cisco.
Which customers do Elastic and Splunk name?
Splunk publicly names Carrefour, Intel, FINRA, Alaska Airlines and Honda of Alabama.
Who are Elastic and Splunk sold to?
Financial institutions are a named audience, with Elastic saying it helps them harness all their data to uncover insights and optimize operations. From its own pages, Splunk sells mainly to organisations that want security, observability, and AI data on one platform.
What have Elastic and Splunk announced recently?
October 7, 2026: Elastic introduced AlertZero, an AI SOC automation feature for Elastic Security that uses four agents, each with one job. September 15, 2026: Cisco released Cisco AI POD for Splunk, which brings Splunk AI features to on-premises customers on Cisco infrastructure with NVIDIA computing.

About Elastic

Elastic sells Elastic Security, an open, agentic security operations platform that offers SIEM, endpoint security, and native automation. Elastic offers three solutions: Elasticsearch, Elastic Observability, and Elastic Security. Elasticsearch is the search and analytics engine that Elastic builds. Elasticsearch is the core component of the Elastic Stack and is built on Apache Lucene, an open source search library. Elastic Observability covers logs, metrics, traces, and APM, and Elasticsearch covers enterprise search, vector search, vector database, and RAG.[1][3][12]

Elastic Security includes native SIEM, XDR, and automation capabilities. Elastic Security lets customers use their data with the LLM of their choice, including frontier or on-premise models. Elastic Security has 400+ prebuilt integrations to support an existing toolset. Elastic Security integrations normalize data and include prebuilt dashboards, so a team can investigate a new source without writing parsers. Elastic describes a problem where detection, investigation, and response are spread across separate tools and context gets lost between them.[1][5]

Elastic Security chases down alerts, finds correlations and gives visibility into what it found. Attack Discovery correlates alerts into attack chains and investigates the activity behind them. When something slips through, Elastic XDR and the agentic layer investigate and surface findings for approval. Elastic Security users can create agents or automate their security operations using Workflows.[1][4]

Elastic Security has a cloud detection and response (CDR) capability that takes a vendor-agnostic, data-centric approach to cloud security with agentless integration. Elastic Security can integrate cloud analytics from existing tools.[5]

Elasticsearch, Elastic Observability, and Elastic Security are available via Elastic Cloud Serverless, Elastic Cloud Hosted, or self-managed deployment. Elastic Cloud Hosted deploys on AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. The Elastic platform runs in the cloud, on-premises, or serverless. Elastic on AWS runs prebuilt SaaS solutions for search, observability, and security. Elastic on Microsoft Azure deploys Elasticsearch directly within the Azure portal. Elastic Cloud receives data through native integrations on Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Kibana is the shared visualization and management UI across all Elastic solutions, and data is ingested via Elastic Agent, Beats, or Logstash.[3][6][7][8]

Elastic is FedRAMP Moderate Authorized on AWS GovCloud (US) and has received an in-process designation for FedRAMP High. Elastic is an authorized CVE Numbering Authority (CNA) where it assigns CVE IDs to vulnerabilities. Many organizations use the Elastic Stack as their central security analytics platform. Sitecore uses Elastic in its Security Operations Center. Sitecore has used more than 400 use cases from the Elastic open-source community and has written more than 60 custom use cases.[1][2][3][5][6][9][10][11]

Elastic on the record

Sources

Elastic full record

  1. [1]Elastic Security: Agentic SIEM, EDR, XDR, and automation | ElasticElastic · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]AboutElastic · elastic.co · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Elastic: The search database for AI | Search, AI agents, Observability, and Security | ElasticElastic · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Elastic Cloud Serverless pricing for Elastic Security | ElasticElastic · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Cloud security analytics for (CDR) | ElasticElastic · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]AI in financial services: Elastic for AI-powered search | ElasticElastic · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Official Elastic Cloud pricing — compare serverless and hosted offerings | ElasticElastic · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Elasticsearch Integrations | ElasticElastic · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Product Security at Elastic | ElasticElastic · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Elasticsearch GDPR and Elastic Stack GDPR Compliance | ElasticElastic · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Sitecore protects IT platforms and reduces security costs with Elastic | Elastic CustomersElastic · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Migrate to Elastic across any cloud | ElasticElastic · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Blogs | Elastic Security LabsElastic Security Labs · published October 7, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Elastic Email Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & FeaturesG2 · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier C

Splunk full record

  1. [1]ProductsSplunk · splunk.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Cisco completes acquisition of splunkCisco · newsroom.cisco.com · published March 18, 2024 · Tier A
  3. [3]Get the most out of splunk infrastructure monitoring and splunk itsiSplunk · splunk.com · published November 17, 2020 · Tier A
  4. [4]Contact usSplunk · splunk.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]CarrefourSplunk · splunk.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]IntelSplunk · splunk.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]FinraSplunk · splunk.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Alaska airlinesSplunk · splunk.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]HondaSplunk · splunk.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Cisco delivers trusted ai at scale through new splunk advancementsCisco · newsroom.cisco.com · published September 15, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Cisco buys galileo strengthen splunks agentic monitoring capabilitiesSiliconANGLE · siliconangle.com · published April 9, 2026 · Tier B
  12. [12]Get Data In | Platform (last updated lastModifiedISO)Splunk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Analytics Story: Warzone RAT | Splunk Security ContentSplunk · published May 13, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Analytics Story: Trickbot | Splunk Security ContentSplunk · published May 13, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Splunk | Data Platform for Security, Observability & AISplunk · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Splunk Enterprise Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & FeaturesG2 · undated page, accessed October 28, 2026 · Tier C
  17. [17]Using advanced macros - Splunk LanternSplunk Lantern · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]L’IA au service de la sécurité | SplunkSplunk · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]Investigating and searching across your data estate with Cisco Data Fabric powered by the Splunk platform - Splunk LanternSplunk Lantern · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]Preparing data for use with the Splunk AI Toolkit - Splunk LanternSplunk Lantern · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  21. [21]De-identifying PII consistently with hashing in Edge Processor - Splunk LanternSplunk Lantern · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  22. [22]Using Log Observer Connect with Cloud Platform - Splunk LanternSplunk Lantern · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  23. [23]Splunk Launches Hosted Generative AI Models: Native-AI Insights, Zero Setup, Maximum SecuritySplunk · published February 18, 2026 · Tier A
  24. [24]Announcing Splunk Enterprise 10.2 & Splunk Cloud Platform 10.2 – Next Generation Querying & AnalyticsSplunk · published January 16, 2026 · Tier A
  25. [25]Splunk Observability + Galileo: Bridging the AI Trust GapSplunk · published May 28, 2026 · Tier A

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