CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Elastic vs WatchGuard Technologies

Elastic sells Elastic Security, an open, agentic security operations platform that offers SIEM, endpoint security, and native automation. WatchGuard Technologies sells a Unified Security Platform that combines network, endpoint, identity and cloud protection, purpose-built for MSPs servicing midsize companies and SMBs. CISO Tribune files both under EDR and XDR. 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
  • WatchGuard Technologies
Elastic vs WatchGuard Technologies: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
ElasticElastic sells Elastic Security, an open, agentic security operations platform that offers SIEM, endpoint security, and native automation.elastic.coWatchGuard TechnologiesWatchGuard Technologies sells a Unified Security Platform that combines network, endpoint, identity and cloud protection, purpose-built for MSPs servicing midsize companies and SMBs.watchguard.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.
  • Unified Security Platform[1][5]WatchGuard unifies network, endpoint, identity and cloud protection under one agent, one console and one AI intelligence layer.
  • Firebox M Series[9]Firebox M Series rackmount appliances provide NGFW features.
  • Endpoint Security 360[11]WatchGuard Endpoint Security 360 is an autonomous zero trust endpoint detection and response solution.
  • AuthPoint[7][12][13]WatchGuard AuthPoint provides cloud-based authentication and access to applications.
  • Total Identity Security[13]Total Identity Security combines AuthPoint MFA with Dark Web Credential Monitoring.
  • WatchGuard Cloud[1][5][7][9][13]WatchGuard Cloud is built for MSPs and gives one place to deploy, standardize, monitor and report across all customers.
  • Compliance Reporting[15]WatchGuard Compliance Reporting offers configurable compliance controls and reports for regulatory needs.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesSeattle, United States[4]
Founded
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesOwned by Vector Capital since 2022[6]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot 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]
  • July 7, 2026WatchGuard Technologies appointed Vincent Hwang as Chief Product Officer, reporting to CEO Joe Smolarski.[16]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[14]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen October 30, 2026[6]
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.WatchGuard delivers its security to businesses exclusively through managed service provider and reseller partners. Businesses receive protection configured and managed for them by a local WatchGuard partner. WatchGuard describes its devices as suited to securing branch offices, distributed networks and large data centers. WatchGuard secure access points are described for small offices, retail locations, schools, warehouses and outdoor deployments. WatchGuard Endpoint Security 360 is described as suited to organizations and MSPs.
Last verified
November 3, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Elastic and WatchGuard Technologies are both filed under EDR and XDR.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Elastic's primary category is SIEM; WatchGuard Technologies's is Firewalls and NGFW.
  • Elastic is also filed under SOAR and security automation. WatchGuard Technologies is also filed under Identity threat detection and response and Workforce IAM and SSO.
  • Elastic lists Elastic Security, SIEM, Elastic XDR, Attack Discovery, Cloud detection and response and 2 more. WatchGuard Technologies lists Unified Security Platform, Firebox M Series, Endpoint Security 360, AuthPoint, Total Identity Security and 2 more.
  • WatchGuard Technologies is headquartered in Seattle, United States.
  • WatchGuard Technologies is owned by Vector Capital, since 2022.

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: WatchGuard Technologies

What Firebox M Series does[9]
Firebox M Series rackmount appliances provide NGFW features. Firebox rackmount appliances integrate with WatchGuard Cloud and ThreatSync and offer centralized management and AI-powered XDR correlation.
What Endpoint Security 360 does[11]
WatchGuard Endpoint Security 360 is an autonomous zero trust endpoint detection and response solution that blocks unknown applications automatically and continuously monitors trusted applications for signs of compromise. WatchGuard Endpoint Security 360 provides visibility into blocked executions, compromised trusted applications and the progression of attacks across endpoints.
What AuthPoint does[7][12][13]
WatchGuard AuthPoint provides cloud-based authentication and access to applications. AuthPoint MFA supports push, passkeys, TOTP, QR codes, hardware tokens and zero trust policies. AuthPoint is managed in WatchGuard Cloud, which configures policies, synchronizes users and enforces controls from one interface.
What Total Identity Security does[13]
Total Identity Security combines AuthPoint MFA with Dark Web Credential Monitoring. WatchGuard continuously monitors workforce user credentials across dark web, deep web and breach databases using AI-driven intelligence, and can alert affected end users directly. WatchGuard Cloud lets MSPs manage MFA and credential monitoring across customer accounts.
What WatchGuard Cloud does[1][5][7][9][13]
WatchGuard Cloud is built for MSPs and gives one place to deploy, standardize, monitor and report across all customers. ThreatSync XDR is part of WatchGuard Cloud and correlates activity across WatchGuard security layers. WatchGuard Cloud provides visibility, configuration control and real-time threat monitoring so MSPs can manage network security from anywhere with an Internet connection.
What Compliance Reporting does[15]
WatchGuard Compliance Reporting offers configurable compliance controls and reports for regulatory needs. WatchGuard Compliance Reporting is integrated with WatchGuard NDR and WatchGuard SaaS, delivering over 100 AI-refined network cybersecurity controls. WatchGuard Compliance Reporting includes configurable compliance report templates for ISO-27001, NIST 800-53, NIST 171/CMMC, UK Cyber Essentials, FFIEC, CISA Ransomware Defense, Cyber Insurance Compliance and Supply Chain Compliance.

Questions about Elastic and WatchGuard Technologies

What do Elastic and WatchGuard Technologies sell?
Elastic sells Elastic Security, SIEM, Elastic XDR, Attack Discovery, Cloud detection and response and 2 more. WatchGuard Technologies sells Unified Security Platform, Firebox M Series, Endpoint Security 360, AuthPoint, Total Identity Security and 2 more.
Are Elastic and WatchGuard Technologies in the same category?
They share EDR and XDR. Elastic's primary category is SIEM and WatchGuard Technologies's is Firewalls and NGFW.
Where are Elastic and WatchGuard Technologies headquartered?
WatchGuard Technologies is headquartered in Seattle, United States.
Who owns Elastic and WatchGuard Technologies?
WatchGuard Technologies is owned by Vector Capital, since 2022.
Who are Elastic and WatchGuard Technologies sold to?
Financial institutions are a named audience, with Elastic saying it helps them harness all their data to uncover insights and optimize operations. WatchGuard delivers its security to businesses exclusively through managed service provider and reseller partners.
What have Elastic and WatchGuard Technologies announced recently?
October 7, 2026: Elastic introduced AlertZero, an AI SOC automation feature for Elastic Security that uses four agents, each with one job. July 7, 2026: WatchGuard Technologies appointed Vincent Hwang as Chief Product Officer, reporting to CEO Joe Smolarski.

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

WatchGuard Technologies full record

  1. [1]watchguard.comWatchGuard Technologies · watchguard.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Watchguard launches new high performance firebox appliances secure modernWatchGuard Technologies · watchguard.com · published June 2, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]vectorcapital.comVector Capital · vectorcapital.com · published July 5, 2022 · Tier A
  4. [4]Dex991WatchGuard Technologies via SEC EDGAR · sec.gov · published July 25, 2006 · Tier A
  5. [5]WatchGuard | Comprehensive Cybersecurity SolutionsWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed October 30, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]WatchGuard Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 30, 2026 · Tier C
  7. [7]Centralized Management & Visibility | WatchGuard CloudWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Managed Security Services for MSPs | WatchGuardWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Rackmount Firewall Appliances | WatchGuardWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]WatchGuard Endpoint Security | AI-Powered ProtectionWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]WatchGuard Endpoint Security 360 - Zero Trust EDRWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]AuthPoint 30-Day Free Trial | WatchGuard Free AuthPointWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]AuthPoint Total Identity Security | WatchGuardWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Secure Wireless APs for Your Business | WatchGuardWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Compliance Reporting | WatchGuardWatchGuard Technologies · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]WatchGuard Appoints Vincent Hwang as Chief Product OfficerWatchGuard Technologies · published July 7, 2026 · Tier A

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