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Machine Learning · head to head

Alteryx vs IBM QRadar

Alteryx logo

Alteryx

Machine Learning

Analytics automation platform

From
$250/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
IBM QRadar logo

IBM QRadar

Cybersecurity

Enterprise SIEM licensed by events per second, whose cloud business IBM sold to Palo Alto Networks in 2024.

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Alteryx starter is $250 per user per month billed annually, and the Professional and Enterprise editions are quote-only; IBM QRadar iBM sold the QRadar SaaS business to Palo Alto Networks in 2024 and those customers are being moved to Cortex XSIAM, so anyone buying today is choosing an on-premises product whose vendor has publicly moved the cloud future to a competitor, and the support horizon becomes a contract negotiation rather than an assumption.
  • They diverge on capability: Alteryx covers Data preparation, IBM QRadar covers Offence model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Alteryx and IBM QRadar actually diverge.

Attributes where Alteryx and IBM QRadar differ
AttributeAlteryxIBM QRadar
Starting price$250/monthOn request
PlatformsWindows, WebWeb, Api
CategoryMachine LearningCybersecurity
Founded19971911

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Alteryx

  • Data preparation
  • Data blending
  • Predictive analytics
  • Spatial analytics
  • Reporting
  • Python
  • R
  • Snowflake

Only in IBM QRadar

  • Offence model
  • Network flow analysis
  • Device Support Modules
  • Ariel query language
  • Rules and building blocks
  • Deployment topology
  • App Exchange
  • Use Case Manager

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Alteryx

  • Data preparation and building AI-ready datasetsnot IBM QRadar
  • Predictive analytics without writing codenot IBM QRadar
  • Automating and orchestrating repeatable analytics workflowsnot IBM QRadar
  • Enterprise reporting with governed, reusable logicnot IBM QRadar
  • Connecting to Snowflake, Databricks and cloud warehouses alongside on-premises systemsnot IBM QRadar

IBM QRadar

  • A regulated enterprise that must keep log data on premises or in a specific jurisdiction and cannot use a shared SaaS SIEMnot Alteryx
  • A SOC that wants log correlation and network flow analysis in one platform rather than buying an NDR product separatelynot Alteryx
  • An existing QRadar estate deciding whether to stay on premises or accept the migration path to a different vendor's platformnot Alteryx
  • Compliance-driven log retention and reporting where the audit requirement is specific about collection, retention and reportingnot Alteryx

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Alteryx

  • Starter is $250 per user per month billed annually, and the Professional and Enterprise editions are quote-only
  • Automation runs are metered, with 50 included on Starter and 15,000 on Professional, and more must be bought
  • Cost depends on three separate dimensions at once: edition, user role and automation capacity
  • Advanced analytics, governance and orchestration are withheld from the entry edition

IBM QRadar

  • IBM sold the QRadar SaaS business to Palo Alto Networks in 2024 and those customers are being moved to Cortex XSIAM, so anyone buying today is choosing an on-premises product whose vendor has publicly moved the cloud future to a competitor, and the support horizon becomes a contract negotiation rather than an assumption.
  • Licensing is by events per second and flows per minute, so every additional log source raises the cost directly and teams routinely exclude verbose sources such as DNS, proxy, endpoint and cloud audit logs to stay under the licence, which strips out exactly the data an investigation later needs.
  • It needs a dedicated operator: rule tuning, parser work and offence triage are continuous jobs, and an organisation that deploys QRadar without at least one named engineer accumulates thousands of unreviewed offences and a false sense of coverage.
  • A log source without a matching Device Support Module arrives unparsed, and writing a custom parser with regular expressions against an unfamiliar payload format is specialist work that can take days per source, which quietly determines which systems ever get monitored.
  • On-premises capacity is planned across consoles, processors, collectors and data nodes, so outgrowing the sizing means procuring and racking more appliances rather than changing a subscription tier, and growth becomes a purchasing cycle measured in months.

Pricing, plan by plan

Alteryx

$250/month
  • Starter Edition$250/month
    • 1-10 users
    • 50 automation runs included
    • Cloud only
  • Professional Edition$null/month
    • Basic and Full users
    • 15,000 automation runs included
    • Cloud and desktop deployment
  • Enterprise Edition$null/month
    • All user types
    • 15,000 automation runs included
    • All deployment options

IBM QRadar

On request
  • QRadar SIEMFree
    • Event and flow processing
    • Offense management
    • Threat intelligence
  • QRadar CloudFree
    • Cloud-native deployment
    • Elastic scaling
    • Managed infrastructure
  • QRadar SuiteFree
    • SIEM + SOAR + XDR
    • Unified analyst experience
    • Federated search

Which should you pick?

Choose Alteryx if

  • You need data preparation.
  • You work on Windows, Web.
  • You also want data blending.
Alteryx review

Choose IBM QRadar if

  • You need offence model.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want network flow analysis.
IBM QRadar review

Questions people ask

Is Alteryx or IBM QRadar better?
Neither clearly leads. Alteryx starts at $250/month and IBM QRadar at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Alteryx or IBM QRadar?
Alteryx starts at $250/month and IBM QRadar at On request.
Does Alteryx or IBM QRadar run on more platforms?
Alteryx runs on Windows, Web. IBM QRadar runs on Web, Api.
What is Alteryx best used for?
Alteryx is most often used for data preparation and building ai-ready datasets, predictive analytics without writing code, automating and orchestrating repeatable analytics workflows, enterprise reporting with governed, reusable logic. Of those, data preparation and building ai-ready datasets and predictive analytics without writing code are not what IBM QRadar is typically brought in for.
What can Alteryx do that IBM QRadar cannot?
Alteryx covers Data preparation, Data blending, Predictive analytics, Spatial analytics. IBM QRadar covers Offence model, Network flow analysis, Device Support Modules, Ariel query language.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Alteryx: How much does Alteryx Starter cost?

Alteryx Starter Edition costs $250 USD per user per month when billed annually, for teams of 1-10 users.

Source
IBM QRadar: Who owns QRadar now?

It is split. IBM sold the QRadar SaaS assets to Palo Alto Networks in a deal announced in May 2024 and closed that September, and those customers are being migrated to Cortex XSIAM. IBM retains and supports the on-premises product.

Alteryx: Is there a free trial for Alteryx?

Yes, Alteryx offers a 30-day free trial to evaluate the platform before committing to a paid plan.

Source
IBM QRadar: Is QRadar being discontinued?

IBM has committed to continuing support for on-premises customers, including security updates, while offering migration assistance. The cloud product's future belongs to Palo Alto. If you are signing a multi-year term, get the support horizon written into the contract.

Alteryx: What differentiates Alteryx Professional from Starter?

Professional Edition supports both Basic and Full user roles, includes 15,000 automation runs, offers cloud and desktop deployment, connects to 100+ data sources, and enables advanced data preparation and macros. Professional and Enterprise editions require contacting sales for pricing.

Source
IBM QRadar: How is it licensed?

By events per second for logs and flows per minute for network data, with the software or appliance sized to that rate. Add-on modules in the suite are licensed separately.

IBM QRadar: What is an offence?

QRadar's term for a correlated case. Rules group related events and flows against a common indicator such as a host or user, so an analyst reviews one offence rather than the hundreds of events behind it.

IBM QRadar: Do I need a full-time engineer?

In practice yes for anything beyond a small deployment. Parser development, rule tuning and offence triage do not stop, and the most common failure mode is a well-installed QRadar that nobody has tuned since go-live.

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