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Cybersecurity · head to head

IBM QRadar vs Microsoft Sentinel

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
Microsoft Sentinel logo

Microsoft Sentinel

Cybersecurity

Cloud-native SIEM and SOAR solution

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Microsoft Sentinel has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Microsoft Sentinel billing is driven by the volume of log data ingested per day, so cost scales with log noise rather than with users or protected assets
  • They diverge on capability: IBM QRadar covers Offence model, Microsoft Sentinel covers AI-powered analytics.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which IBM QRadar and Microsoft Sentinel actually diverge.

Attributes where IBM QRadar and Microsoft Sentinel differ
AttributeIBM QRadarMicrosoft Sentinel
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionusage-based
Free tierNoYes
Founded19111975

Identical on both: platforms (Web, Api), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

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 IBM QRadar

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

Only in Microsoft Sentinel

  • AI-powered analytics
  • Fusion detection
  • UEBA
  • Automated response playbooks
  • Threat intelligence
  • Hunting queries
  • Workbooks
  • Incident management

What people use each for

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

IBM QRadar

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

Microsoft Sentinel

  • Cloud-based security information and event management (SIEM)not IBM QRadar
  • Extended detection and response (XDR) across enterprise infrastructurenot IBM QRadar
  • Data ingestion and long-term security analyticsnot IBM QRadar

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Microsoft Sentinel

  • Billing is driven by the volume of log data ingested per day, so cost scales with log noise rather than with users or protected assets
  • Commitment tier discounts require reserving daily ingestion capacity in advance, and a tier cannot be downgraded until 31 days have passed
  • Commitment tiers start at 100 GB per day, above what smaller estates ingest
  • Charges for Log Analytics, Logic Apps and Machine Learning are billed separately on top of Sentinel itself
  • The free allowance is only up to 5 MB per user per day for selected Microsoft 365 security logs
  • Promotional commitment pricing is time limited and locks in only until a stated end date

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Microsoft Sentinel

Free
  • Pay-As-You-Go$2.46/day
    • Per GB ingested
    • 90-day retention
    • First 31 days free for new workspaces
  • Commitment TiersFree
    • 100GB to 50TB tiers
    • Up to 65% discount
    • Predictable billing
  • Microsoft 365 E5Free
    • Free data ingestion for M365 logs
    • Bundled with E5 license

Which should you pick?

Choose IBM QRadar if

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

Choose Microsoft Sentinel if

  • You need ai-powered analytics.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want fusion detection.
Microsoft Sentinel review

Questions people ask

Is IBM QRadar or Microsoft Sentinel better?
Neither clearly leads. IBM QRadar starts at On request and Microsoft Sentinel at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, IBM QRadar or Microsoft Sentinel?
Microsoft Sentinel has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for IBM QRadar and Free for Microsoft Sentinel.
Does IBM QRadar or Microsoft Sentinel run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Microsoft Sentinel for free?
Yes. Microsoft Sentinel has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. IBM QRadar starts at On request.
What is IBM QRadar best used for?
IBM QRadar is most often used for a regulated enterprise that must keep log data on premises or in a specific jurisdiction and cannot use a shared saas siem, a soc that wants log correlation and network flow analysis in one platform rather than buying an ndr product separately, an existing qradar estate deciding whether to stay on premises or accept the migration path to a different vendor's platform, compliance-driven log retention and reporting where the audit requirement is specific about collection, retention and reporting. Of those, a regulated enterprise that must keep log data on premises or in a specific jurisdiction and cannot use a shared saas siem and a soc that wants log correlation and network flow analysis in one platform rather than buying an ndr product separately are not what Microsoft Sentinel is typically brought in for.
What can IBM QRadar do that Microsoft Sentinel cannot?
IBM QRadar covers Offence model, Network flow analysis, Device Support Modules, Ariel query language. Microsoft Sentinel covers AI-powered analytics, Fusion detection, UEBA, Automated response playbooks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Microsoft Sentinel: How is Microsoft Sentinel pricing calculated?

Microsoft Sentinel uses a pay-as-you-go usage-based model where you pay only for data ingested, stored, and consumed. Flexible commitment tiers are available to reduce total cost of ownership, with specific rates not published on the public pricing page. Source: https://www.microsoft.com/security/business/siem-and-xdr/microsoft-sentinel/

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.

Microsoft Sentinel: Does Microsoft Sentinel require an Azure subscription?

Yes, Microsoft Sentinel requires a Microsoft Azure subscription to operate. Pricing is handled through Azure and varies based on data consumption and the commitment tier you select. Source: https://www.microsoft.com/security/business/siem-and-xdr/microsoft-sentinel/

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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