Cybersecurity · head to head
Microsoft Sentinel vs Syft
Syft
Cybersecurity
Generates a software bill of materials from images, filesystems and archives
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: 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; Syft lockfile parsing can drop packages silently. An open issue filed in August 2026 reports the yarn v1 cataloguer returning 118 of 745 packages with no error raised, which means a complete bill of materials and an 84 percent incomplete one look identical to the caller.
- They diverge on capability: Microsoft Sentinel covers AI-powered analytics, Syft covers Multi-format output.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft Sentinel and Syft actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft Sentinel | Syft |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | usage-based | Open source, no licence fee |
| Platforms | Web, Api | macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker |
| Founded | 1975 | Unknown |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Microsoft Sentinel
- AI-powered analytics
- Fusion detection
- UEBA
- Automated response playbooks
- Threat intelligence
- Hunting queries
- Workbooks
- Incident management
Only in Syft
- Multi-format output
- Broad ecosystem coverage
- Binary classifiers
- In-toto attestations
- Library and CLI
- Pairs with Grype
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Microsoft Sentinel
- Cloud-based security information and event management (SIEM)not Syft
- Extended detection and response (XDR) across enterprise infrastructurenot Syft
- Data ingestion and long-term security analyticsnot Syft
Syft
- Producing a bill of materials for a customer or regulator that requires onenot Microsoft Sentinel
- Feeding an inventory into a vulnerability scanner rather than scanning images directlynot Microsoft Sentinel
- Recording what shipped in a build so a future disclosure can be answered quicklynot Microsoft Sentinel
- Public sector work where an SBOM is a contractual deliverablenot Microsoft Sentinel
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
Syft
- Lockfile parsing can drop packages silently. An open issue filed in August 2026 reports the yarn v1 cataloguer returning 118 of 745 packages with no error raised, which means a complete bill of materials and an 84 percent incomplete one look identical to the caller.
- Fidelity varies sharply by ecosystem. Conan for C and C++, Haskell and Terraform get cataloguer support with no licence data, no dependency relationships and no file ownership, so a C and C++ shop gets the least from it.
- Binary classification yields no licence or dependency metadata, and vendored or statically linked code is exactly where supply chain risk hides, so the blind spot and the risk overlap.
- Incorrect CPE values and CPE collisions are recorded as open issues, and since Grype matches on CPE and PURL, an inventory error becomes a false negative in the security report downstream.
- An inventory is not a risk assessment. Even a perfect bill of materials says a vulnerable version is present, never that the vulnerable function is called, and the triage burden lands entirely on the reader.
Pricing, plan by plan
Microsoft Sentinel
Free- Pay-As-You-Go$2.46/day
- Per GB ingested
- 90-day retention
- First 31 days free for new workspaces
- Commitment TiersFree
- 100GB to 50TB tiers
- Up to 65% discount
- Predictable billing
- Microsoft 365 E5Free
- Free data ingestion for M365 logs
- Bundled with E5 license
Syft
Free- SyftFree
- Apache-2.0
- No usage limits
- Community support
- Anchore Enterprise$undefined/year
- Policy enforcement and reporting
- Federal and commercial tiers
- Pricing not published, quoted on request
Which should you pick?
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.
Choose Syft if
- You need multi-format output.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
- You also want broad ecosystem coverage.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft Sentinel or Syft better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Sentinel starts at Free and Syft at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft Sentinel or Syft?
- Microsoft Sentinel starts at Free and Syft at Free.
- Does Microsoft Sentinel or Syft run on more platforms?
- Microsoft Sentinel runs on Web, Api. Syft runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
- Can I use Microsoft Sentinel for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Microsoft Sentinel best used for?
- Microsoft Sentinel is most often used for cloud-based security information and event management (siem), extended detection and response (xdr) across enterprise infrastructure, data ingestion and long-term security analytics. Of those, cloud-based security information and event management (siem) and extended detection and response (xdr) across enterprise infrastructure are not what Syft is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft Sentinel do that Syft cannot?
- Microsoft Sentinel covers AI-powered analytics, Fusion detection, UEBA, Automated response playbooks. Syft covers Multi-format output, Broad ecosystem coverage, Binary classifiers, In-toto attestations.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
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/
SourceSyft: Does Syft find vulnerabilities?
No. It produces an inventory. Grype, from the same company, matches that inventory against vulnerability feeds. They are separate tools and the distinction is frequently lost.
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/
SourceSyft: Does anything in the Anchore stack do reachability analysis?
No. Neither Syft, Grype nor the commercial Anchore platform performs call graph or reachability analysis, so none of them tells you whether a vulnerable code path is actually invoked.
Syft: Is it a CNCF or OpenSSF project?
No. It is single-vendor open source owned by Anchore, with no foundation governance. That is a different licence risk profile from Sigstore.
Syft: What does Anchore Enterprise cost?
Not published. The pricing page is contact-sales only, with named but unpriced commercial and federal tiers.
Syft: How do I know my SBOM is complete?
You largely cannot, which is the honest answer. Silent partial parsing is a known open defect, so a bill of materials used for compliance should be spot-checked against a known dependency list.
Related pages
More on Microsoft Sentinel
Other head to heads
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Bitdefender Total Security
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Norton 360
- Microsoft Sentinel vs 1Password
- Microsoft Sentinel vs LastPass
- Microsoft Sentinel vs LogRhythm SIEM
- Microsoft Sentinel vs IBM QRadar
- Microsoft Sentinel vs CrowdStrike Falcon
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Splunk Enterprise Security
- Microsoft Sentinel vs SentinelOne Singularity
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Legit Security
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Sysdig
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Endor Labs
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Proton Mail
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Veriff
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Brave Browser
- Microsoft Sentinel vs March Networks
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Salient CompleteView
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Sumsub
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Cosign
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Sigstore
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Trivy
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Chainguard
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Metasploit
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Wireshark
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Semgrep
- Microsoft Sentinel vs OWASP ZAP
- Microsoft Sentinel vs HashiCorp Vault
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Bitwarden
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Infisical
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Tenable Nessus
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Transmit Security
- Microsoft Sentinel vs TrustArc
- Microsoft Sentinel vs Varonis Data Security Platform
- Microsoft Sentinel vs VMware Carbon Black
- Syft vs Bitdefender Total Security
- Syft vs Norton 360
- Syft vs 1Password
- Syft vs LastPass
- Syft vs LogRhythm SIEM
- Syft vs IBM QRadar
- Syft vs CrowdStrike Falcon
- Syft vs Splunk Enterprise Security
- Syft vs SentinelOne Singularity
- Syft vs Legit Security
- Syft vs Sysdig
- Syft vs Endor Labs
- Syft vs Proton Mail
- Syft vs Veriff
- Syft vs Brave Browser
- Syft vs March Networks
- Syft vs Salient CompleteView
- Syft vs Sumsub
- Syft vs Cosign
- Syft vs Sigstore
- Syft vs Trivy
- Syft vs Chainguard
- Syft vs Metasploit
- Syft vs Wireshark
- Syft vs Semgrep
- Syft vs OWASP ZAP
- Syft vs HashiCorp Vault
- Syft vs Bitwarden
- Syft vs Infisical
- Syft vs Tenable Nessus
- Syft vs Transmit Security
- Syft vs TrustArc
- Syft vs Varonis Data Security Platform
- Syft vs VMware Carbon Black