Cybersecurity · head to head
Microsoft Sentinel vs Very Good Security
Very Good Security
Cybersecurity
Tokenisation proxy that keeps card and personal data out of your own systems and out of PCI scope
- From
- $1000/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Microsoft Sentinel has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- 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; Very Good Security vGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
- They diverge on capability: Microsoft Sentinel covers AI-powered analytics, Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft Sentinel and Very Good Security actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft Sentinel | Very Good Security |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $1000/month |
| Pricing model | usage-based | Per month |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Founded | 1975 | Unknown |
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 Microsoft Sentinel
- AI-powered analytics
- Fusion detection
- UEBA
- Automated response playbooks
- Threat intelligence
- Hunting queries
- Workbooks
- Incident management
Only in Very Good Security
- Aliasing proxy
- PCI scope reduction
- Network tokenisation
- Processor optionality
- Card issuing data
- Vault and access controls
- Data residency options
- Compliance artefacts
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 Very Good Security
- Extended detection and response (XDR) across enterprise infrastructurenot Very Good Security
- Data ingestion and long-term security analyticsnot Very Good Security
Very Good Security
- A marketplace facing its first PCI DSS Level 1 assessment that wants to keep card data off its own estate rather than harden a dozen servicesnot Microsoft Sentinel
- A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot Microsoft Sentinel
- A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot Microsoft Sentinel
- A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot 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
Very Good Security
- VGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
- Token portability is the whole selling point yet leaving VGS means migrating tokens back out, a project the vendor has no incentive to streamline, so the lock-in you removed from your acquirer partly moves to VGS.
- Entry pricing at around one thousand US dollars a month is real money for a pre-revenue fintech, and it buys volume-limited throughput, so cost scales with exactly the growth that made you buy it.
- Scope reduction is not scope elimination: your QSA still assesses how you integrate, and teams regularly discover that a support tool or an internal admin screen pulled plaintext back in and dragged systems into scope again.
- Proxy-based interception constrains how you design request flows, and non-standard payloads, streaming uploads or binary formats often need custom routing rules that make debugging production issues noticeably harder.
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
Very Good Security
$1000/month- Starter$1000/month
- Aliasing proxy
- Vault storage
- PCI scope reduction
- Growth$undefined/month
- Network tokenisation
- Multiple processors
- Data residency options
- Enterprise$undefined/year
- Custom vault architecture
- Dedicated support and SLA
- Contractual compliance coverage
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 Very Good Security if
- You need aliasing proxy.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want pci scope reduction.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft Sentinel or Very Good Security better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Sentinel starts at Free and Very Good Security at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft Sentinel or Very Good Security?
- Microsoft Sentinel has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Microsoft Sentinel and $1000/month for Very Good Security.
- Does Microsoft Sentinel or Very Good Security run on more platforms?
- Microsoft Sentinel runs on Web, Api. Very Good Security runs on Web, API.
- Can I use Microsoft Sentinel for free?
- Yes. Microsoft Sentinel has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Very Good Security starts at $1000/month.
- 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 Very Good Security is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft Sentinel do that Very Good Security cannot?
- Microsoft Sentinel covers AI-powered analytics, Fusion detection, UEBA, Automated response playbooks. Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality.
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/
SourceVery Good Security: Does VGS make me PCI compliant?
No. It removes cardholder data from your systems so your assessment covers a far smaller boundary, but you still complete an assessment and your integration is part of it.
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/
SourceVery Good Security: Can I move to another processor without re-collecting cards?
Yes, that is a core reason people buy it. The vault reveals stored credentials to whichever processor you route to.
Very Good Security: What does it cost?
Published entry pricing is about one thousand US dollars per month; growth and enterprise tiers are quoted.
Very Good Security: Is it only for card data?
No. The proxy handles any sensitive field, including bank details, national identifiers and documents, though payments is where the product is now focused.
Related pages
More on Microsoft Sentinel
More on Very Good Security
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