# Network detection and response for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "NDR platform" and as "network traffic analysis tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Added to the October 2026 Edition on October 4, 2026; its answers are read by the distilled judge (ai-indexes-judge-qwen3-14b-run3), not the claude-opus-5 judge of the earlier categories. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/security/network-detection-and-response/smb/

**Standing:** Security Onion leads with 15% of first choices; verdict contested. 53 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Security Onion | 15% | 12% | 26 |
| 2 | Paessler PRTG Network Monitor | 11% | 0% | 10 |
| 3 | Sophos NDR | 9% | 0% | 12 |
| 4 | Corelight Open NDR | 4% | 42% | 26 |
| 5 | Wireshark | 2% | 0% | 10 |
| 6 | Suricata | 2% | 10% | 10 |
| 7 | Zeek | 2% | 10% | 10 |
| 8 | Vectra AI | 2% | 58% | 38 |
| 9 | Cisco Secure Network Analytics | 0% | 53% | 15 |
| 10 | ExtraHop Reveal | 0% | 70% | 10 |
| 11 | ExtraHop RevealX | 0% | 73% | 22 |
| 12 | Darktrace | 0% | 60% | 40 |

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Sophos NDR; alternatives Awake Security, Darktrace, Sangfor Cyber Command
- GPT-5.4 mini: Sophos NDR; alternatives Darktrace, FortiNDR
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Stellar Cyber Open XDR; alternatives Blumira, Darktrace, Seceon OTM
- Perplexity Sonar: Vectra AI; alternatives Darktrace
- Grok 4.1 Fast: Security Onion; alternatives Blumira, Corelight Open NDR, Trend Vision One
- Mistral Small: no first choice
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Sophos NDR; alternatives Corelight Open NDR, Security Onion
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Stellar Cyber Open XDR; alternatives Corelight Open NDR, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Wazuh
- Kimi K2: Blumira; alternatives Huntress, Security Onion
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Blumira, WatchGuard Total NDR; alternatives Heimdal EDR, Security Onion
- MiniMax M2.5: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
- GPT-6 Luna: FortiNDR
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Corelight Open NDR, Security Onion; alternatives Blumira, StreamScan, Suricata, Zeek

## Sources the answers cite

74 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- g2.com: 46 answers, 94 citations
- comparitech.com: 46 answers, 56 citations
- cybersecuritynews.com: 40 answers, 46 citations
- us.fitgap.com: 34 answers, 34 citations
- dupple.com: 28 answers, 28 citations
- devopsschool.com: 23 answers, 32 citations
- myhospitalnow.com: 22 answers, 28 citations
- slashdot.org: 21 answers, 23 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://cybersecuritynews.com/best-ndr-solutions (39 answers)
- https://comparitech.com/net-admin/network-detection-response-software (38 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/network-detection-and-response-ndr/small-business (33 answers)
- https://us.fitgap.com/search/network-detection-and-response-ndr-software/small-business (31 answers)
- https://dupple.com/blog/network-security-monitoring-tools (28 answers)
- https://devopsschool.com/blog/top-10-ndr-network-detection-and-response-tools-in-2025-features-pros-cons-comparison (17 answers)
- https://myhospitalnow.com/blog/top-10-network-detection-response-ndr-features-pros-cons-comparison-2 (15 answers)
- https://zenarmor.com/docs/network-security-tutorials/best-10-network-detection-and-response-ndr-tools (15 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/network-detection-and-response-ndr?open_modal_url=/es/products/palo-alto-networks-cortex-xdr/wishlists?host_path=%252Fcategories%252Fnetwork-detection-and-response-ndr&order=g2_score&page=2 (14 answers)
- https://devopsschool.com/blog/top-10-ndr-network-detection-response-tools-in-2025-features-pros-cons-comparison (13 answers)

## Warned against

- Darktrace: 24 of 40 labels negative. "Avoid enterprise NDR platforms like Darktrace, Vectra AI, ExtraHop, and similar high-end solutions if you're a small business." (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt)
- Vectra AI: 22 of 38 labels negative. "Avoid enterprise NDR platforms like Darktrace, Vectra AI, ExtraHop, and similar high-end solutions if you're a small business." (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt)
- Cisco Secure Network Analytics: 8 of 15 labels negative. "noted for its complexity, steep learning curve, and the need for additional Cisco products" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Corelight Open NDR: 11 of 26 labels negative. "avoid standalone enterprise NDR platforms from vendors like Darktrace, Vectra AI, Corelight" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)

## Record

- Method: https://it-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://it-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, it-ai-index.com.