# SOAR platforms for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, September 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. Asked as "SOAR platform" and as "security orchestration and automated response tool", six framings each, to twelve models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/security/soar-platforms/smb/

**Standing:** Tines leads with 49% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 43 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tines | 49% | 4% | 47 |
| 2 | Rapid7 InsightConnect | 7% | 5% | 19 |
| 3 | Splunk SOAR | 7% | 60% | 45 |
| 4 | Shuffle | 5% | 4% | 23 |
| 5 | Microsoft Sentinel | 5% | 19% | 21 |
| 6 | Torq | 2% | 30% | 23 |
| 7 | Swimlane | 0% | 50% | 16 |
| 8 | IBM QRadar SOAR | 0% | 80% | 10 |
| 9 | Cortex XSOAR | 0% | 77% | 39 |

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

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Tines; alternatives Microsoft Sentinel, Rapid7 InsightConnect
- GPT-5.4 mini: Splunk SOAR; alternatives Cortex XSOAR
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Tines; alternatives Microsoft Sentinel + Logic Apps, Shuffle, Torq
- Perplexity Sonar: ManageEngine Log360; alternatives Proofpoint Threat Response, Splunk SOAR
- Grok 4.1 Fast: Tines; alternatives Microsoft Sentinel, ORNA
- Mistral Small: Tines; alternatives Cortex XSOAR
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Tines; alternatives Shuffle
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Tines; alternatives Microsoft Sentinel, Rapid7 InsightConnect
- Kimi K2: Tines; alternatives Microsoft Sentinel, Rapid7 InsightConnect, Shuffle
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Blumira; alternatives D3 Security Smart SOAR, Swimlane, Tines
- MiniMax M2.5: Microsoft Sentinel, Rapid7 InsightConnect; alternatives Swimlane

## Sources the answers cite

66 of 72 answers came back with a source list, from 12 of 12 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- paloaltonetworks.com: 42 answers, 43 citations
- aimultiple.com: 33 answers, 39 citations
- gartner.com: 32 answers, 33 citations
- comparitech.com: 32 answers, 32 citations
- blinkops.com: 29 answers, 31 citations
- g2.com: 19 answers, 31 citations
- soarpricing.com: 18 answers, 34 citations
- exabeam.com: 17 answers, 22 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://paloaltonetworks.com/cyberpedia/soar-tools-comparison (41 answers)
- https://aimultiple.com/top-soar-platforms (33 answers)
- https://comparitech.com/net-admin/best-soar-software (32 answers)
- https://gartner.com/reviews/market/security-orchestration-automation-and-response-solutions (31 answers)
- https://blinkops.com/blog/soar-platforms (29 answers)
- https://tech-insider.org/torq-vs-tines-vs-cortex-xsiam-2026 (17 answers)
- https://soarpricing.com/ (16 answers)
- https://getapp.com/all-software/security-orchestration-automation-and-response-soar/org/small-business (14 answers)
- https://slashdot.org/software/security-orchestration-automation-and-response-soar/f-small-business (14 answers)
- https://cloudsek.com/knowledge-base/best-soar-platforms (12 answers)

## Warned against

- Splunk SOAR: 27 of 45 labels negative. "Major enterprise platforms like Cortex XSOAR, Splunk SOAR, and Swimlane are excellent but generally overkill and overpriced for a small B2B company" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, direct prompt)
- Cortex XSOAR: 30 of 39 labels negative. "avoid the "enterprise giants" (like Palo Alto Cortex XSOAR, Splunk SOAR, or IBM QRadar SOAR)—they are far too heavy and expensive" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, scale prompt)
- Torq: 7 of 23 labels negative. "Avoid for Tight Budgets: ... or Torq (~$20K+/year starters, quote-only)" (Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt)
- IBM QRadar SOAR: 8 of 10 labels negative. "legacy-heavy solutions designed for global compliance and massive scale... notoriously difficult to deploy quickly" (Qwen 3.7 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, September 2026 Edition, it-ai-index.com.