Best Threat Intelligence Platforms: 11 TIP Tools

Threat intelligence is information about who is attacking, how and with what, and a threat intelligence platform is where you collect it, make sense of it and push it into the tools that block attacks.

Without one, analysts end up juggling spreadsheets of indicators and vendor emails. The eleven platforms below are listed alphabetically and in no particular order, and every description comes from the vendor's own site, read this week. For the human side of defence, see my five steps against phishing attacks.

Threat intelligence platforms compared

In the free plan column, Yes means the tool's own site names a free plan, a free version, a free edition or open-source code. Trial only means a time-limited trial. Not stated means the pages I read named neither, even where there's a button inviting you to try it.

Tool	Type	Good for	Free plan
Anomali	Threat intelligence and security operations	SOC teams wanting intelligence plus action	Yes
CrowdStrike Falcon Intelligence	Threat intelligence and hunting	Teams already using CrowdStrike endpoints	Trial only
Cyware	AI-powered threat intelligence platform	Sharing intelligence across teams and partners	Not stated
EclecticIQ	Threat intelligence platform	Analysts linking threats to business risk	Not stated
Google Threat Intelligence	Threat intelligence from Google and Mandiant	Knowing which attackers target you	Not stated
GreyNoise	Internet scanning intelligence	Cutting false alarms from mass scanning	Yes
LevelBlue OTX	Open threat exchange community	Free community threat indicators	Yes
MISP	Open-source threat sharing platform	Sharing indicators with trusted peers	Yes
OpenCTI by Filigran	Open-source threat intelligence platform	Structuring intelligence in one knowledge base	Yes
Recorded Future	Threat intelligence platform	Large teams wanting broad coverage	Not stated
ThreatQ	Threat intelligence platform	Centralising many feeds in one place	Not stated

Eleven threat intelligence platforms to know

Anomali

Best for: Security operations teams that want threat intelligence feeds and investigation in one platform, with a free STIX and TAXII tool on the side.

CrowdStrike Falcon Intelligence

Best for: Organisations already protected by CrowdStrike that want adversary intelligence and threat hunting from the same vendor.

Cyware

Best for: Security teams and sharing communities that want threat intelligence collected, enriched and shared with automation built in.

EclecticIQ

Best for: Governments and businesses that want analysts to tie threat intelligence back to the parts of the business it affects.

Google Threat Intelligence

Best for: Organisations that want intelligence on who is targeting them, drawing on Google's visibility and Mandiant's frontline research.

GreyNoise

Best for: Analysts tired of chasing alerts from harmless internet scanners who want real-time network intelligence, with free search to start.

LevelBlue OTX

Best for: Small security teams that want free access to a large community pool of threat indicators and pulses.

MISP

Best for: Teams and sector groups that want to share threat indicators with trusted partners using a free open-source platform and open standards.

OpenCTI by Filigran

Best for: Analysts who want to organise threat intelligence in a structured open-source platform, with enterprise editions available from Filigran.

Recorded Future

Best for: Larger organisations that want wide threat intelligence coverage across cyber, brand, third-party and geopolitical risk.

ThreatQ

Best for: Teams that buy several feeds and want one platform to centralise, score and push that intelligence into their tools.

Use the free sources before you buy feeds

CISA's Automated Indicator Sharing service enables the real-time exchange of machine-readable cyber threat indicators and defensive measures between public and private sector organisations, and CISA says it's offered free of charge to participants.

Free government services, sector sharing groups and community platforms won't cover everything, but they show you what a platform needs to handle before you pay for extra feeds. Plug those in first, then judge what's missing.

Platform, feed or both?

A platform organises intelligence: it collects indicators, removes duplicates, scores them and sends them to your firewall, endpoint and SIEM tools. A feed is the intelligence itself, from a vendor's researchers or a community.

Some vendors sell both together. Others are platforms that work with any feed. Be clear which you're buying, because a great platform with nothing worth feeding it won't help much. And don't forget the people: intelligence only pays off when someone reads it, decides what it means for your business and turns it into a block, a hunt or a warning to the right team.

Questions to ask a threat intelligence vendor

1. Which security tools can you push intelligence into automatically?
2. Can we add free and community feeds alongside yours?
3. How do you score and expire old indicators?
4. Do you support STIX and TAXII standards?
5. What does an analyst see on a normal day?
6. How do you show which intelligence led to a blocked attack?

Signs your intelligence isn't working

• Indicators live in spreadsheets. Nothing reaches your blocking tools.
• Old indicators never expire. Alerts fire on stale data.
• Analysts read reports by hand. Hours go on copying and pasting.
• Nobody can show the value. You can't link intelligence to any blocked attack.

Do you make threat intelligence platforms? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.

My plain advice on choosing a threat intelligence platform

Be honest about your team's size. A two-person security team can drown in intelligence, so start with a free platform and a handful of good sources, then automate the obvious blocks. Bigger teams can justify commercial feeds once they know what they'll do with them.

Measure value by what changes: attacks blocked, investigations shortened, alerts closed faster. If you're still building basic defences, my guide on staying safe from cyber threats covers the foundations.

Frequently asked questions

What is a threat intelligence platform?

It's software that collects threat intelligence from many sources, organises and scores it, and shares it with security tools and analysts.

What is a TIP?

TIP is short for threat intelligence platform, the system security teams use to manage indicators, reports and other intelligence in one place.

Are there free threat intelligence platforms?

Yes. Some open-source platforms and community exchanges are free, and several are listed in the table above.

What are STIX and TAXII?

STIX is a standard format for describing threat intelligence, and TAXII is a standard way of exchanging it between systems.

Do small businesses need a threat intelligence platform?

Most small businesses get more from strong basics and a managed security service. A platform makes sense once you have people to act on the intelligence.

What is the difference between a feed and a platform?

A feed supplies intelligence. A platform stores, organises and shares it with your other tools.