Best SOAR Tools (2026): 11 Security Automation Platforms

Security teams drown in alerts. A SOAR platform takes the repetitive steps, such as checking an IP, pulling user details or isolating a laptop, and does them in seconds, every time. That's not about replacing analysts; it's about letting them spend their day on the cases that'll matter.

The eleven platforms below are listed alphabetically and in no particular order, and every description comes from the vendor's own website, read this week. My piece on building a strong cybersecurity culture covers the human side automation can't replace.

Nov 2026: Tines's pricing page now lists a Free edition, so I've changed its free plan cell from Not stated to Yes.

SOAR tools side by side

I checked the free plan column on each tool's own website, as of Nov 2026. Yes means the site names a free plan, a free version, a free edition or an open source edition. 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, so check the vendor's page before you sign up.

Tool	Type	Good for	Free plan
BlinkOps	Agentic security operations	Building SecOps workflows with AI	Not stated
Cortex XSOAR	Security orchestration and response	Large SOCs with many integrations	Not stated
D3 Security	Agentic SOC platform	Hundreds of integrated apps	Not stated
FortiSOAR	SOAR software	Fortinet security estates	Not stated
Rapid7 SOAR	SOC security automation	Rapid7 platform customers	Not stated
Shuffle	Open source SOAR	Teams wanting open source automation	Yes
Splunk SOAR	Security orchestration and automation	Splunk security customers	Trial only
Sumo Logic Cloud SOAR	Cloud SOAR	Cloud-first security teams	Trial only
Swimlane	AI security automation	MSSPs and regulated industries	Not stated
Tines	AI agents and automation	Security and IT teams building workflows	Yes
Torq	AI SOC platform	Scaling SOC capacity with AI	Not stated

Eleven SOAR platforms worth a look

BlinkOps

Best for: Security teams who want an operating layer for every SecOps workflow, built with AI agents instead of hand-coded playbooks.

Cortex XSOAR

Best for: Large security operations centres who want security orchestration with a visual playbook editor from Palo Alto Networks.

D3 Security

Best for: Security teams who want AI-driven security operations across more than 800 apps, with response and orchestration built in.

FortiSOAR

Best for: Organisations already using Fortinet security products who want orchestration and response software from the same vendor.

Rapid7 SOAR

Best for: Rapid7 customers who want security automation inside the same command platform they use for exposure and detection.

Shuffle

Best for: Smaller security teams who want an open source SOAR they can run, adapt and extend themselves without a big licence.

Splunk SOAR

Best for: Splunk users who want orchestration and automated response alongside their security data, with a free trial.

Sumo Logic Cloud SOAR

Best for: Cloud-first teams who want security orchestration, automation and response delivered as a cloud service, with a free trial.

Swimlane

Best for: MSSPs and organisations in finance, healthcare and government who want AI security automation built on one platform.

Tines

Best for: IT and security teams who want a secure environment for AI agents, apps and automation that any team can build in.

Torq

Best for: SOC leaders who want agentic AI that acts across triage, investigation and response to expand their team's capacity.

Next up for many readers is a related question, which I cover in this risk management software roundup.

Where to start

• Open source automation: Shuffle.
• Building workflows any team can use: Tines or BlinkOps.
• AI agents for triage: Torq or D3 Security.
• MSSPs and regulated industries: Swimlane.
• Splunk, Sumo Logic or Rapid7 shops: Splunk SOAR, Sumo Logic Cloud SOAR or Rapid7 SOAR.
• Large SOCs on Palo Alto or Fortinet: Cortex XSOAR or FortiSOAR.

Playbooks should match current guidance

NIST published SP 800-61 Revision 3 in 2025, superseding Revision 2 from 2012. The new version ties incident response recommendations to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0.

If your playbooks were written to the old guide, map them to CSF 2.0 before you automate them. Automating an outdated process just makes the wrong steps happen faster.

Classic SOAR or AI SOC platform?

Classic SOAR runs playbooks you design step by step. It's predictable and auditable, which suits regulated teams that need to show exactly what happened.

AI SOC platforms use agents to investigate alerts and suggest or take actions. They can cover more ground with a small team, so check how decisions are logged and when a person must approve.

Integrations matter more than features. If a platform can't talk to your email security, identity provider and endpoint tools, it won't automate much, however clever it looks. Ask for the exact list, and check it's maintained, before you sign anything.

Playbooks need something to trigger them, and our list of file integrity monitoring lines up tools that raise the alarm when files change.

Want your tool on this list? Featured spots and reviews here are paid partnerships. Here's how to partner with me.

Questions to ask before you choose

1. Which security tools must it connect to?
2. Which three alerts waste most analyst time?
3. Can analysts build playbooks without coding?
4. Which actions need human approval?
5. How are automated actions logged for audit?
6. Do we run it ourselves or as a service?

Alerts from your gateways can feed playbooks, and this guide to API security tools lines up tools that produce them.

Signs your SOC needs automation

• Alerts go unread. Automate triage first.
• Analysts copy and paste between tools. Connect them.
• Response steps vary by person. Write playbooks.
• Night shifts are thin. Automate safe containment.

Do you make SOAR or security automation tools? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.

My plain advice on SOAR tools

Automate one boring, high-volume alert first, such as phishing reports, and measure the analyst time saved. A single playbook that works beats fifty half-finished ones nobody trusts, and it's far easier to win support for the next one when you've got numbers.

Keep humans in charge of anything destructive, like blocking accounts or wiping devices, until the playbook has proved itself. My guide to staying safe from cybersecurity threats is a useful refresher for the wider team.

I run AI training and workshops for teams, and help businesses with AI enablement and workflow automation, so the busywork runs itself and people get time back. Most of that work is with SaaS marketing teams and small businesses. Here's how we can work together.

An agentic SOC platform to weigh against classic playbooks

If you've read the section on classic SOAR versus AI SOC platforms and want a concrete example of the second kind, here's one that launched this year. It aims at the same alert-to-response work as the platforms above, but hands the steps to AI agents rather than fixed playbooks.

Conifers CognitiveSOC

Conifers AI announced the launch of Conifers CognitiveSOC in May 2026, describing it as an agentic SOC that links threat intelligence, hunting, detection engineering, investigation and remediation. It sits on top of the security stack you already own, with integrations across EDR, identity, cloud, email and ITSM tools. You set the scope, authority and guardrails for the agents, and every action they take comes with a recorded reasoning chain and evidence trail. It's aimed at enterprises and MSSPs. Before choosing it, check how those guardrails map to your own approval rules and audit needs.

Frequently asked questions

What is a SOAR tool?

SOAR stands for security orchestration, automation and response. It connects security tools and runs playbooks that triage and respond to alerts automatically.

Is SOAR the same as SIEM?

No. A SIEM collects and correlates security data to raise alerts. SOAR acts on those alerts with automated playbooks.

Is there free SOAR software?

Yes. There are open source SOAR platforms you can run yourself, and some vendors offer free trials.

What should I automate first?

Start with frequent, low-risk tasks such as phishing triage and enrichment, then move to containment once playbooks are trusted.

What changed in NIST SP 800-61?

NIST published Revision 3 in 2025, superseding Revision 2, and aligned incident response guidance with CSF 2.0.

Do AI agents replace SOAR playbooks?

Not entirely. AI agents can investigate and suggest actions, but many teams still use playbooks for actions that need audit trails.