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

Gane 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://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/soar-platforms/2026-09/smb

This is the permanent record of the September 2026 Edition, published September 17, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/soar-platforms/smb/index.md

**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

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Tines](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/tines/index.md) | 49% | 4% | 47 |
| 3 | [Rapid7 InsightConnect](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/rapid7-insightconnect/index.md) | 7% | 5% | 19 |
| 5 | [Splunk SOAR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/splunk-soar/index.md) | 7% | 60% | 45 |
| 6 | [Shuffle](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/shuffle/index.md) | 5% | 4% | 23 |
| 7 | [Microsoft Sentinel](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/microsoft-sentinel/index.md) | 5% | 16% | 25 |
| 8 | [Torq](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/torq/index.md) | 2% | 30% | 23 |
| 50 | [Swimlane Turbine](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/swimlane-turbine/index.md) | 0% | 52% | 21 |
| 51 | [IBM QRadar SOAR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/ibm-qradar-soar/index.md) | 0% | 80% | 10 |
| 52 | [Cortex XSOAR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cortex-xsoar/index.md) | 0% | 77% | 39 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 52 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## 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, Shuffle, Torq
- Perplexity Sonar: ManageEngine Log360; alternatives Proofpoint Threat Response, Splunk SOAR
- Grok 4.20: 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 Turbine, Tines
- MiniMax M2.5: Microsoft Sentinel, Rapid7 InsightConnect; alternatives Swimlane Turbine

## 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: 45 answers, 46 citations
- aimultiple.com: 36 answers, 43 citations
- gartner.com: 36 answers, 37 citations
- blinkops.com: 33 answers, 35 citations
- comparitech.com: 32 answers, 32 citations
- g2.com: 22 answers, 34 citations
- soarpricing.com: 20 answers, 36 citations
- reddit.com: 19 answers, 27 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://paloaltonetworks.com/cyberpedia/soar-tools-comparison (44 answers)
- https://aimultiple.com/top-soar-platforms (35 answers)
- https://gartner.com/reviews/market/security-orchestration-automation-and-response-solutions (35 answers)
- https://blinkops.com/blog/soar-platforms (33 answers)
- https://comparitech.com/net-admin/best-soar-software (32 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)
- Swimlane Turbine: 11 of 21 labels negative. "Cited as expensive and overly complicated; requires deep technical expertise and ongoing maintenance, making it less suitable for smaller operations." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- Torq: 7 of 23 labels negative. "Avoid for Tight Budgets: ... or Torq (~$20K+/year starters, quote-only)" (Grok 4.20, budget prompt)

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, September 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.