AI SOC and SOAR replacement FAQ

A platform that uses AI agents to triage and investigate security alerts and, within limits you set, respond. It reads alerts from the tools you already run and gathers evidence across them before reaching a verdict.Read more: Lesson: how an AI SOC investigates an alert

A SOAR runs playbooks written in advance for known alert types. An AI SOC platform has agents choose the lookups for each alert at run time, inside guardrails. SOAR is strongest on fixed, audited responses; AI SOC platforms aim at the long tail of alerts playbooks handle poorly.Read more: SOAR vs AI SOC

For triage and investigation, often yes. For fixed, audited responses, many teams keep deterministic automation, either in their SOAR or in a platform that also runs deterministic steps, such as Torq's workflows or Mate Security's Gamebooks.Read more: Can AI replace SOAR?

Mate Security's term for an investigation process in which intent and boundaries are fixed and agents choose how to execute each step. Mate says it translates existing SOAR playbooks into Gamebooks, replacing brittle API calls and keeping custom logic.Read more: Mate Security review

Human in the loop means a person approves an action before it runs. Human on the loop means actions run automatically while a person monitors and can intervene. Most platforms let you move from the first to the second per alert category.Read more: Lesson: AI SOC autonomy levels

A store of what an organisation knows about its own environment, such as assets, owners, normal behaviour and how past alerts were decided, that AI agents query during an investigation. The term is not standardised; Mate Security calls its version the Security Context Graph.Read more: What is a security context graph?

None of the twelve platforms publishes a full price list on its own site as of October 2026. AWS Marketplace listings show 12-month contract prices for Mate Security ($150,000, undefined Enterprise Tier), Exaforce ($75,000 starter pack) and 7AI ($50,000). Dropzone AI and Intezer publish a pricing unit, Tines publishes a free edition and Splunk SOAR offers a free trial.Read more: AI SOC pricing in 2026

Run it on live alerts in its most conservative mode, next to your SOAR, for three to five alert categories you know well. Compare its verdicts and evidence with your analysts' decisions, and count the misses before the agreements.Read more: How to run an AI SOC proof of value

It depends on the platform. Mate Security says it translates SOAR playbooks into Gamebooks; Torq rebuilds them in its own workflow engine; Dropzone AI, 7AI and Intezer are built to work alongside the SOAR you keep; and Cortex XSOAR adds AI prompts inside existing playbooks through AgentiX.Read more: Migration guide

Yes. Dropzone AI hands response to connected SOAR platforms including Cortex XSOAR, Splunk SOAR, Tines and Torq, and Intezer routes incidents to SOAR and ticketing systems. Many teams run both during a move.Read more: Running SOAR and AI SOC together

Conifers can run in the customer's own Azure tenant. Dropzone AI offers a dedicated single-tenant environment and Prophet Security is single-tenant on AWS. Tines offers self-hosted and hybrid deployment. Of the AI SOC platforms, only Tines describes self-hosting; the incumbents offer Cortex XSOAR 8 On-prem and Splunk SOAR on-premises or hybrid.Read more: Lesson: deployment models and data residency

Prophet Security offers Prophet AI Watchtower, a 24x7 human-in-the-loop expert service, and 7AI offers PLAID ELITE, in which 7AI experts run the platform around the clock, plus on-demand DFIR. Exaforce offers a managed option in which its analysts and Exabots run the platform 24/7, and Artemis Security offers an MDR option.Read more: Compare Prophet Security and 7AI

Top pick for replacing SOAR playbooks. It scores 7.80 on our SOAR replacement rubric, rank 1 of 12, and its strongest criteria are investigation depth (9) and explainability (9).Read more: Mate Security review

Baseline: the largest integration marketplace, now adding agents in place. It scores 7.25 on our SOAR replacement rubric, rank 2 of 12, and its strongest criteria are alert source coverage (10) and transition effort from SOAR (9).Read more: Cortex XSOAR review

Best for per-action approval control over AI response. It scores 7.10 on our SOAR replacement rubric, rank 3 of 12 (tie), and its strongest criteria are human-in-the-loop controls (9) and investigation depth (8).Read more: Artemis Security review

Best for teams that want AI agents plus no-code automation. It scores 7.10 on our SOAR replacement rubric, rank 3 of 12 (tie), and its strongest criteria are alert source coverage (9) and investigation depth (8).Read more: Torq AI SOC Platform review

Best for adding AI investigation while keeping your SOAR. It scores 7.00 on our SOAR replacement rubric, rank 5 of 12 (tie), and its strongest criteria are investigation depth (8) and explainability (8).Read more: Dropzone AI review

Best for AI triage with an optional human review service. It scores 7.00 on our SOAR replacement rubric, rank 5 of 12 (tie), and its strongest criteria are investigation depth (8) and explainability (8).Read more: Prophet Security review

Best for an AI SOC you can run yourself or have managed. It scores 6.90 on our SOAR replacement rubric, rank 7 of 12, and its strongest criteria are investigation depth (8) and alert source coverage (8).Read more: Exaforce review

Best for self-hosting and building your own AI SOC workflows. It scores 6.85 on our SOAR replacement rubric, rank 8 of 12, and its strongest criteria are deployment options (9) and human-in-the-loop controls (8).Read more: Tines review

Best for step-by-step readable investigations. It scores 6.75 on our SOAR replacement rubric, rank 9 of 12, and its strongest criteria are explainability (9) and investigation depth (8).Read more: 7AI review

Baseline: SOAR inside Splunk Enterprise Security. It scores 6.55 on our SOAR replacement rubric, rank 10 of 12, and its strongest criteria are alert source coverage (9) and deployment options (9).Read more: Splunk SOAR review

Best for MSSPs and Azure-tenant deployment. It scores 6.45 on our SOAR replacement rubric, rank 11 of 12, and its strongest criteria are human-in-the-loop controls (8) and deployment options (8).Read more: Conifers CognitiveSOC review

Best for forensic depth on endpoint alerts. It scores 6.25 on our SOAR replacement rubric, rank 12 of 12, and its strongest criteria are investigation depth (8) and explainability (7).Read more: Intezer review

Each platform gets a 0–10 editorial score on seven criteria, weighted investigation depth 20%, explainability 15%, alert source coverage 15%, human-in-the-loop controls 15%, transition effort from SOAR 15%, deployment options 10%, pricing transparency 10%. The weighted total is computed in code, and every score has a one-line reason on the platform's profile.Read more: Method

As a baseline. Scoring the incumbents on the same rubric shows what a replacement has to beat, especially on integrations and deployment options.Read more: Comparison table

No. Scores are desk research from public vendor material, last reviewed in September and October 2026 (Tines, Exaforce and Artemis Security added 13 October 2026). There was no hands-on testing and no vendor interviews.Read more: Method

Equal weighted scores share a rank and are marked (tie). In this edition Artemis Security and Torq AI SOC Platform tie at 7.10; Dropzone AI and Prophet Security tie at 7.00.Read more: Comparison table

Vendor facts were last reviewed in September and October 2026 (Tines, Exaforce and Artemis Security added 13 October 2026), and the news page is updated monthly. Each profile lists the pages we used.Read more: News