Top 6 SOAR Platforms of 2026

If you are evaluating Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) tools in 2026, you are likely trying to solve one specific problem: your analysts are drowning.

For the last decade, the industry promised that "playbooks" would save us. We were told that if we just built enough logic flows (if this IP is bad, then block it) we could automate away the burnout.

It didn't work. Instead of investigating threats, senior engineers spent years maintaining fragile Python scripts and debugging broken API connectors.

The market has responded by splitting into two distinct directions for 2026:

1. Agentic AI SOC Platforms: Systems that use autonomous reasoning to investigate like a human, removing the need for playbooks entirely.
2. Workflow Builders: Faster, "low-code" engines that make building legacy playbooks easier.

Below is an objective look at the top 5 platforms defining the SOC in 2026, ranked by architectural approach.

1. Prophet Security

Best For: Enterprise SOCs that want to eliminate playbook maintenance entirely.

Prophet Security represents the shift from "SOAR" to "Agentic AI." While traditional tools require you to manually map out every step of an investigation (the playbook), Prophet uses AI agents that autonomously plan and execute investigations based on context.

• The Architecture: Instead of static if/then logic, Prophet AI mimics the investigations depth and accuracy of  an expert SOC analyst. When an alert arrives, Prophet AI determines what questions need to be asked. It queries your EDR, checks identity logs, and correlates evidence across platforms without human intervention.
• The "Glass Box" Approach: A major friction point with AI is trust. Prophet AI solves this by treating the investigation as a "Glass Box." You get a replayable timeline of exactly what data was queried, what evidence was found, and the logic used to reach a conclusion.
• The Trade-off: This is not a general-purpose IT automation tool. You wouldn't use Prophet AI to onboard HR employees. It is purpose-built for security operations to  drastically reducing MTTR (Mean Time To Respond) and clearing alert backlogs.

2. Tines

Best For: Flexible, "no-code" workflow automation beyond the SOC.

Tines remains the gold standard for pure workflow automation. They rejected the heavy, opinionated case management of legacy SOAR in favor of a clean, drag-and-drop canvas.

• The Good: It is exceptionally flexible. Tines connects to any API with ease, making it a favorite for engineers who want to build custom workflows for everything from phishing triage to Slack notifications.
• The Bad: It is a blank canvas. Tines does not know how to investigate a threat; you do. You must build the logic yourself. If you don't have the time or expertise to design complex investigation flows, you will end up with a very capable tool that sits empty.

3. Torq

Best For: High-speed "Hyperautomation" and modern UI.

Torq entered the market to kill the "heavy" legacy SOAR providers. They focus on speed and user experience, offering a browser-first platform that handles high-volume alerts better than older, sequential execution engines.

• The Good: The parallel execution capabilities allow it to process massive volumes of data quickly. It also offers "copilot" features that help generate scripts, easing the burden of playbook creation.
• The Bad: Despite the speed, it is still a workflow engine. You are still fundamentally orchestrating steps. If a threat actor changes tactics, your static workflow might miss it until a human updates the logic.

4. Cortex XSOAR (Palo Alto Networks)

Best For: Large enterprises consolidating on the Palo Alto stack.

Cortex XSOAR (formerly Demisto) is the heavyweight of the category. Its primary value is its ecosystem. If you use Prisma, Cortex XDR, and Strata, XSOAR acts as the unifying connective tissue.

• The Good: It has a massive marketplace of pre-built integrations. The "War Room" feature is a strong collaborative environment for handling major incidents that require human coordination.
• The Bad: It is heavy and expensive. Deployment often requires significant professional services, and maintaining the system can become a full-time job for a dedicated engineer.

5. Splunk SOAR

Best For: Organizations deeply entrenched in Splunk Enterprise Security.

If your SOC lives and breathes inside Splunk, their native SOAR (formerly Phantom) is the logical choice. It offers tighter integration with Splunk’s data lake than any third-party tool can match.

• The Good: The "Automation Broker" allows for secure execution of actions on-premise, which is critical for hybrid environments.
• The Bad: Its value is tethered to the Splunk ecosystem. If you migrate your SIEM or data lake to a modern cloud alternative, Splunk SOAR loses much of its utility. Like XSOAR, it suffers from the "playbook drift" where logic becomes outdated and difficult to maintain over time.

6. Swimlane Turbine

Best For: Complex data ingestion and "System of Record" needs.

Swimlane has evolved from a standard SOAR into a "low-code" automation platform that emphasizes data ingestion. Their "Turbine" architecture allows them to ingest telemetry that might not even be in your SIEM, effectively acting as a secondary data processor.

• The Good: Powerful formatting and data manipulation capabilities. It is well-suited for organizations that need to build complex custom applications on top of their security data.
• The Bad: It leans towards "low-code" rather than "no-code," often requiring Python expertise to get the most out of it. The complexity can be overkill for teams that just want to triage alerts.

Conclusion: The Automation Maturity Curve

Choosing the right tool for 2026 comes down to where you want to spend your engineering hours:

• Stick with Tines or Torq if you want to build and maintain your own custom workflows.
• Choose Prophet Security if you want to stop building workflows and start offloading the investigation work to autonomous agents.

Request a demo of Prophet AI today to see it in action.