Sentra vs Torq: which AI SOC fits your team in 2026?
TL;DR: These products live in different categories. Torq is a no-code security automation / SOAR platform — a toolkit for building security workflows. Sentra is an AI SOC — the operation itself, with the detections, the triage and the response playbooks already running. Pick Torq if you have engineers who want to build a custom SOC. Pick Sentra if you want a SOC that already works on day one.
At a glance
| Sentra | Torq | |
|---|---|---|
| Target customer | SMB & mid-market, 20–200 people | Enterprise SecOps, MSSPs, builders |
| Product category | AI SOC (end-to-end) | Security automation / SOAR |
| Pricing model | Flat platform fee | Per-workflow / per-execution + enterprise quote |
| Live Ops Theatre | Yes — visual ops feed | No — workflow canvas + run history |
| Detection-as-code | Built-in, YAML in Git | You build it yourself in the canvas |
| Auto-remediation | Default-on, pre-built playbooks | You design every playbook |
| Free tier | 14-day full trial | Community edition, limited |
| MDR replacement | Yes | No — Torq is a layer, not a SOC |
| Setup time | ~1 day to first detections | Weeks–months to first production workflows |
| Where it shines | Out-of-the-box SOC for lean teams | Custom enterprise automation at scale |
| Where it doesn't | Generic non-security workflow automation | Teams that wanted a SOC, not a builder |
When Torq wins
Torq is genuinely good at what it does, and there are environments where Sentra would be the wrong call:
- You already have a SOC and a security engineering team — you just need the automation layer.
- You are an MSSP serving many tenants with very different runbooks per customer.
- Your priority is custom integration between security, IT and HR systems with bespoke logic.
- You want a no-code canvas your analysts can drive without engineering help.
- You are happy to maintain playbooks long-term and treat automation as an ongoing engineering project.
Sentra is opinionated and end-to-end. If your job is to build a SOC tailored to a unique environment, Torq gives you more rope. Sentra deliberately gives you less rope and more SOC.
When Sentra wins
Most SMB and mid-market teams that look at Torq actually wanted a SOC, not a SOAR. Sentra wins when the buying motion looks like this:
- Live Ops Theatre — see the SOC working in real time without having to build the dashboard first.
- Out-of-the-box detections and playbooks for GitHub / GitLab, identity, endpoints and cloud — no canvas to wire up.
- Replaces an MDR contract, not augments it. Torq sits beside MDR; Sentra retires it.
- No ongoing playbook maintenance — Sentra owns the detection and response logic, you do not run a part-time SOAR engineering team.
- ~1 day to first detections versus weeks of canvas building for the equivalent coverage in Torq.
FAQ
Is Sentra cheaper than Torq?
It depends on what you compare. Torq itself can look cheap until you cost in the analysts, playbook authors and on-call engineers needed to design and maintain the automations. Sentra is a flat platform fee that already includes the detection logic, the response playbooks and the on-call coverage that Torq expects you to build. For SMB and mid-market, Sentra typically ends up cheaper in total cost of ownership.
Can I migrate from Torq to Sentra?
Yes, and a lot of Sentra customers do exactly this. The common pattern: Torq was bought to "automate" the SOC but ended up requiring a part-time engineer to maintain. Migrating means turning off the maintenance burden, not rewriting playbooks — Sentra ships with detection-as-code rules and response playbooks already baked in. You can keep Torq for non-security workflow automation if you want.
Does Sentra do everything Torq does?
No, and that is intentional. Torq is a generic no-code automation platform — you can wire up anything. Sentra is opinionated software for one job: running an autonomous SOC. If you need to build a 200-step custom approval workflow that talks to ServiceNow, Jira and Slack, use Torq. If you need detections, triage and remediation for a 50-person engineering org, use Sentra.
Can I use Sentra and Torq together?
Yes. Several teams keep Torq for non-security automation (IT provisioning, HR onboarding flows) and use Sentra as the SOC. Sentra can also call into Torq workflows via webhook when a detection needs to trigger a downstream business process Sentra does not own.
Is Torq an AI SOC?
No. Torq has added AI features (Hyperautomation, AI agents) but the product category is still security automation / SOAR. Torq does not ship as a SOC — it ships as the connective tissue you use to build one. Sentra ships as the SOC.
See an AI SOC, not a canvas
Watch Sentra detect, triage and remediate a real attack in the Live Ops Theatre — no workflows to build first.