Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs Darktrace comparison

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Fortinet Logo
10,049 views|7,442 comparisons
82% willing to recommend
Palo Alto Networks Logo
29,736 views|16,699 comparisons
94% willing to recommend
Darktrace Logo
829 views|391 comparisons
93% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Sep 28, 2022

We compared Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks and Darktrace based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: For the most part, users of both solutions find them easy to deploy.
  • Features: Users of both products feel that they are stable and scalable.

    Users of Cortex XDR find its centralized dashboard and security features to be valuable. However, they feel its dashboard could be improved.

    Users feel Darktrace’s artificial intelligence features are useful. However, they say it is lacking in endpoint security.
  • Pricing: Users of both solutions feel that they are expensive.
  • Service and Support: Users of both solutions find their technical support to be efficient and helpful.

Comparison of Results: Based on the parameters we compared, Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks seems to be the superior solution. Our reviewers feel that because Darktrace is lacking where security is concerned, Cortex XDR is a better investment.

To learn more, read our detailed Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Report (Updated: April 2024).
771,157 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"It notifies us if there's any suspicious file on any PC. If any execution or similar kind of thing is happening, it just alerts us. It doesn't only alert. It also blocks the execution until we allow it. We check whether the execution is legitimate or not, and then approve it or keep it blocked. This gives us a little bit of control over this mechanism. Fortinet FortiEDR is also very straightforward and easy to maintain.""The main thing is that I feel safe. Because the processes that have been used to get a handle on the attackers are much better than other competitors""The console is easy to read. I also like the scanning part and the ability to move assets from one to the other.""The product's initial setup phase is very easy.""Fortinet FortiEDR's firewalling, rule creation, monitoring, and inspection profiles are great.""The setup is pretty simple.""Forensics is a valuable feature of Fortinet FortiEDR.""It is a scalable solution...The initial setup of Fortinet FortiEDR was straightforward."

More Fortinet FortiEDR Pros →

"It can automatically correlate events and logs, which is very helpful for an IT administrator. It can correlate different kinds of malware activities over a network, agent, or host system. You do not need to do it manually. It is a good feature. It is also a user-friendly solution. We have deployed it on the cloud because our space does not provide any flexibility for on-premises deployment, but Palo Alto has added some flexibility to install it on-premises. It must be like the same Cortex XDR agent for all the VPN services, web filtering services, and everything else.""The most valuable features are the fact that it was running in the background and it would intercept any weird stuff, and the fact that it would send things directly to the cloud for sandboxing. It's quite practical.""It's very stable. I've never experienced downtime for the ASM console or ASM core.""The interface is easy to use and it is more up to date than our previous solution.""Monitoring is most valuable.""If there are multiple alerts, the app will automatically create and rate an event instead of going through each one.""The initial setup is pretty easy.""Traps has drastically reduced our endpoint attack surface via advanced detection capabilities, sandboxing of never before seen programs, and by drastically limiting where executables can launch in the first place."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks Pros →

"The ability to see what we have not seen before is most valuable. It is very interesting to find out the most vulnerable devices in our network.""The AI-based pattern is the most valuable feature.""It is a stable solution.""The most valuable feature is the solution's ability to trim out the false positives and point your attention to the real important stuff.""Darktrace is very useful for us because it has a large number of models for detecting threats.""The ability to detect activity on the network is very useful to us. Even if it's not necessarily an illegal activity, if it is abnormal activity, it is able to detect it and notify us.""We allow customers to access our Wi-Fi as guests, and some of them were going to restricted sites. Darktrace showed us what they were doing so we could block them.""The most valuable feature of Darktrace is the AI that detects abnormal network activity."

More Darktrace Pros →

Cons
"We find the solution to be a bit expensive.""The amount of usage, the number of details we get, or the number of options that can be tweaked is limited in comparison to that with other EDR solutions""They can include the automation for the realtime updates. We have a network infrastructure with remote sites. Whenever they send updates, they are not automated. We have to go into the console and push those updates. I wish it was more automated. The update file is currently around 31 MB. It could be smaller.""FortiEDR could add a separate scanning dashboard. In incident management, we prefer to remove the endpoint system from the environment and scan the system. We typically use Symantec for that, but if we want to use FortiEDR for that, then we need a scanning tab to clarify things.""The EDR console should have more extensive reporting. You shouldn't need to purchase FortiAnalyzer. It should be included in the EDR part. The security adviser cloud platform could be improved with more options for exclusive or intensive rules for devices.""Making the portal mobile friendly would be helpful when I am out of office.""It takes about two business days for initial support, which is too slow in urgent situations.""The dashboard isn't easy to access and manage."

More Fortinet FortiEDR Cons →

"The solution could improve by providing better integration with their own products and others.""The setup is quite easy. We had appropriate support from the manager. One thing that was missing was the integration part.""Every 30 or 40 days, there's a new version and we need to go and make sure our customer's laptops are upgraded.""Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks can improve mobile integration to allow access to the console.""It is not very strong in terms of endpoint management. It should have additional features like DLP, encryption, or advanced device control. Currently, Cortex is good in terms of the security of the endpoints, but it is not as good as other vendors in terms of the management of the endpoint.""It should support more mobile operating systems. That is one of the cons of their infrastructure right now.""The connection to the internet has not performed as expected.""Although I would say this product is highly-rated, it could probably do more because nothing does everything that you want."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks Cons →

"I believe their network monitoring device licensing module could use some improvement.""It should be easier to access the Darktrace portal and its documentation. Only the customer can access their portal and support. It could be cheaper.""The price point for the product was too high for what our possible use case could be.""We'd like threat hunting, and we'd like to see a global solution that can automate vulnerability scans. I know it is something they are working on.""I did not use the AI features because they should make it more user-friendly which would be a benefit. Additionally, the solution could integrate with more SIEM or SOAR tools.""A reporting portal could be a great addition to help customize reports.""Needs to improve its collaboration with local partners.""Darktrace requires numerous configurations. It would be beneficial if the configuration could be made simpler."

More Darktrace Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "I know it is tough to get big budget additions up front, but I highly recommend deploying environment wide and adding the forensic service."
  • "There are no issues with the pricing."
  • "The price is comprable to other endpoint security solutions."
  • "The pricing is typical for enterprises and fairly priced."
  • "I'm not familiar with pricing, but it looks a bit costly compared to other vendors I think."
  • "The pricing is good."
  • "I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
  • "The hardware costs about €100,000 and about €20,000 annually for access."
  • More Fortinet FortiEDR Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "I feel it is fairly priced."
  • "The pricing seems fair, and I do like the licensing model. You use wherever they are, and it is elastic."
  • "We didn't have to pay any additional fee for the cloud instance. It just came with the renewal, which was nice."
  • "It is "expensive" and flexible."
  • "Traps pays for itself within the first 16 months of a three-year subscription. This is attributed to OPEX savings, as security teams spent less time trying to identify and isolate malware for analysis as a result of a reduction in malware incidents, false positives, and breach avoidance."
  • "I did PoCs on products called Cylance and CrowdStrike. Although, I consider these products and they were also good, when it come to cost and budgetary factors, Traps has been proven to be better than the other two products. It is quite cost-effective and delivers all the entire solution which we require."
  • "It is cost-effective compared to similar solutions. It fits for the small businesses through to the big businesses."
  • "The return on investment is from the user side because we have seen the performance of it increase the delivery time of the product if we are using too many web-based and on-premise applications. In indirect ways, we saw the return of investment in terms of performance and user satisfaction increase."
  • More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "It is inexpensive considering what it can do and the competition."
  • "The pricing is a little high compared to the competition."
  • "Our customers feel that the price of Darktrace is quite high compared to other solutions."
  • "The pricing is very flexible for Darktrace. Sometimes, a customer does not have the appropriate budget, but Darktrace can handle that. They offer monthly payments, so the customer can acquire the solution very easily."
  • "When it comes to large installations, it can be expensive, but for small accounts it's fine."
  • "It is a very expensive product."
  • "It is expensive. I don't have the price for other competitors."
  • "This solution is expensive."
  • More Darktrace Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protection… more »
    Top Answer:We have FortiEDR installed on all our systems. This protects them from any threats.
    Top Answer:We license it per employee, so as long as the employee count remains the same, the licensing won't change. We have it… more »
    Top Answer:Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. SentinelOne SentinelOne offers very detailed specifics with regard to risks or attacks.… more »
    Top Answer:Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. CrowdStrike Falcon Both Cortex XDR and Crowd Strike Falcon offer cloud-based solutions that… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface… more »
    Top Answer:Both of these products perform similarly and have many outstanding attributes CrowdStrike Falcon offers an amazing… more »
    Top Answer:Which solution is better depends on which is more suitable specifically for your company. Darktrace, for example, is… more »
    Top Answer:A very useful feature in Darktrace for real-time threat analysis is the packet inspection that analyzes the packet… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    enSilo, FortiEDR
    Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
    Learn More
    Overview

    Fortinet FortiEDR is a real-time endpoint protection, detection, and automated response solution. Its primary purpose is to detect advanced threats to stop breaches and ransomware damage. It is designed to do so in real time, even on an already compromised device, allowing you to respond and remediate incidents automatically so your data can remain protected.

    Fortinet FortiEDR Features

    Fortinet FortiEDR has many valuable key features, including:

    • Easily customizable
    • Real-time proactive risk mitigation & IoT security
    • Pre-infection protection
    • Post-infection protection
    • Track applications and ratings
    • Reduce the attack surface with risk-based proactive policies
    • Achieve analysis of entire log history
    • Optional managed detection and response (MDR) service

    Fortinet FortiEDR Benefits

    Some of the key benefits of using Fortinet FortiEDR include:

    • Protection: Fortinet FortiEDR provides proactive, real-time, automated endpoint protection with the orchestrated incident response across platforms. It stops the breach with real-time postinfection blocking to protect data from exfiltration and ransomware encryption.

    • Single unified console: Fortinet FortiEDR has a single unified console with an intuitive interface, which makes management easier. The solution automates mundane endpoint security tasks so your employees don’t need to do it.

    • Cost savings: With Fortinet FortiEDR you can eliminate post-breach operational expenses and breach damage costs.

    • Flexibility: Fortinet FortiEDR can be deployed on premises or on a secure cloud instance. With Fortinet FortiEDR, endpoints are protected both on- and off-line.

    • Scalability: Because Fortinet can be deployed quickly and has a small footprint, it is easy to scale up to protect hundreds of thousand endpoints.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Fortinet FortiEDR users.

    An Owner at a security firm says, "The features that I have found most valuable are the ability to customize it and to reduce its size. It lets you run in a very small window in terms of memory and resources on legacy cash registers. The customer has literally about 800 cash registers. That was the use case for Fortinet FortiEDR - to get that down into a tiny space. The only way to do that was to use this product because it had that ability to unbundle services that were a surplus.”

    Chandan M., Chief Technical Officer at Provision Technologies LLP, mentions, “The ease of deployment and configuration is valuable. It's very easy compared to other vendors like Sophos. Sophos' configuration is complex. Fortinet is a lot easier to understand. You don't need a lot of admin knowledge to do the configuration.” He also adds, “The security is also very good and the firewall response is good.”

    Harpreet S., Information Technology Support Specialist at Chemtrade Logistics, explains, "It notifies us if there's any suspicious file on any PC. If any execution or similar kind of thing is happening, it just alerts us. It doesn't only alert. It also blocks the execution until we allow it. We check whether the execution is legitimate or not, and then approve it or keep it blocked. This gives us a little bit of control over this mechanism. Fortinet FortiEDR is also very straightforward and easy to maintain."

    DeAndre V., Senior Network Administrator at a financial services firm, states, “The dashboard is easy to follow and use. The deployment and uninstalling were easy. I like the detailed information about the path of a file that might be suspicious. Being able to check that out was easy to follow. Exceptions are easy to create and the interface is easy to follow with a nice appearance.

    Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is the first threat detection and response software to combine both visibility across all types of data as well as autonomous machine learning analytics. Threat detection very often requires analysts to divide their attention among many different data streams. This platform unifies a vast variety of data flows, which allows analysts to assess threats from a single location. Users can now maintain a level of visibility that other threat detection programs simply cannot offer. This level of transparency lends itself to both quick identification of problems that arise and the equally quick development of a potential solution.

    Cortex XDR’s machine learning works on many different levels to detect and prevent threats. It is constantly scanning for threats and vulnerabilities. The solution can scan up to 5.4 billion IP addresses in three-quarters of an hour. This allows it to spot weak points in the system and notify administrators long before hackers can take advantage of vulnerabilities. Once the Artificial Intelligence (AI) discovers an issue or an area where an issue could potentially take place the system creates a log of the information and subsequently sends an alert to system administrators. The AI takes the information that it has gathered and uses it to assign threat levels to the issues that it detects. Following this, a human analyst will be assigned to manually assess the issue and deal with it accordingly. You can set it to automatically respond to the threat by isolating the issue while analysts investigate it.

    Benefits of Cortex XDR

    Some of Cortex XDR’s benefits include:

    • The use of advanced AI analytics, behavior analytics, and custom-made detection to detect advanced threats before they occur.
    • The ability to group similar threat alerts, reducing incoming alerts by as much as 98%. This allows analysts to avoid being overwhelmed by the volume of incoming alerts.
    • The ability to investigate threats as much as 8 times faster than would be possible with other software. The machine learning, when coupled with the unified data stream that Cortex XDR collects, significantly increases the ability to more quickly discover the root cause of a threat.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks software stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its ability to isolate threats while enabling them to be studied and the way that the software combines all of the data that it gathers into a single, more complete picture than other solutions offer.

    PeerSpot users note the effectiveness of these features. A network designer at a computer software company wrote, “The solution has a very helpful isolation feature. If any system gets compromised, with one click I can access the system and isolate it from other networks, and then go into further forensic investigation of the current threat without compromising anything else.”

    Jeff W., Vice President/CTO at Sinnott Wolach Technology Group, noted, “The ability to kind of stitch everything together and see the actual complete picture is very useful. I guess you'd call it a playbook. Some people call it the forensics analysis of what was happening on particular endpoints when they detected some malicious behavior, and what transpired before that to cause that. It is also very user friendly.”



    Darktrace is a leading cybersecurity solution that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide advanced threat detection, response, and risk management capabilities. Many reviewers find Darktrace's AI and machine-learning capabilities to be valuable. They appreciate its ability to detect anomalies and threats that might go unnoticed by traditional security tools. Overall, the general sentiment towards Darktrace from reviewers is positive. Users seem to appreciate its scalability, stability, AI capabilities, visibility, and ease of use.

    Darktrace offers a proactive and intelligent approach to cybersecurity. It utilizes AI algorithms to learn and understand the 'pattern of life' for every user and device within a network. This understanding enables it to detect anomalies that could signify a cyber threat, from subtle insider threats to more obvious ransomware attacks.

    Its adaptability, autonomous response features, and comprehensive network visibility make it a top-tier solution for different sizes of organizations and across many industries. It was named one of TIME magazine’s ‘Most Influential Companies’ in 2021 and protects over 8,800 organizations globally from advanced cyber threats.

    Darktrace Cyber AI Loop

    The Darktrace Cyber AI Loop introduces an advanced artificial intelligence-based system for cybersecurity, designed to build a self-improving defense mechanism. This system functions like a closed loop, where each stage feeds information and insights into the next, amplifying the overall effectiveness of the platform.

    The key components of the loop are:

    • DETECT - An AI engine that monitors your network and endpoints for anomalous activity, constantly learning the normal behavior of your users and devices. It identifies suspicious patterns and potential threats in real-time, even from never-before-seen attacks.
    • PREVENT - This proactive arm analyzes vulnerabilities and identifies weaknesses in your IT infrastructure. It prioritizes patching and configuration changes to harden defenses before attackers can exploit those vulnerabilities.
    • RESPOND - When DETECT identifies a threat, RESPOND takes immediate action to contain and neutralize it. This can involve isolating compromised devices, disrupting attacker activity, and automatically escalating critical incidents to human analysts.
    • HEAL - This newest addition to the loop focuses on post-incident recovery. It automatically restores compromised systems, cleans infected files, and helps to prevent the attack from spreading further.

    Darktrace's AI algorithms can identify threats that traditional security tools might miss. It continuously learns and updates its understanding of what is normal for each environment, ensuring that it can quickly detect and respond to unusual activities that could indicate a breach. Darktrace's Antigena module can autonomously respond to threats in real time. This is particularly crucial in containing fast-moving threats like ransomware, where every second counts. 

      Darktrace's solution provides unparalleled visibility into all parts of the network, including cloud services, IoT devices, and industrial control systems. This comprehensive coverage ensures that no part of the network is left unprotected. However, while the Darktrace Cyber AI Loop offers a robust solution, it is not a complete cure-all and requires careful implementation and integration with existing security frameworks.Darktrace offers a comprehensive and unified approach to cybersecurity. It provides continuous protection against known and unknown threats, regardless of where they emerge. Darktrace's solutions provide visibility into your cloud infrastructure, continuous monitoring of application usage and communication patterns (e.g., identification of suspicious actions like unauthorized data access), comprehensive email security that goes beyond traditional spam and phishing filters, real-time protection for endpoints, and continuous monitoring of network traffic and device activity.

      Darktrace also provides specialized coverage to secure your zero-trust architecture. Identifies compromised identities, unauthorized access attempts, and risky data exfiltration within a least-privilege environment. Finally, it has a dedicated solution for safeguarding industrial control systems and critical infrastructure. Monitors communication patterns, device behavior, and physical access within OT environments, protecting against operational disruptions and cyberattacks.

      Sample Customers
      Financial, Healthcare, Legal, Technology, Enterprise, Manufacturing ... 
      CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
      Irwin Mitchell, Open Energi, Wellcome Trust, FirstGroup plc, Virgin Trains, Drax, QUI! Group, DNK, CreaCard, Macrosynergy, Sisley, William Hill plc, Toyota Canada, Royal British Legion, Vitol, Allianz, KKR, AIRBUS, dpd, Billabong, Mclaren Group.
      Top Industries
      REVIEWERS
      Financial Services Firm21%
      Manufacturing Company11%
      Comms Service Provider11%
      Pharma/Biotech Company5%
      VISITORS READING REVIEWS
      Computer Software Company16%
      Government8%
      Manufacturing Company8%
      Financial Services Firm8%
      REVIEWERS
      Computer Software Company17%
      Financial Services Firm13%
      Security Firm9%
      Consumer Goods Company7%
      VISITORS READING REVIEWS
      Computer Software Company15%
      Government8%
      Financial Services Firm8%
      Manufacturing Company6%
      REVIEWERS
      Financial Services Firm19%
      Computer Software Company13%
      Healthcare Company6%
      Manufacturing Company6%
      VISITORS READING REVIEWS
      Computer Software Company16%
      Financial Services Firm8%
      Government7%
      Manufacturing Company7%
      Company Size
      REVIEWERS
      Small Business52%
      Midsize Enterprise15%
      Large Enterprise33%
      VISITORS READING REVIEWS
      Small Business31%
      Midsize Enterprise19%
      Large Enterprise50%
      REVIEWERS
      Small Business41%
      Midsize Enterprise22%
      Large Enterprise37%
      VISITORS READING REVIEWS
      Small Business25%
      Midsize Enterprise19%
      Large Enterprise56%
      REVIEWERS
      Small Business50%
      Midsize Enterprise20%
      Large Enterprise30%
      VISITORS READING REVIEWS
      Small Business30%
      Midsize Enterprise19%
      Large Enterprise51%
      Buyer's Guide
      Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
      April 2024
      Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, SentinelOne, CrowdStrike and others in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP). Updated: April 2024.
      771,157 professionals have used our research since 2012.

      Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is ranked 4th in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) with 80 reviews while Darktrace is ranked 11th in Email Security with 65 reviews. Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is rated 8.4, while Darktrace is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks writes "Perfect correlation and XDR capabilities for network traffic plus endpoint security". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Darktrace writes "Great autonomous support, offers an easy setup, and has responsive support". Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is most compared with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, CrowdStrike Falcon, Symantec Endpoint Security, Trellix Endpoint Security and Check Point Harmony Endpoint, whereas Darktrace is most compared with CrowdStrike Falcon, Vectra AI, SentinelOne Singularity Complete, Cisco Secure Network Analytics and ExtraHop Reveal(x).

      We monitor all Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.