Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (formerly Microsoft Defender ATP) is a holistic, cloud delivered endpoint security solution that includes risk-based vulnerability management and assessment, attack surface reduction, behavioral based and cloud-powered next generation protection, endpoint detection and response (EDR), automatic investigation and remediation, managed hunting services, rich APIs, and unified security management.
$2.50
per user/per month
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Traps replaces traditional antivirus with multi-method prevention, a proprietary combination of malware and exploit prevention methods that protect users and endpoints from known and unknown threats.N/A
Pricing
Microsoft Defender for EndpointPalo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
Editions & Modules
Academic
$2.50
per user/per month
Standalone
$5.20
per user/per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Defender for EndpointPalo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft Defender for EndpointPalo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
Considered Both Products
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We have reviewed/used ESET and find Defender much better for Endpoints.
We have also used McAfee on Servers and have since migrated to Defender on Servers.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Enterprise Endpoint Protection: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is well suited for large organizations with numerous endpoints, such as desktops, laptops, and servers, as it provides centralized management and monitoring of security across the entire network. Microsoft …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint has the best integration for us in our (mostly) Windows environment. Also we are using M365 E3 so this already included Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P1. The extra cost for Defender for Endpoint P2 is definitely worth it. You need to see these …
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
Chose Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
traps/cortex xdr is inferior in every respect
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Microsoft Defender for EndpointPalo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
Endpoint Security
Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
8.2
51 Ratings
4% below category average
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
-
Ratings
Anti-Exploit Technology8.049 Ratings00 Ratings
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)8.550 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized Management7.950 Ratings00 Ratings
Hybrid Deployment Support7.810 Ratings00 Ratings
Infection Remediation8.250 Ratings00 Ratings
Vulnerability Management8.348 Ratings00 Ratings
Malware Detection8.551 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft Defender for EndpointPalo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
Small Businesses
SentinelOne Singularity
SentinelOne Singularity
Score 9.1 out of 10
SentinelOne Singularity
SentinelOne Singularity
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.1 out of 10
SentinelOne Singularity
SentinelOne Singularity
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
Score 8.7 out of 10
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft Defender for EndpointPalo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(71 ratings)
8.8
(12 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
2.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(5 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Defender for EndpointPalo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Usually we had lots two platforms tasked with scanning exposures, anti-malware and provision for information and threat management. But with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint we have an all inclusive platform that even integrate with other Microsoft security apps such as Microsoft Defender for Cloud for enhanced threat insights and visibility.
Read full review
Palo Alto Networks
Malware that doesn’t leave files behind has become widely available. Anyone who can afford to reverse this trend should purchase technology. Application whitelisting isn’t for everyone, and Palo Alto Networks Traps can help. Enterprises looking for a low-affected, next-generation solution with high protection should consider it. PAN Traps is a great product at a reasonable price, and I highly recommend it.
Read full review
Pros
Microsoft
  • It provides a unified security experience when combined with other Microsoft products such as Microsoft Defender for 365 and Azure Defender.
  • It has an excellent dashboard and centralized view that make it easy to see and control everything from one location.
  • It's an EDR tool designed to help you understand incidents and alerts better.
  • Real-time detection of attacks and prompt endpoint device responses. It effortlessly interacts with additional Microsoft security products.
Read full review
Palo Alto Networks
  • Direct Access to devices via Live Terminal which provides operations with scripting, triage, and preservation of artifacts.
  • Behavioral Indicators of Compromise which provides alerts on events regarding groups of hosts and their signatures.
  • Querying complex data sets involving a variety of devices for network connections, hashes, DNS, etc.
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • Does not allow for remediation from the management console.
  • The ticket system doesn't alert the person assigned to the ticket.
  • You have to submit requests for whitelisting applications.
  • Scanning exclusions are tricky to find.
  • Adding devices, especially Apple devices, is very cumbersome.
Read full review
Palo Alto Networks
  • Traps doesn't seem to function as a traditional A/V very well, so it's better as another layer to your endpoint protection
  • Traps can cause issues with some legacy or custom programs, so exceptions may have to be made
  • Traps falsely identifies things as malicious at times, this is not often though
Read full review
Usability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Palo Alto Networks
Day to day, Cortex is easy to use when you have no alerts and when an agent upgrade doesn't go south. Alerts are far too "clicky", there's too many steps to drilling down to what actually happened to trigger an alert. Investigating alerts in Cortex takes about 5x longer than it should.
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Support Rating
Microsoft
The first time I tried to onboard my macOS endpoints to MDE I struggled for quite a bit. I had to reach out to Microsoft's MDE support team. The tech was very helpful in walking me through the steps during a screen share session
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Palo Alto Networks
The support we receive from Palo Alto is one of the best aspects of Traps. It is very easy to recommend their support. It seems much easier to connect directly with someone with a deep understanding of the product rather than other companies where you basically have to make an airtight case that it is some kind of non-standard issue that can't be solved with existing documentation. Palo Alto digs deep and helps with advanced troubleshooting to get things working.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
in an overall protection sentinelone is providing better protection for us, but as it comes with subscription's limitation, we have to be really careful in managing the licenses, the MS Defender for endpoint is providing us a decent protection which we are not complaining about, why we chose them ? as mentioned, this is coming with our subscription
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Palo Alto Networks
Traps is the slickest interface, easy to use and intuitive rule making, and the rest just didn't quite stack up to the performance level of Traps. McAfee and Kaspersky just hog processor and RAM power. I didn't like the interface and functionality of SentinelOne as much as Traps. Palo Alto really put a lot of time into the development of this software, and had some of the founding fathers of IT Security heading the development process. Can't beat that.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • By providing robust threat protection, Defender for Endpoint can prevent downtime caused by security issues. Employees can work without interruptions, leading to increased productivity.
  • By significantly decreasing the frequency of security incidents like malware infections and data breaches, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint can protect your network. The cost of incident response, cleanup, and potential regulatory fines are reduced as a result of the decrease in events.
  • The implementation and configuration of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint may require an initial investment in licensing, training, and deployment, which can temporarily affect ROI.
  • The cost of licensing can be substantial, especially for larger organizations. This cost needs to be factored into the ROI calculation.
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Palo Alto Networks
  • After putting Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR on a user's system, users came back with a positive response that there are no performance issues now.
  • We are able to track and control granular suspicious and malicious activities.
  • Web controls are missing, which if they would have been there would have been very helpful.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Screenshots

Screenshot of blocked activitiesScreenshot of Detects & respondsScreenshot of discovers vulnerabilityScreenshot of Eliminates blind spotsScreenshot of Risk management