Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Score 8.9 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 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Cortex XDR (formerly 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
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
8.7
78 Ratings
3% above category average
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
-
Ratings
Anti-Exploit Technology8.975 Ratings00 Ratings
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)9.277 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized Management8.777 Ratings00 Ratings
Hybrid Deployment Support7.210 Ratings00 Ratings
Infection Remediation9.075 Ratings00 Ratings
Vulnerability Management8.772 Ratings00 Ratings
Malware Detection9.276 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft Defender for EndpointPalo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
Small Businesses
ThreatLocker
ThreatLocker
Score 9.4 out of 10
Watchguard Endpoint Security
Watchguard Endpoint Security
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
BlackBerry Protect (CylancePROTECT)
BlackBerry Protect (CylancePROTECT)
Score 9.1 out of 10
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
Score 10.0 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
8.9
(136 ratings)
8.0
(13 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.4
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.7
(11 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(7 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Defender for EndpointPalo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easy to deployed across the entire organization. Having a cloud based solution with a single pane of glass to manage all assets is a real no-brainer. Being able to receive immediate alerts when suspicious activity occurs is extremely helpful in keeping risks at a minimum. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint management is also smart enough to not send several alerts when an attack could be hitting multiple targets within a certain time frame or when it's the same attack multiple times. However, be prepared to click through multiple pages all over the site to figure out what happened when an attack occurs.
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
  • One, it's crazy lightweight, so compared to some of the competitors that we also have used with our security services, it's really lightweight and so I don't have a lot of overhead on the system that it's running on.
  • It does really fantastic PowerShell integration.
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
  • It would be good to continue to minimize the amount of resources needed during a scan
  • Provide more integration with Outlook to scan attachments with a notification that everything is good
  • Provide a Click to Fix option when listing issues or high-risk problems on systems
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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
Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
Cost add-ons for Security features is nickel and diming the process to keep pace with cybercrime. Limited Education budgets require us to be more pro-active in finding cost-effective measures to protect our devices, staff and students. Defender is a strong, well-featured product that is pricing itself out of the education market
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Palo Alto Networks
No answers on this topic
Usability
Microsoft
It offers multiple security features and integrates well with Microsoft ecosystems. A workflow for threat detection, investigation, automated remediation, and a centralized dashboard is an added advantage. This application is mainly designed for experienced users; new users may feel challenged.
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Palo Alto Networks
Cortex XDR does a very good job of blocking suspicious and threatening items. However, as with all software of this nature, it will sometimes block known-good items. The difficulty is in manually whitelisting these known-good items. The interface to whitelist is confusing even for a seasoned IT professional and has been the single most frustrating experience of using Cortex XDR
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Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint chugs along just fine no matter what we throw at it and what systems it's running on. It doesn't take up a lot of resources either, so that's welcomed.
Read full review
Palo Alto Networks
No answers on this topic
Performance
Microsoft
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easy on memory and resources on clients.
Read full review
Palo Alto Networks
No answers on this topic
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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Implementation Rating
Microsoft
Deployment was handled by our team here and everything went pretty smoothly. We did have a few hiccups in our test group, but that only took a bit to get ironed out.
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Palo Alto Networks
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Defender is far easier to deploy and manage than Sophos and tends to work without as many issues. The threat assessment portal provides an in-depth view of the organization's security posture, whereas Sophos only shows the patching status of the PCs. We did need Intune to get many of the control features (disabling USB drives) that Sophos offered out of the box.
Read full review
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
Scalability
Microsoft
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easily scaled from small orgs to giant enterprises.
Read full review
Palo Alto Networks
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Reduced incidents of security breaches lead to lower remediation costs and avoid potential financial losses and reputational damage.
  • Reduces the need for additional third-party security solutions and training, thereby lowering overall security management costs.
  • Increased efficiency and productivity of IT staff lead to better allocation of resources and cost savings.
  • Reduces the risk of fines and sanctions associated with non-compliance, ensuring business continuity and protecting revenue.
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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

Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR Screenshots

Screenshot of a Cortex XDR overviewScreenshot of a view of the Cortex XDR dashboardScreenshot of a view of the Cortex XDR dashboardScreenshot of a view of the Cortex XDR dashboard