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Binary Defense MDR vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Binary Defense MDR
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (9th)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Net...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (5th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (9th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (7th), Ransomware Protection (2nd), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Binary Defense MDR and Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Binary Defense MDR is designed for Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and holds a mindshare of 0.6%, down 0.6% compared to last year.
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks, on the other hand, focuses on Extended Detection and Response (XDR), holds 5.4% mindshare, down 5.8% since last year.
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Binary Defense MDR0.6%
CrowdStrike Falcon Complete MDR10.3%
Huntress Managed EDR9.5%
Other79.6%
Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks5.4%
CrowdStrike Falcon12.3%
Wazuh10.2%
Other72.1%
Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
 

Featured Reviews

Rich Ullom - PeerSpot reviewer
Worth the money, fantastic communication, and fast service with an average response time of about four minutes on an alert
This is my third SOC. I have never had anybody react as well. So, it's hard for me to provide something that they could do better because I'm really happy with them. I just signed another three-year contract with them. I don't find any downside to them, but if I have to put one, it would be consistent manpower or staffing. The only area where the solution can be improved is going to be with people. As they grow, they are struggling with the same thing that every other company is, which is getting talent and getting that talent to stay, but they've just revised their tiering system to go from a flat analyst and manager to a three-tier solution where it goes through two or three before it gets elevated. That seems to have worked out well, so if one level misses it, the next one picks it up, and it works out fine. Consistent staffing is the only challenge they have because when you're hiring level-one analysts, you go through them pretty quickly. You'll probably hire them at 50K or 55K, and after they do it for a year, they find out they can make 85K somewhere else, and they bounce. So, their turnover is a little high, but that's it.
HectorRios - PeerSpot reviewer
Has detected high-risk threats effectively and provides strong behavioral protection
They did well with handling high-risk threats. I would rate Palo Alto support an eight or nine. I would give them an eight because in the majority of cases, we talk with local partners, and only in case of an emergency or a difficult issue, we jump to Palo Alto support. When we had that experience with Palo Alto support, it was nice service, but it was really difficult to get it. To jump from the partner to Palo Alto directly was challenging. I understand that it's part of the service, as the local partner just jumps up to Palo Alto support in case they need it. In some cases, when we faced an important issue, it was preferred to jump directly to Palo Alto to save time.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"In the six months we have been with Binary Defense on this, they run with the ball. They take care of our problems. When we get a ticket, they do not just give us a report."
"The most valuable feature is reviewing tickets and the notes added by technicians."
"The biggest aspect for us is that they are able to conform to our environment and utilize our tools. That way, we still maintain ownership of all the data and access to the applications, and we never lose control of the ability to run the solution ourselves if we need to."
"Binary Defense has a human service department that provides live monitoring for our systems."
"The case interface is Binary Defense MDR's most valuable feature."
"Our mean time to response has gone down. We're much faster with direct response and have more investigative capabilities than we did before."
"Binary Defense's most valuable feature is the 24/7 monitoring and threat hunting. Their team checks the latest breaches and how they're done."
"The most valuable features are the SIEM and the ticketing function; the latter is very smooth and easy to read and understand. We don't have any issues looking at the ticketing information when we're trying to identify what's going on."
"From a single pane of glass, you can easily manage all of your endpoints."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"Best solution for avoiding security breaches, malware attacks, and other kinds of security issues."
"The tool is easy to use."
"The solution doesn't need a high level of technical training."
"It's a nice product that's stable and scalable."
"The behavior-based detection feature is valuable."
"One thing that I like about Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks, it is detecting all the suspicious or malicious binaries, and it has integration with Palo Alto Firewall."
 

Cons

"Binary Defense MDR could be even better with additional features, like automatic scans and file quarantine."
"While my understanding is that they're working on this, I would like to see some more of the quantification or reporting."
"I don't find any downside to them, but if I have to put one, it would be consistent manpower or staffing. The only area where the solution can be improved is going to be with people. As they grow, they are struggling with the same thing that every other company is, which is getting talent and getting that talent to stay, but they've just revised their tiering system to go from a flat analyst and manager to a three-tier solution where it goes through two or three before it gets elevated. That seems to have worked out well, so if one level misses it, the next one picks it up, and it works out fine."
"The current reporting system could benefit from improvement."
"If I were shopping for an MDR solution today, I would not only look for a company that has the ability to alert, detect, and remediate, but also the ability to integrate vulnerability management. That's a big thing that they're lacking today."
"The only area I see for improvement with Binary Defense is their service portal. It could benefit from some enhancements."
"I would like to get more reports from Binary Defense about what they're blocking."
"It's sometimes difficult to know when to engage Binary Defense or TrustedSec, their sister company. TrustedSec is more focused on offensive security, as opposed to the defensive security that the MDR solution provides. It would be awesome if there were a better bridge between that relationship for when we need to get more proactive services or when we need to do a penetration test."
"The server sometimes stops continuously to check things so it would be helpful to receive access updates or technical reasons."
"It would be better if they could educate the customers more. Some sort of seminars and roadshows will help educate the customers and show what the product can do. The price could be better. It would also help if they had a team for deployment and support."
"There are some default policies which sometimes affect our applications and cause them to run around. In the hotel industry, we use a different type of data versus Oracle and SQL. By default, there are some policies which stop us from running properly. Because of this, the support level is also not that strong. We have to wait to get a results."
"Cortex XDR could be improved with more GUI features."
"It takes time to scan the servers and devices."
"It's not an ideal choice for smaller businesses, as you need a minimum of 200 endpoints to even use the solution at all."
"If they had pulse rate detection, it would be better."
"I would like to see them include NDR (Network Detection Response)."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is very good. They are definitely competitive and they were lower at the time that we went with them."
"Binary Defense MDR is priced competitively and may be slightly lower than CrowdStrike."
"The pricing isn't that bad, it's very competitive. I don't feel that it's over-priced and I don't feel that it's under-priced."
"From the initial cost that Binary Defense came in with, we pared it down quite a bit over the course of 30 or 60 days. My leadership would say that their cost was high, but realistically, they were in line with the market."
"The pricing is on target. Working with their sales team on pricing negotiations was a pleasant process. They were very respectful of the constraints we had and I feel that we're paying a fair price."
"After we acquired this platform, we met with a number of different vendors. Binary Defense came in with a proposal that was surprisingly affordable. In fact, we were able to recoup the cost of their services within a short period of time. This is because Binary Defense is able to provide the same level of security as a team of two or three in-house analysts but at a fraction of the cost. As a result, Binary Defense is saving us an estimated $250,000 to $300,000 per year."
"It has been good. We have saved money, and we have a better product."
"The solution's price is spot on; if anything, it's slightly below the norm for most services. Compared to building the same team internally, it would cost more to create the same amount of capability than what we get from an external team. Price-wise, Binary Defense is in a great spot."
"If one wishes to work with another team or large number of users at a future point, he must purchase a license for them."
"Licensing for Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR can be costly, especially when it comes to a hundred users. A license is required for each user, and the subscription must be renewed on a yearly basis."
"It is cost-effective compared to similar solutions. It fits for the small businesses through to the big businesses."
"The pricing is a little high. It is per user per year."
"The price of the product is not very economical."
"Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is quite an expensive solution."
"The cost depends on your chosen license type, like Pro or other licenses."
"When we first bought it, it was a bit expensive, but it was worth it. The licensing was straightforward."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Healthcare Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise36
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Binary Defense MDR?
The most valuable feature is reviewing tickets and the notes added by technicians.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Binary Defense MDR?
It has been good. We have saved money, and we have a better product. We are a company that has become an enterprise from a small medium business in two years. Our company passed a certain dollar ma...
What needs improvement with Binary Defense MDR?
We are going to have a meeting with them the following Monday. It will be our first quarterly business review. Half of it is going to be looking at new products and new functions that they are brin...
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. Sentinel One
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. SentinelOne SentinelOne offers very detailed specifics with regard to risks or attacks. The ability to reverse damage caused by ransomware with minimal interruptions to...
Comparing CrowdStrike Falcon to Cortex XDR (Palo Alto)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. CrowdStrike Falcon Both Cortex XDR and Crowd Strike Falcon offer cloud-based solutions that are very scalable, secure, and user-friendly. Cortex XDR by Palo Alto offers ...
How is Cortex XDR compared with Microsoft Defender?
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface, applies behavioral-based endpoint protection and response, and includes risk-ba...
 

Also Known As

Binary Defense Vision, Binary Defense Managed Detection and Response, Binary Defense Managed Detection & Response
Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Securitas USA, Black Hills Energy, Lincoln Electric,The J.M. Smuckers Company, New York Community Bank, State of Connecticut, NCR
CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
Find out what your peers are saying about CrowdStrike, Huntress, Field Effect and others in Managed Detection and Response (MDR). Updated: October 2025.
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