Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs CrowdStrike Falcon comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Mar 21, 2022

We performed a comparison between Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike Falcon based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: The majority of Cortex XDR reviewers say the initial setup is straightforward, but a handful of Cortex XDR users say the setup is complex. All CrowdStrike Falcon users write that the initial setup is straightforward.
  • Features: Users of both products are happy with their high level of protection, stability, and scalability. Cortex XDR users report being satisfied with its user interface but would like to see more integration with other platforms. CrowdStrike Falcon users report being very satisfied with its performance and reliability. A few CrowdStrike Falcon users would like to see better reporting abilities and improvements to the dashboard’s user interface.
  • Pricing: Cortex XDR users write that the solution is expensive. Most CrowdStrike Falcon users feel that the price of the product is fair.
  • ROI: While Cortex XDR reviewers do not mention ROI, CrowdStrike Falcon users report a significant ROI.
  • Service and Support: Users of both solutions are happy with the level of support they receive.

Comparison Results: Both products receive high marks from reviewers. However, CrowdStrike Falcon comes out on top in this comparison due to its robust performance, ease of deployment, reasonable cost, and impressive ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs. CrowdStrike Falcon Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 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
"Microsoft XDR's system of analysis and investigation is super convenient for our customers. It integrates with other Microsoft solutions like Defender for 365 to protect email traffic from malicious external web links and phishing.""The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that Microsoft Defender XDR is easy to integrate with other Microsoft platforms or products.""The most valuable feature is probably the aggregation and correlation of the different telemetry points with Defender for Identity, Defender for Endpoint, and Defender for Cloud Apps. All of these various things are part of that portal. We've wanted that single pane of glass for years.""Microsoft 365 Defender is a good solution and easy to use.""Microsoft 365 Defender is simple to upgrade.""Its most significant advantage lies in its affordability.""The ability to hunt that IM data set or the identity data set at the same time is valuable. As incident response professionals, we are very used to EDRs and having device process registry telemetry, but a lot of times, we do not have that identity data right there with us, so we have to go search for it in some other silo. Being able to cross-correlate via both datasets at the same time is something that we can only do in Def""The incident threat response and its ability to facilitate effective remediation against threats are the standout features."

More Microsoft Defender XDR Pros →

"The most valuable feature is that you can select remote access of any machine for sandboxing.""The multi-layered approach to the product gives you confidence that it will stop exploits, ransomware, worms, or viruses from compromising endpoints, essentially providing peace of mind.""The most valuable feature of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is its machine-learning capabilities. Additionally, there is full integration with other solutions.""Monitoring is most valuable.""Cortex XDR is a simple platform that's easy for administrators and users. You have a lot of flexibility to change or customize the features.""Cortex covers everything I need. It's a perfect solution. Cortex provides a different level of visibility because it's an extended EDR, allowing you to grab logs from the network and firewalls. Palo Alto invented the concept of the extended EDR or XDR.""Palo Alto is constantly adding new features.""Threat identification and detection are the most valuable features of this solution."

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"The most valuable feature is its threat analysis.""The scalability is good.""The anomaly detection is the most valuable feature.""The most valuable features of CrowdStrike Falcon include Falcon Fusion workflows and endpoint detection capabilities.""The features we showcase to potential customers are prevention, malware protection, zero-day protection, and application scripting. Vulnerability assessment is another valuable feature.""CrowdStrike Falcon is effortless to use, and it's a cloud-specific platform. You only need to deploy the light agents on the licensed endpoints, and you're ready to work. Your dashboards will tell you the number of the endpoints being protected and the incidents. There are also incident dashboards with alerts that will tell you about the details.""Everything we've done with CrowdStrike is due to Arctic Wolf. We don't even need to get alerts from CrowdStrike anymore. It'll send those to Arctic Wolf, and then Arctic Wolf analyzes those and let us know if there's a major issue.""The detection is very effective."

More CrowdStrike Falcon Pros →

Cons
"The capability to not only thwart attacks but also to adapt to evolving threats is crucial.""The data recovery and backup could be improved.""The mobile app support for Android and iOS is difficult and needs improvement.""The solution could improve by having better machine learning and AI. Additionally, the interface, documentation, and integration could be better.""There could be a way to proactively monitor unusual activity .""The onboarding and offboarding need improvement. I work with other vendors as well, and they have an option to add a device or remove a device from the portal, whereas with Microsoft 365 Defender, we need to do that manually. However, once you do that, everything can be controlled through the portal, but getting the device onboarded and offboarded is currently manual. If we have an option to simply remove a device from the portal or get a device added from the portal, it would be more convenient. The rest of the features are similar. This is the only area where I found it different from others. I would also like to be able to simply filter with a few of the queries that are already there.""Automated playbooks and automated dashboards would be preferable to the way the data is currently being presented.""The cost can be high if you want to build custom license packages. Another area for improvement is the policies. In Azure, we need to implement policies in JSON format, but in 365 Defender 365, it would be helpful to use a different format so we can customize the platform."

More Microsoft Defender XDR Cons →

"It should support more mobile operating systems. That is one of the cons of their infrastructure right now.""Cortex does not offer an on-premises solution. However, some customers would prefer not to be on the cloud. It would be ideal if it could offer something on-prem as well.""The connection to the internet has not performed as expected.""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.""Dashboards do not allow everyone to see what's happening.""The solution should force customers to integrate with network traffic to see the full benefits of XDR.""There are a large number of false positives.""The playbooks could be improved to include more functionalities or actions."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks Cons →

"The portal can be clunky to navigate at times and has room for improvement.""The GUI can use improvement, it's cloud-based so sometimes the interface can be a bit slow. The interface could use a little bit more speed.""On the firewall management side, there should be more granularity. There should also be more granularity for device control. Everything else is brilliant.""The biggest issue with Falcon as a standalone product is it doesn't have very much reporting.""CrowdStrike costs a little more than its competitors.""CrowdStrike should provide better visibility in its reporting. There should be more forensic details about detected threats.""The current database schema presents challenges and has potential for improvement.""The malware analysis could be improved, as that's what we use the solution for the most and that change would make it a better EDR tool."

More CrowdStrike Falcon Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The solutions price is fair for what they offer."
  • "The price could be better. Normally, the costs depend on the country you're located in for the license. When we were in the initial stage, we went with the E5 license they call premium standard. It cost us around $5.20 per month for four users."
  • "The price of the solution is high compared to others and we have lost some customers because of it."
  • "Microsoft is not competitive with the pricing of the solution. The competitors are able to offer lower discounts. The price of the solution is higher."
  • "We have a lot of problems in Latin America regarding the price of Microsoft 365 Defender, because the relationship between dollars and the money of the different countries, it's is a lot. Many customers that have small businesses say that they would like the solution but it is too expensive. However, large companies do not find the cost an issue."
  • "The most valuable licensing option is expensive, so pricing could be improved. Licensing options for this solution also need to be consolidated, because they frequently change."
  • "Microsoft should provide lower-level licensing options. They should do it in such a way that even an individual could purchase a license, and it should be entirely flexible."
  • "They have moved from a licensing model to pay-per-use... The question is: What happens if, for any reason, there's not enough budget to accept this model? That could be a great problem."
  • More Microsoft Defender XDR 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 →

  • "The pricing will depend upon your volume of usage."
  • "I would like them to further reduce the price, because it is quite pricey at the moment."
  • "Purchasing the product through the AWS Marketplace is just a click away. Since we were using the on-premise version of the product, we continued on the cloud by purchasing it through the AWS Marketplace."
  • "I do not have experience with the cost or licensing of the product."
  • "The other administrator and I can log in to check the exact details of what happened, what was running, and what caused the detection. We know exactly what was happening on the end users PC and we can tell if it's something that we actually need or something that's malicious."
  • "We are at about $60,000 per year."
  • "This solution has a very competitive price."
  • "Our company pays approximately US$ 65,000 annually for 900 machines."
  • More CrowdStrike Falcon Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Scanning, vulnerability reporting, and the dashboard are the most valuable features.
    Top Answer:While Microsoft Defender XDR carries a higher cost, its ease of use compared to Defender may justify the investment.
    Top Answer:While the XDR platform offers valuable functionalities, it falls short of other solutions in its ability to deliver a… 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:The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never push… more »
    Top Answer:I like that Crowdstrike allows me to easily correlate data between my firewalls. What’s most useful for my needs is the… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
    Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
    CrowdStrike Falcon, CrowdStrike Falcon XDR
    Learn More
    Interactive Demo
    Palo Alto Networks
    Demo Not Available
    CrowdStrike
    Demo Not Available
    Overview

    Microsoft Defender XDR is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect against threats in the Microsoft 365 environment. 

    It offers robust security measures, comprehensive threat detection capabilities, and an efficient incident response system. With seamless integration with other Microsoft products and a user-friendly interface, it simplifies security management tasks. 

    Users have found it effective in detecting and preventing various types of attacks, such as phishing attempts, malware infections, and data breaches.

    Watch the Microsoft demo video here: Microsoft Defender XDR demo video.

    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.”



    CrowdStrike Falcon is a comprehensive endpoint protection platform, primarily designed to meet the evolving cybersecurity needs of modern enterprises. It employs machine learning, behavioral analytics, and integrated threat intelligence to combat a wide range of cyber threats. CrowdStrike Falcon stands out for its cloud-native architecture, ensuring real-time protection and threat intelligence, essential for safeguarding dynamic environments. Its lightweight agent architecture minimizes system performance impact while offering extensive network visibility.

    CrowdStrike Falcon offers robust, user-friendly cybersecurity measures that are crucial for protecting digital assets and minimizing the risk of data breaches and cyberattacks. Its proactive threat detection and mitigation help maintain business continuity and protect brand reputation. Additionally, its scalability and ease of use contribute to cost-effectiveness by reducing the need for extensive IT resources and training. The platform's seamless integration with existing IT infrastructures makes it a versatile choice for diverse IT environments.

    During our conversations with CrowdStrike's users, they highly regard CrowdStrike Falcon for its efficiency in detecting and responding to threats, ease of use, and minimal system impact. It's praised for its comprehensive coverage, extending beyond traditional antivirus solutions, with strong customer support and continuous improvements.

    General Feedback and Recommendations:

    • Strengths: Its lightweight agent, stability, scalability, positive technical support experience, and improvements over competitors are notable strengths.
    • Weaknesses: The extraction process did not effectively capture the weaknesses, indicating a need for more precise data analysis.
    • Implementation and Usage: Insights include scalability and stability, particularly in cloud solutions, and ease of implementation without external assistance.

    Key Features and Advantages:

    1. Advanced Threat Detection and Response - utilizes sophisticated algorithms and machine learning to identify and neutralize preemptively, crucial for mitigating risks from advanced persistent threats (APTs) and zero-day exploits.
    2. Comprehensive Visibility and Insight - provides deep endpoint activity visibility, enabling IT teams to detect anomalies and respond to incidents effectively.
    3. Cloud-Native Architecture - offers scalability and flexibility, adapting to changing business needs, beneficial for organizations scaling operations or transitioning to cloud infrastructures.
    4. Integrated Threat Intelligence - backed by CrowdStrike's threat intelligence database, the platform stays ahead of attackers with continuously updated information on emerging threats.
    5. Ease of Deployment and Management - Its lightweight agent and cloud-based management console simplify deployment and management, which is practical for businesses of all sizes.
    6. Compliance and Risk Management - aids in meeting compliance requirements with thorough reporting and audit trails, essential for regulatory scrutiny.
    7. User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) - Analyzing user behavior patterns enhances detection capabilities against insider threats and compromised accounts.

    CrowdStrike Falcon offers various pricing plans based on endpoints and required features. The plans cater to different organizational sizes and needs, from basic endpoint protection to comprehensive protection with advanced capabilities. Additional features like DLP, UBA, Endpoint Sandboxing, and MDR are available, with pricing upon request.

    CrowdStrike Falcon emerges as a sophisticated solution for enterprise cybersecurity, offering advanced threat detection, scalability, and user-friendly design. It's well-suited for both IT professionals and business executives, protecting against current cyber threats and adaptable to future challenges in the cybersecurity landscape. For a more detailed understanding, especially concerning its use cases and weaknesses, a manual review of user feedback might be necessary.

    Offer
    Learn more about Microsoft Defender XDR
    Learn more about Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks
    Get Fast and Easy Protection Against All Threats

    Protect your organization from all threats - not just malware - even when computers and servers aren’t connected to the internet. Start your free trial and deploy CrowdStrike Falcon within minutes to start receiving full threat protection.

    Sample Customers
    Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
    CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
    Information Not Available
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company18%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government12%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government8%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Security Firm9%
    Government7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Government8%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Comms Service Provider6%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Financial Services Firm16%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    Energy/Utilities Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business43%
    Midsize Enterprise24%
    Large Enterprise33%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise57%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business41%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise37%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise56%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business32%
    Midsize Enterprise23%
    Large Enterprise45%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise56%
    Buyer's Guide
    Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs. CrowdStrike Falcon
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs. CrowdStrike Falcon and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is ranked 4th in EPP (Endpoint Protection for Business) with 80 reviews while CrowdStrike Falcon is ranked 3rd in EPP (Endpoint Protection for Business) with 101 reviews. Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is rated 8.4, while CrowdStrike Falcon is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks writes "It provides a whole new level of visibility and integrates with most other vendors". On the other hand, the top reviewer of CrowdStrike Falcon writes "Easy to set up with good behavior-based analysis but needs a single-click recovery option". Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is most compared with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Darktrace, Symantec Endpoint Security, Trend Micro Apex One and Trellix Endpoint Security, whereas CrowdStrike Falcon is most compared with Darktrace, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Trend Micro Deep Security, SentinelOne Singularity Complete and VMware Carbon Black Endpoint. See our Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs. CrowdStrike Falcon report.

    See our list of best EPP (Endpoint Protection for Business) vendors, best Extended Detection and Response (XDR) vendors, and best Ransomware Protection vendors.

    We monitor all EPP (Endpoint Protection for Business) 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.