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Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs Fortinet FortiClient vs VMware Carbon Black Endpoint 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.7
Cortex XDR enhances threat prevention, compliance, and cost efficiency, providing rapid ROI and improved security and user satisfaction.
Sentiment score
6.9
Fortinet FortiClient boosted productivity and security, reduced VPN costs by 8%, but faced challenges in functionality activation.
Sentiment score
6.5
Users reported significant ROI with VMware Carbon Black Endpoint, citing reduced malware and ransomware incidents, and 10% cost savings.
They appreciate the rich telemetry data from the solution, as it provides in-depth threat identification.
I have seen a return on investment with Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks, as this product is offered at a minimal cost, and we can find a good ROI from it.
The VPN performance has a substantial impact on our remote workforce.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Palo Alto Networks' customer service receives mixed reviews due to language barriers, response times, and inconsistent technical support quality.
Sentiment score
6.5
Fortinet FortiClient's customer service varies, with response times and resolution quality improving notably for higher-tier service subscribers.
Sentiment score
6.3
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint support is generally praised as effective and knowledgeable, but some report delays and issues with tiered support.
Every vendor has similar support; it depends on how the case is handled and raised.
Their support is efficient and responsive whenever I raise a ticket through my portal.
I would rate technical support from Palo Alto on a scale from one to ten as an eight, as I find it good.
They initiate the troubleshooting process quickly and resolve issues in a timely manner.
They provide very good support, and an issue I had was resolved quickly over the phone.
Technical support can be logged on Fortinet's support portal.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cortex XDR excels in scalability and adaptability across environments, supporting diverse systems with seamless deployment and reliable expansion.
Sentiment score
7.3
Fortinet FortiClient is praised for scalability, easily accommodating user expansion and seamless integration, despite some suggested improvements.
Sentiment score
7.4
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint is highly scalable and adaptable for various enterprises, praised for ease of adding tenants and managing environments.
I hope Fortinet will start an insider developer program where professionals can provide feedback on new releases to ensure improvements.
We can add more licenses and Fortinet tokens, demonstrating excellent scalability.
We can recommend FortiClient for small organizations with 50 to 60 users as well as for larger enterprises due to its extensive features.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is stable and reliable, with quick bug fixes and consistent performance across platforms.
Sentiment score
7.8
Fortinet FortiClient is praised for its stability, reliability, and performance, with minor issues quickly resolved through updates.
Sentiment score
7.4
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint is stable, lightweight, reliable, and highly rated, though minor issues with sensors and updates occasionally occur.
Cortex XDR is stable, offering high quality and reliable performance.
For the last 11 months, we haven't faced any outage issues, so it is a stable product.
Its stability level is excellent.
The overall stability of Fortinet FortiClient rates at nine out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

Users find Cortex XDR challenging due to integration issues, high memory usage, limited features, and a need for improvements.
Fortinet FortiClient requires improvements in management, configuration, compatibility, user interface, and integration with additional security features and platforms.
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint struggles with mobile support, complex UI, performance issues, inadequate reporting, and insufficient third-party integration.
The inclusion of this feature would allow the application of DLP policies alongside antivirus policies via a single agent and console, making it more competitive as other OEMs often offer DLP solutions as part of their antivirus products.
If the per GB data could be provided at a certain level free of cost or at the same cost which the customer is taking for the entire bundle, that would be better.
Cortex XDR could improve its sales support team, including better commission structures and referral programs.
FortiClient needs improvement in restricting user information and ensuring more secure customer data to better protect source code and reduce the risk of security breaches.
There are advanced features like Zero Trust that I currently do not use but could be beneficial for security.
Fortinet frequently releases updates without thorough testing.
 

Setup Cost

Cortex XDR offers flexible licensing, valued for complex security needs, but perceived as costly and variable in international markets.
Fortinet FortiClient offers cost-effective VPN solutions with variable pricing, requiring licenses for advanced features, often rated reasonably by users.
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint licensing is seen as expensive and inflexible, with prices ranging from $15 to $7,000 per node.
Cortex XDR is perceived as expensive by some customers, yet offers dynamic pricing.
Compared to competitors such as CrowdStrike and Sophos, the pricing of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is similar to CrowdStrike but more expensive than Sophos.
FortiClient is a value-for-money product and is not considered expensive compared to similar products on the market.
Justifying the price to clients can be difficult.
FortiClient is included in a package with the UTM features, so there is no separate cost for it.
 

Valuable Features

Cortex XDR ensures comprehensive protection with AI-driven analytics, multi-layered threat detection, and seamless integration, enhancing security management.
Fortinet FortiClient provides strong security features, easy management, and integration, enhancing VPN services and endpoint protection.
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint offers robust remote security with intuitive real-time detection, AI-driven threat response, and centralized cloud control.
It incorporates AI for normal behavior detection, distinguishing unusual operations.
The product provides automation responses in case of a threat attack, severity assessments, centralized manageability, and comprehensive compliance features, resulting in reduced costs.
If a user doesn't click any link within 30 days and on the 31st day clicks a new link, Cortex XDR immediately alerts us that this user has clicked on an uncommon link or their behavior is uncommon.
The most valuable feature of FortiClient is its high security level.
We appreciate its VPN capabilities and the features that offer extra security functionalities like antivirus and malware scanning.
I strongly recommend this solution, especially for Fortinet customers who use FortiGate or other Fortinet products, as they can easily integrate these features and exchange information seamlessly.
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is 3.7%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiClient is 1.8%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Carbon Black Endpoint is 1.6%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

NiteshSharma - PeerSpot reviewer
Automated threat response and behavioral control improve security measures
I recommend adding a data loss prevention (DLP) solution to Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks. The inclusion of this feature would allow the application of DLP policies alongside antivirus policies via a single agent and console, making it more competitive as other OEMs often offer DLP solutions as part of their antivirus products. Additionally, multi-tenancy and multi-cloud features are not available and should be considered for inclusion.
MuhammadJahangir - PeerSpot reviewer
Users only need to install the VPN and authenticate with their email address
I primarily use remote VPN solutions to connect securely. We have configured both site-to-site VPN and remote VPN, and it is connected to FortiClient Implementing this solution has streamlined time management in our organization. Without SSO, we would need manual configuration for each PC, but…
Nikunj Kamboj - PeerSpot reviewer
Integrates well with our existing SIEM tool and helps in identifying suspicious activities
The solution's integration with our existing security infrastructure is good. Whenever we have any alert in VMware Carbon Black Endpoint, we can easily that alert in our SIEM tool and check logs from the SIEM tool itself. VMware Carbon Black Endpoint is just a secondary security tool for us, and we are just monitoring the alerts from it. The solution's behavioral analytics feature helps in identifying suspicious activities pretty well. Whenever we have even a small thing, we get an alert. The solution is deployed on the cloud in our organization. Performance-wise, the solution is doing great in terms of connecting to the host directly. Performing a malware scan usually takes a lot of time, more than 24 hours. A malware scan is something that we do only on Carbon Black for the old endpoint devices and servers. It used to take sometimes three days to perform. I would recommend the solution to other users. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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. ...
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 th...
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,...
How does Fortinet FortiClient compare with Open VPN Access Server?
Fortinet FortiClient is a feature-rich solution that is easy to use and deploy without sacrificing safety and securit...
What's the difference between Fortinet's FortiEDR and FortiClient?
I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protectio...
What to choose: an endpoint antivirus, an EDR solution or both?
I can recommend Carbon Black, an award-winning next-gen anti-virus (NGAV) and endpoint detection and response (EDR) s...
What's the difference between Carbon Black CB Response and Carbon Black CB Defense?
Carbon Black offers two different levels of Endpoint Detection and Response. One is the VM Carbon Black Cloud Endpoin...
What do you like most about Carbon Black CB Defense?
VMware Carbon Black Endpoint is a highly stable solution.
 

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
FortiClient
Carbon Black CB Defense, Bit9, Confer
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
Black Gold Regional Schools, Amadeus Hospitality, Jefferson County, Chunghwa Telecom, City of Boroondara, Dimension Data
Netflix, Progress Residential, Indeed, Hologic, Gentle Giant, Samsung Research America
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne and others in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP). Updated: August 2025.
865,576 professionals have used our research since 2012.