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Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs Fortinet FortiEDR 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
7.3
Cortex XDR enhances security, reduces costs, boosts threat identification, compliance, and user confidence, offering cost-effective data protection.
Sentiment score
3.4
Fortinet FortiEDR offers enhanced security and ROI with minimal weekly effort, boosting visibility and customer satisfaction over four years.
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.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Cortex XDR support is responsive and knowledgeable, despite occasional delays and regional language barriers affecting resolution times.
Sentiment score
6.8
Fortinet FortiEDR's customer service is responsive but faces occasional delays due to broader reach and non-integrated support.
They did well with handling high-risk threats.
Their support is efficient and responsive whenever I raise a ticket through my portal.
Every vendor has similar support; it depends on how the case is handled and raised.
The technical support from Fortinet is excellent.
For setting up some proper solutions for issues at the customer site, it can take about one week.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Cortex XDR is praised for smooth scalability, managing diverse endpoints, and effective expansion in various organizational sizes.
Sentiment score
6.4
Fortinet FortiEDR is highly scalable for enterprises, though some limitations exist with external integrations and cloud environments.
When implemented in a Fortinet environment with an existing firewall, FortiAnalyzer, and FortiManager, it is straightforward to install and scale by adding more EDR for endpoints.
I can give it nine points in terms of scalability.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Cortex XDR is stable, with resolved bugs and ongoing improvements, earning high stability ratings from users.
Sentiment score
8.7
Fortinet FortiEDR is stable and reliable but requires maintenance, with occasional issues like memory concerns and false alerts.
Cortex XDR is stable, offering high quality and reliable performance.
All the situations and issues were controlled in a good way by Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks.
For the last 11 months, we haven't faced any outage issues, so it is a stable product.
However, if a customer prefers not to switch from another VPN solution, FortiEDR might still see it as an issue and detect it as potentially malicious, causing problems in the working environment.
For stability, I would give it a score of ten, as we are not having any issues with that currently.
 

Room For Improvement

Cortex XDR struggles with compatibility, high memory usage, difficult management, limited features, and needs better integration, UI, and pricing.
Fortinet FortiEDR needs improved cloud security, automation, and user interface for better market acceptance and competitive advantage.
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.
Fortinet could consider reducing the minimum order quantity for EDR, currently set at 500 pieces.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Cortex XDR expensive, but competitive, with flexible licensing; costs vary by usage, features, and setup.
Fortinet FortiEDR offers competitive pricing but may have high setup costs, with potential savings through Fortinet's channel model.
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.
Cortex XDR is perceived as expensive by some customers, yet offers dynamic pricing.
The pricing is moderate; I cannot label it as cheap, but it is moderate compared to other main solutions.
It's reasonably priced compared to other vendors' similar products.
 

Valuable Features

Cortex XDR offers robust endpoint security with advanced threat detection, ease of use, seamless integration, and real-time monitoring capabilities.
Fortinet FortiEDR offers robust EDR capabilities, efficient resource use, and seamless integration, ensuring scalable, user-friendly cybersecurity for organizations.
The product provides automation responses in case of a threat attack, severity assessments, centralized manageability, and comprehensive compliance features, resulting in reduced costs.
It incorporates AI for normal behavior detection, distinguishing unusual operations.
The way the cases used to collect the data is not intrusive, permitting the infrastructure to collect the data and send it to the Data Lake without problems.
We also require a proactive protection mechanism, including an alarm system for threat detection before attacks occur.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Net...
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (5th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (7th), Ransomware Protection (2nd), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (4th)
Fortinet FortiEDR
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category, the mindshare of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is 3.8%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiEDR is 3.5%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks3.8%
Fortinet FortiEDR3.5%
Other92.7%
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Anoop K Jayan - PeerSpot reviewer
Has strengthened endpoint protection for on-premise networks and supported migration to Linux environments
What really stands out in Fortinet FortiEDR is that we are integrating it with some private clouds at the customer's premises with secure SD-WAN networks. I don't know how much it contributes to this SD-WAN network in the own premises cloud solution, but that is what we are doing. This is especially relevant for government projects where the SD-WAN solution is within their private network, not touching the Internet or any other access. Their first requirement is centralized management. Additionally, they need antivirus updates and other things to be done through a centralized platform within that private cloud. That is their requirement, and currently, we temporarily allow internet access, but it is not preferred. We are moving towards a complete air gap, providing full isolation from the internet for that. We have started to work with machine learning capabilities in Fortinet FortiEDR. We are not that well-versed yet, but we have begun using machine learning for intrusion detection and other purposes. Regarding forensic analysis in Fortinet FortiEDR, it is useful in understanding attack vectors because our projects are based on the voice side, such as cloud PBX solutions and call center management. There are media activities and many attacks coming from the outside, as well as vulnerabilities from endpoints. In those cases, we need detailed analysis through an AI platform to inspect how these attacks are coming. We also require a proactive protection mechanism, including an alarm system for threat detection before attacks occur.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise36
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise14
 

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. 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...
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 protection because it continually scans servers for emerging vulnerabilities, which gives...
What do you like most about Fortinet FortiEDR?
We have FortiEDR installed on all our systems. This protects them from any threats.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiEDR?
The pricing is moderate; I cannot label it as cheap, but it is moderate compared to other main solutions.
 

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
enSilo, FortiEDR
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
Financial, Healthcare, Legal, Technology, Enterprise, Manufacturing ... 
Find out what your peers are saying about Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs. Fortinet FortiEDR and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
870,623 professionals have used our research since 2012.