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Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs Huntress Managed EDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 2024

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
7.4
Organizations experience up to 200% ROI from Huntress Managed EDR, reducing costs and enhancing security and operational efficiency.
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
7.6
Huntress Managed EDR's support team is responsive, knowledgeable, and effective, often exceeding expectations with proactive and friendly service.
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.
They did well with handling high-risk threats.
I felt it was important to raise awareness about this new technique where attackers use legitimate applications to gain remote access and control of computers.
They are thorough and ensure the problem is addressed without pushing responsibilities onto me unnecessarily.
For technical support, I would rate Huntress a ten out of ten, and in truth, they are better than that.
 

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
8.3
Huntress Managed EDR is scalable, easy to deploy, and effective for businesses of all sizes with predictable costs.
I know other techs with thousands deployed, so scalability isn't an issue.
Scaling Huntress is simple; I can manage up to a thousand devices without issue.
I can easily scale from one machine to thousands without any fuss.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Cortex XDR is stable, with resolved bugs and ongoing improvements, earning high stability ratings from users.
Sentiment score
8.2
Huntress Managed EDR is praised for stability, reliability, efficient performance, and low system impact, with minor compatibility issues.
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.
All the situations and issues were controlled in a good way by Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks.
We have not experienced any issues with lagging, crashing, or downtime.
I never experienced issues, but once there was an instance with false positives with their Rio service, which was quickly resolved by customer service.
It barely takes up resources on the computer, and I have had no issues with lagging or crashing.
 

Room For Improvement

Cortex XDR struggles with compatibility, high memory usage, difficult management, limited features, and needs better integration, UI, and pricing.
Huntress Managed EDR needs reporting and integration improvements, including better dashboards, API access, and enhanced user interface features.
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.
A more transparent way for the support team at Huntress and our IT team to collaborate to make it faster and easier would be beneficial.
Since we support customers in different countries, expanding the language options for their training would be beneficial.
Their EDR is pretty mature in terms of what it does.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Cortex XDR expensive, but competitive, with flexible licensing; costs vary by usage, features, and setup.
Huntress Managed EDR is valued for cost-effectiveness and competitive pricing, especially with feature enhancements, appealing to businesses.
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.
The savings from utilizing the included Windows Defender offset the cost of Huntress Managed EDR, making it an affordable solution overall.
It is not too expensive or too cheap. It is just right.
It can get expensive for small to medium businesses if large license quantities are not purchased.
 

Valuable Features

Cortex XDR offers robust endpoint security with advanced threat detection, ease of use, seamless integration, and real-time monitoring capabilities.
Huntress Managed EDR offers 24/7 threat hunting, easy deployment, and replaces antivirus with comprehensive security for SMBs.
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.
What stands out most is their human element: when faced with an unknown threat, real people, not just automated processes, are investigating it, and they're people we trust.
They provide detailed remediation steps, explaining why an issue is a problem and what steps to take.
Previously, I could not modify it unless I had special Microsoft licensing, so it was beneficial to control Windows Defender through a central console to add policies and things like that.
 

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)
Huntress Managed EDR
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
7th
Average Rating
9.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (2nd)
 

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 Huntress Managed EDR is 3.0%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Huntress Managed EDR3.0%
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks3.8%
Other93.2%
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.
Anto Baharian - PeerSpot reviewer
Never misses anything and has an attractive price point and a simple interface
One thing they could improve is evolving from an EDR to an MDR, like Blackpoint. This transition would enable automatic remediation of anything that looks dangerous, including within Microsoft 365. For instance, when one of my clients' Microsoft 365 account was breached, Blackpoint identified suspicious activity and disabled the account. It was in Dallas, and we are in California. Blackpoint knew something was wrong there, and they went in and disabled the account. Developing more automated remediation features would elevate them to an MDR level, but I understand that it might affect pricing. They are trying to keep it at a good price point because once they go to MDR, it is probably going to double the price. For now, I find the current features satisfactory, as they continue to add improvements. They have added security awareness training and then log collectors. They are adding pillars as they move along, and I assume they are going to have an option for MDR.
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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
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Retailer
6%
 

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 Business35
Midsize Enterprise1
 

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 do you like most about Huntress?
It is very easy to use. It is a great solution. They are one of the better vendors that I have ever worked with since I have been in the industry.
What needs improvement with Huntress?
There are some drawbacks in Huntress Managed EDR, particularly with the security awareness training aspect which is more manual than expected compared to something like KnowBe4. It could be improve...
What is your primary use case for Huntress?
We use Huntress Managed EDR as part of our tech offering for enhanced security, especially for small and medium businesses.
 

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs. Huntress Managed EDR and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,760 professionals have used our research since 2012.