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Cortex Xpanse vs Darktrace comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

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

Cortex Xpanse
Ranking in Attack Surface Management (ASM)
6th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Darktrace
Ranking in Attack Surface Management (ASM)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
82
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (9th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (2nd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (1st), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (1st), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (6th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (12th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (11th), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (3rd), AI Observability (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Attack Surface Management (ASM) category, the mindshare of Cortex Xpanse is 3.4%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Darktrace is 6.0%, down from 14.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Attack Surface Management (ASM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Darktrace6.0%
Cortex Xpanse3.4%
Other90.6%
Attack Surface Management (ASM)
 

Featured Reviews

Ali Mohamed - PeerSpot reviewer
Account Manager at Cairo International Airport Co.
Proactively manages security and identifies vulnerabilities with good alerts
We use Cortex Xpanse as a security control for attack surface management in our organization When there is an alert from Cortex Xpanse regarding a certificate or surface, it prompts us to take immediate action. It checks vulnerabilities periodically, ensuring they are addressed, which helps in…
AM
Technical Consultant - Unix Platform Services at BITS AND BYTE IT CONSULTING PVT LTD
Consistent threat hunting and anomaly detection deliver valuable insights for network security management
In terms of improvement for Darktrace, pricing is the main concern. Pricing bothers me and this is one of the major factors when choosing a solution. When we get feedback from customers, that's the only felt need. When we factor in Darktrace, we do it only limited. We put it on where the perimeters and connections are, but still, some gray areas are left out, especially if we have multiple branches. We need Darktrace on each branch to get the data out, and I suggest having some kind of a centralized product that gets data from multiple sources to aggregate and provide the data.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of the solution are its firewall and antivirus."
"The best feature of the product is that it's easy to manage when we have set it up, and the beneficial impact of Cortex Xpanse for the company is security."
"When there is an alert from Cortex Xpanse regarding a certificate or surface, it prompts us to take immediate action."
"The most valuable aspect is its ability to catch trojans and malware."
"Cortex Xpanse has an easy-to-use user interface."
"The most valuable aspect is its ability to catch trojans and malware."
"Cortex Xpanse is a strong solution for attack surface management, including digital brand protection and continuous monitoring."
"As an attack surface manager, I highly recommend Cortex Xpanse, especially if there are many services exposed publicly on the internet."
"The most valuable feature has been the behavioral analytics that allows us to monitor all the traffic."
"The AI-based pattern is the most valuable feature."
"Its most valuable feature is its ability to identify malicious connected IPs from outside and the attacks that get through to the inside."
"Provides great network protection."
"The most valuable feature of Darktrace is its ability to detect and counter threats before they occur."
"The NDR is good in their solution and they have NTG for email."
"I find it very good in the way that they show the past events, including the attack history."
"The ability to detect activity on the network is very useful to us. Even if it's not necessarily an illegal activity, if it is abnormal activity, it is able to detect it and notify us."
 

Cons

"Regarding technical support, I would rate it as a seven."
"Cortex Xpanse should offer better customization and configuration options on its dashboard."
"Some improvements are needed in the user interface. It may require more enhancements."
"Some improvements are needed in the user interface."
"It's challenging to confirm the absolute coverage and penetration of Cortex Xpanse into the Dark Web. The solution lacks comprehensive intelligence on adversaries and risks, which other competitors might provide."
"There is an issue with the old versions of Cortex, and so when we have an older one with Windows or any OS, we have a problem with its connectivity with the cloud."
"Cortex Xpanse needs to add dark-web scanning."
"Cortex Xpanse should offer better customization and configuration options on its dashboard."
"The level of tracking within the network from the transmission level up to the machine level can use improvement."
"Darktrace requires numerous configurations. It would be beneficial if the configuration could be made simpler."
"It's a very complex platform."
"The pricing is costly in USD, and they charge based on device counts."
"Darktrace needs to automate the reports of false positives, botnets and everything."
"I think there is some MSSP missing."
"We'd like threat hunting, and we'd like to see a global solution that can automate vulnerability scans. I know it is something they are working on."
"They just need to make it a little bit more accurate as far as their alerts are concerned. It does generate some false positives that you have to tune. You have to do a lot of tuning when you first get it because of the false positives, but once it is all tuned up and ready to go, it will do its thing from there."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cortex Xpanse is cheaper than other solutions."
"The tool's cost is too high."
"Our customers feel that the price of Darktrace is quite high compared to other solutions."
"The solution is about $6,000 per quarter."
"The pricing is a little high compared to the competition."
"Darktrace is expensive. You can pay for the license yearly."
"I'm unfamiliar with the exact cost, but we have a yearly license and had to pay for Darktrace's services before the deployment. The product is very expensive, so some organizations can't afford to pay the total amount directly, meaning they often seek a partner or pay in installments, which increases the price more."
"It's an expensive solution."
"They are too expensive compared with other vendors."
"This solution is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise29
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cortex Xpanse?
I don't know the licensing or setup cost; I have no idea about the cost.
What needs improvement with Cortex Xpanse?
I'm not sure right now; I have nothing to comment on regarding what could be improved in the product. We are using it and we are satisfied. I have nothing to comment right now on what other feature...
What is your primary use case for Cortex Xpanse?
Cortex Xpanse is usually used for security from clients.
How does Crowdstrike Falcon compare with Darktrace?
Both of these products perform similarly and have many outstanding attributes. CrowdStrike Falcon offers an amazing user interface that makes setup easy and seamless. CrowdStrike Falcon offers a cl...
Which is better - SentinelOne or Darktrace?
Which solution is better depends on which is more suitable specifically for your company. Darktrace, for example, is meant for smaller to medium-sized businesses. It is also a good option for organ...
What do you like most about Darktrace?
A very useful feature in Darktrace for real-time threat analysis is the packet inspection that analyzes the packet traffic in real time.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Irwin Mitchell, Open Energi, Wellcome Trust, FirstGroup plc, Virgin Trains, Drax, QUI! Group, DNK, CreaCard, Macrosynergy, Sisley, William Hill plc, Toyota Canada, Royal British Legion, Vitol, Allianz, KKR, AIRBUS, dpd, Billabong, Mclaren Group.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cortex Xpanse vs. Darktrace and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.