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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)
7th
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
7.1
Number of Reviews
84
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (8th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (2nd), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (1st), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (1st), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (7th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (11th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (9th), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (4th), AI Observability (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Attack Surface Management (ASM) category, the mindshare of Cortex Xpanse is 3.1%, down from 4.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Darktrace is 4.9%, down from 13.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Attack Surface Management (ASM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Darktrace4.9%
Cortex Xpanse3.1%
Other92.0%
Attack Surface Management (ASM)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1442496 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Administrator at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees
Ensures robust security management with seamless integration
We work with the cloud version of Cortex Xpanse. We are working with Palo Alto products right at the moment. We have Cortex and GlobalProtect that we are using. I'm not sure if we utilize Cortex Xpanse's capability to identify internet-facing assets. I'm not sure about the automated threat assessment of Cortex helping prioritize vulnerabilities. I would assess the integration capabilities of Cortex Xpanse as good; no issues so far with integration with other tools from different vendors. Cortex Xpanse supports our organization's regulatory compliance efforts 100%, and it's what we need from it. Right now, I am working only with Palo Alto for security. I am not planning to work with some other vendors. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Cortex Xpanse a nine.
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 aspect is its ability to catch trojans and malware."
"When there is an alert from Cortex Xpanse regarding a certificate or surface, it prompts us to take immediate action."
"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."
"Cortex Xpanse has an easy-to-use user interface."
"As an attack surface manager, I highly recommend Cortex Xpanse, especially if there are many services exposed publicly on the internet."
"The most valuable aspect is its ability to catch trojans and malware."
"The most valuable features of the solution are its firewall and antivirus."
"Cortex Xpanse is a strong solution for attack surface management, including digital brand protection and continuous monitoring."
"I would 100% recommend Darktrace."
"I can rate Darktrace's technical support as one of the best products in the world."
"It is very stable and easy to use."
"Darktrace is extremely stable."
"The most valuable feature of Darktrace and the most valuable feature is the artificial intelligence module because that is the tool that determines automatically if there is any risk or not in the network."
"Darktrace's most valuable features are its dashboards and its ability to summarize huge amounts of information about threats and suspicious traffic."
"Technical support is helpful and responsive."
"The most valuable feature is the endpoint protection."
 

Cons

"Cortex Xpanse should offer better customization and configuration options on its dashboard."
"Regarding technical support, I would rate it as a seven."
"Some improvements are needed in the user interface. It may require more enhancements."
"Cortex Xpanse needs to add dark-web scanning."
"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."
"Some improvements are needed in the user interface."
"Cortex Xpanse should offer better customization and configuration options on its dashboard."
"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."
"The one downside is the pricing, which is quite high."
"The interface and dashboards could be improved for ease-of-use."
"In terms of improvements, fine-tuning is the area where we have to spend some time because it works on unsupervised machine learning. It would be good if they can improve their algorithm or technical functionality to reduce the fine-tuning effort. They can also come up with something at the endpoint level. So far, Darktrace has been a network detection response (NDR) solution. It does not offer much at the endpoint level or on user-client devices or servers. There should be more visibility at the endpoint level. It would be good to have the detection and response at the endpoint level by Darktrace. It should also have integration with an agile environment so that we can have continuous development and continuous integration in the application development environment. This is currently not there. It should also have internet-facing platform visibility, which is currently missing. They also need to improve the reporting and management dashboards. Currently, these are not so easy for a non-technical person. All these features would make Darktrace much better, and they would also be helpful in selling more solutions."
"It's a very complex platform."
"The management dashboards and the meter dashboards should be more user-friendly and simple to use for easy management."
"It is expensive, but everything else has been great so far."
"The module can improve so that every time it's more intelligent."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool's cost is too high."
"Cortex Xpanse is cheaper than other solutions."
"The price of the solution is not cheap. It is not a one-time purchase, there is a subscription that needs to be paid every one to five years depending on your choice. It is expensive but you can reduce the price by only using the services that you want."
"It is inexpensive considering what it can do and the competition."
"The pricing is quite high, estimated at around $350,000 per year."
"It's an expensive solution."
"This solution is expensive."
"The cost of the solution is expensive for smaller businesses. They will not be able to afford it or might not need this type of security solution."
"The solution is about $6,000 per quarter."
"Darktrace is quite an expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
10%
Performing Arts
8%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Darktrace?
Concerning pricing for the product, I would say it is somewhat expensive.
 

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: February 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.