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Cortex XSIAM vs Sophos Central 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cortex XSIAM
Ranking in AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (15th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (5th)
Sophos Central
Ranking in AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
8.5
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms category, the mindshare of Cortex XSIAM is 11.8%, up from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Central is 0.0%. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

AKASH MAJUMDER - PeerSpot reviewer
Incident response times have significantly reduced with efficient device integration and log parsing capabilities
Cortex XSIAM needs improvements in terms of data onboarding, parsers, and third-party integration supports. Additionally, a future update request is to enable tagging of endpoints in groups, similar to a feature available in Cortex XDR. The AI analytics need fine-tuning because some use cases are not working from my side.
Sandeepraj Gatla - PeerSpot reviewer
Cost-effective security management with a user-friendly interface, efficient resource utilization, and rapid response capabilities
While Sophos Central has demonstrated commendable functionality, there is room for improvement in the realm of automation. Specifically, addressing ransomware attacks often requires leveraging external tools, deploying virtual machines, and utilizing supplementary tools like Caliper Analytics for operations and security communication. The integration of these essential functionalities directly into the software would represent a significant enhancement, streamlining the incident response process and bolstering the platform's comprehensive threat mitigation capabilities. Furthermore, a valuable addition to future releases could involve augmenting the new screen component with advanced capabilities such as XML utilization and rule integration. This enhancement, especially pertinent to tools involved in sandboxing and virtual machines within the investigation process, would greatly streamline the analysis of logs and reports. This would prove particularly beneficial in the context of email analysis, spam attack detection, and other critical security aspects. By incorporating these features, Sophos Central could further elevate its utility in facilitating in-depth security analyses and response strategies.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cortex XSIAM enhances our ability to apply endpoint protection policies, implement restrictions, conduct scans, and engage in sandboxing."
"Its ability to deliver a substantial amount of security intelligence greatly enhances and optimizes our security operations program."
"One of the valued aspects of the product is its use of artificial intelligence to detect security vulnerabilities."
"The flexibility for creating manual workflows stands out."
"The flexibility for creating manual workflows stands out."
"It is an effective solution in terms of performance and functionalities."
"The most valuable feature is the integration capability."
"The automation capabilities significantly improve response times by allowing us to respond to incidents from a single dashboard rather than navigating multiple dashboards."
"The product's initial setup phase is easy and user-friendly."
"The solution's most valuable feature is the ease with which admins can monitor and troubleshoot issues related to any emails coming into our environment with malware or viruses."
"Sophos Central is good. It's also free for all those firewalls because, from Sophos Central, we manage the firewalls and push the policies to the firewall."
"It is very useful to deploy policies centrally and monitor the status of our appliances, especially given that we are the main branches. With Sophos Central, you can centrally manage and deploy security policies and updates, saving time and eliminating the need for the technical team to travel to each branch individually."
"The tool enables me to see the security of my customers’ PCs at a glance."
"The product's installation phase was easy."
"It is easy to manage and configure."
"Sophos Central is a good and easy-to-manage product."
 

Cons

"Cortex XSIAM needs improvements in terms of data onboarding, parsers, and third-party integration supports."
"The standard integrations are very limited, and the integrations available are not listed in the marketplace. Obtaining validation for integrations from Palo Alto takes around eight months, which is quite long."
"The solution’s pricing and technical support could be improved."
"The first impression is that XSIAM would be more expensive than others we tried."
"I would rate the overall stability a six or seven, as we have only used it for a few months and need a year of experience to provide a full assessment."
"The standard integrations are very limited, and the integrations available are not listed in the marketplace."
"There is room for improvement in expanding integrations to include more cybersecurity solutions."
"The support could be a bit faster."
"The product does not have a dedicated MFA."
"The high price of the tool is a drawback that can be considered for improvement."
"The tool is slow in the Middle East region. It should also integrate custom reporting."
"It's not well-marketed, so many customers don't know about this feature."
"Compared to GFI KerioControl, Sophos Firewall can be made much faster at setting up VPN clients and site-to-site VPNs."
"Integration with third party applications should be improved."
"Sophos Central must incorporate a diagrammatic graphical user interface for its practices and compliances."
"The tamper protection password is an area with certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In terms of pricing, we found Cortex XSIAM to offer a very reasonable and competitive rate."
"Since Palo Alto is trying to get as many new customers as possible, they're offering very competitive pricing."
"The solution is expensive compared to its competitors."
"The solution comes at a significant cost."
"The product cost could be considered value for money compared to other solutions in the market, though it is quite high."
"Sophos Central is an affordable solution that any mid-level customer can buy."
"The product is inexpensive."
"Sophos is more cost-effective than other vendors."
"The product is expensive compared to other products like Fortinet and Microsoft Defender."
"The product is not expensive."
"Sophos Central is moderately priced."
"Though I don't know the exact price of the product, I know that the tool is worth the money."
"It is rather expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cortex XSIAM?
It is an effective solution in terms of performance and functionalities.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cortex XSIAM?
The licensing cost of Cortex XSIAM is more or less the same as Splunk, making it quite expensive compared to other tools. There are additional expenses for more functionalities.
What needs improvement with Cortex XSIAM?
Cortex XSIAM needs improvements in terms of data onboarding, parsers, and third-party integration supports. Additionally, a future update request is to enable tagging of endpoints in groups, simila...
What do you like most about Sophos Central?
One of the significant advantages of Sophos is its affordability compared to other technologies like Check Point and Fortinet.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Central?
As we get more people, we just add another item or Sophos appliances, and then we are good to go.
What needs improvement with Sophos Central?
As a user, I suggest improving Sophos Central by addressing some error messages we occasionally encounter that we just do not know what they relate to, even when it says it has resolved them. To im...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Cortex XSIAM vs. Sophos Central and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.