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Cortex XSIAM vs Varonis Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 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 XSIAM
Ranking in Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (15th), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (8th)
Varonis Platform
Ranking in Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (9th), Data Governance (4th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (5th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (4th), Compliance Management (7th), Ransomware Protection (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) category, the mindshare of Cortex XSIAM is 5.4%, up from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Varonis Platform is 5.5%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)
 

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.
Herman Pienaar - PeerSpot reviewer
Has valuable data alerting capabilities and efficient reporting features
The solution's classification engine is highly configurable and efficient. It provides good reporting and visualization, which is superior to previous tools like Microsoft's. The platform's data alerting capabilities and automation features for managing broken permissions are particularly notable. It offers robust automation capabilities, including global permission repair, broken access repairs, and data transport engine features for archiving and migration. The automation tools are useful for managing permissions and performing cleanup tasks efficiently. It provides strong reporting capabilities that help customers adhere to regulations and maintain compliance. Automating reporting is beneficial for maintaining robust governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) posture. It does incorporate some AI elements, particularly in its data alerting module. However, AI integration has yet to be the primary focus of my implementations. AI is expected to play a larger role in future enhancements. I recommend Varonis, particularly its effectiveness in performing data security remediation tasks. Despite its high cost, it is valuable for its capabilities and the lack of impact on end users. Overall, I rate it a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The automation capabilities significantly improve response times by allowing us to respond to incidents from a single dashboard rather than navigating multiple dashboards."
"I would give Cortex XSIAM a rating of ten out of ten."
"It does a better job of identifying anomalies that are more likely to be incidents of compromise without as many false positives or false negatives."
"The most valuable feature is the integration capability."
"Cortex XSIAM enhances our ability to apply endpoint protection policies, implement restrictions, conduct scans, and engage in sandboxing."
"The most valuable features of Cortex XSIAM are the machine learning used to identify threats, the complexity of the environment of products, and efficiency."
"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."
"I also appreciate the reporting feature, which allows for the extraction of various reports based on specific needs. These reports can be used for audit purposes, such as tracking changes in file locations or deletions."
"That alerting and reporting service is great."
"There's also a 90-day policy where if a user is not using the warehouse, it will automatically delete that username."
"Varonis Platform is transparent and captures everything in the environment without impacting the performance. The tool helps us unify data feeds into a single reporting system."
"It can easily identify unusual behavior or access patterns that may pose a potential threat, while operating as a unified reporting system."
"The telemetry to capture everything and the reports are very easy to configure without having a developer degree."
"The most important feature is remediation. In remediation support, there is no group permission. We'll go ahead and remediate the access from the Dell folder to the parent folder."
"The 24/7 support is the most valuable feature. They have been able to answer support questions pretty quickly."
 

Cons

"The platform isn't very developer-friendly and it should provide more flexibility and ease."
"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 standard integrations are very limited, and the integrations available are not listed in the marketplace."
"It could provide more integration with a large variety of products."
"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."
"I am not sure if any improvements are needed right now."
"Further integration capabilities with various other software products that can seamlessly tie into Cortex XSIAM would be advantageous."
"There is room for improvement in expanding integrations to include more cybersecurity solutions."
"Varonis requires more access permissions for its core functions compared to competitors, which can be a concern for companies about data safety."
"The solution's areas of improvement are the interface and the dependency on on-premises deployment for some components."
"One area for improvement is the calculation engine. When applying rules in Varonis, especially for large datasets (terabytes of data), the calculations can be slow and require time to process. Speeding up this process would be beneficial."
"For unstructured data monitoring, it's one of the top ones, if not the top one, due to its usability."
"I would like it to have cloud integration."
"The solution's interface is a little complicated with regard to setting up filters and reports."
"It is significantly complex."
"There is one thing that if I add something manually, I get so many alerts. That's the biggest bad thing."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"In terms of pricing, we found Cortex XSIAM to offer a very reasonable and competitive rate."
"The pricing is good. It neither expensive nor cheap. It is average."
"You could do a subscription, where you pay yearly, or you could purchase it outright. The licensing cost is based on the number of users on the system that you are monitoring."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being the most expensive."
"It's expensive, kind of, really expensive."
"Licensing is on an annual basis. Maintenance and renewal fees are separate. Varonis Datalert is quite expensive."
"The platform is expensive. I rate the pricing a nine out of ten."
"Varonis Platform wasn't certainly the cheapest solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
 

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 Varonis Platform?
The solution has significantly improved data security and compliance posture by allowing us to track and monitor activities. We can see who accesses data and when files are created and understand w...
What needs improvement with Varonis Platform?
Varonis started as an on-premises solution and is transitioning to cloud. It hasn't fully moved yet, which is an area for improvement. Varonis requires more access permissions for its core function...
What is your primary use case for Varonis Platform?
The primary use case for Varonis Platform is data discovery, specifically for discovering sensitive data in our organization to protect it. We are looking for a solution that can scan our repositor...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Nottingham Building Society
Find out what your peers are saying about Cortex XSIAM vs. Varonis Platform and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
864,155 professionals have used our research since 2012.