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Darktrace vs WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Darktrace enhances security with threat detection and vulnerability exposure, providing financial benefits despite deployment challenges.
Sentiment score
4.5
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response enhances threat detection, reduces manual intervention, and improves ROI by optimizing network security and operational efficiency.
Other NDR solutions provide virtual appliances that can be deployed on virtualization servers to get up and running quickly.
Using this solution provides financial benefits by securing from server attacks, which offers indirect savings.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.6
Darktrace customer service is responsive and helpful, praised for efficient issue resolutions and proactive engagement with users.
Sentiment score
6.7
WatchGuard's support is praised for professionalism, quick response, and reliability, with room for improvement in firewall management service.
The technical support from Darktrace is of high quality.
Darktrace provides excellent technical support with a monthly meeting to review platform incidents, ensuring the system functions as expected.
The challenge lies in waiting for a response after logging a ticket.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Darktrace is praised for its scalability, seamless expansion, robust architecture, and capacity to manage increasing demands effectively.
Sentiment score
5.6
WatchGuard's Threat Detection and Response is lauded for scalability, adaptability, and efficient expansion, satisfying diverse organizations efficiently.
Darktrace has high scalability, and I would rate it a nine out of ten.
Since it's cloud-based, it expands easily.
There is still a gap in terms of storage, and we are trying to figure out how to increase that capacity for regulated environments, which require data retention for 5 to 6 years.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.5
Darktrace is praised for its reliability and stability, offering seamless performance and quick resolutions to occasional issues.
Sentiment score
6.1
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response is praised for stability, reliability, and ease of maintenance, with high user satisfaction.
The stability of Darktrace is excellent, rated ten out of ten.
The appliance itself has never let me down.
For stability, I would rate Darktrace an eight out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

Users seek better SIEM integration, improved automation, user-friendly interfaces, and enhanced protection with more intuitive reports and dashboards.
WatchGuard needs enhanced efficiency, integration, user interface, cost reduction, false positive management, Mac support, and detailed online information.
There is no dedicated salesperson in Egypt, and having one would help to improve focus on this market.
They say they can integrate with most firewalls, but when we did an integration with Meraki MX firewalls, that integration didn't work and still doesn't work to this day.
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.
 

Setup Cost

Darktrace offers flexible payment options but is costly, especially for small businesses, justified by its advanced features.
WatchGuard Threat Detection offers competitive pricing with valued features, though mixed opinions exist on support and cost compared to alternatives.
The product is considered expensive compared to others.
The pricing is costly in USD, and they charge based on device counts.
The licensing cost is approximately eight dollars a year.
When we tried to renew the Palo Alto license, the cost was beyond any reasonable range.
 

Valuable Features

Darktrace provides AI-driven security with fast responses, real-time monitoring, and autonomous threat management, minimizing false positives efficiently.
WatchGuard Threat Detection offers efficient, user-friendly security with centralized management, automated responses, and comprehensive endpoint protection features.
It is capable of responding to lateral movement and ransomware deployment within environments where there is data exfiltration.
I do not need to manually process incidents as Darktrace provides an incident summary, potential detection paths, and other details, all exportable with just a click.
If I am in a data center where I don't have layer two, it becomes an issue because the autonomous response is reliant on sending spoofed TCP resets to my core switch to block traffic, which is a major issue.
 

Categories and Ranking

Darktrace
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) (1st), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (1st), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (1st), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (6th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (15th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (11th), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (4th), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (2nd)
WatchGuard Threat Detection...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (40th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Security Software solutions, they serve different purposes. Darktrace is designed for Network Detection and Response (NDR) and holds a mindshare of 23.4%, down 25.3% compared to last year.
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response, on the other hand, focuses on Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), holds 0.5% mindshare, up 0.4% since last year.
Network Detection and Response (NDR)
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
 

Featured Reviews

Malebo Lethoba Group - PeerSpot reviewer
Have found the AI analyst and detection functions highly valuable for network operations while managing complexity in initial setup
The functions I find most valuable in Darktrace ( /products/darktrace-reviews ) are the AI analyst as well as the detection.The autonomous response capabilities of Darktrace are not crucial for me because it doesn't work in a network where there are no core switches. In a modern network, the autonomous response doesn't work, especially when sitting in a shared data center.If I'm running a traditional network where I am not in a shared data center with a layer two dedicated for my resources, then it can work for me. However, if I am in a data center where I don't have layer two, it becomes an issue because the autonomous response is reliant on sending spoofed TCP resets to my core switch to block traffic, which is a major issue.
Jose Fos - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution provides automated responses and helps protect our systems
We use the solution to protect our systems. We also use it for real-time detection The tool provides automated responses. It has a lot of features. The interface is not the best. I do not like it. The reports must also be improved. I am currently using the solution. I have contacted the…
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Retailer
12%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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.
What needs improvement with WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response?
The pricing of WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response could be improved. It's not the cheapest option available. That said, it often meets our needs effectively. There are areas for improvement i...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response?
WatchGuard Threat Detection and Response is used to monitor traffic and give alarms to the administration if something goes wrong. It reacts when services protected by it are attacked and sends not...
 

Also Known As

No data available
WatchGuard TDR
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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.
Goodwill New York / New Jersey, F4 IT, Café Comunicação Integrada
Find out what your peers are saying about Darktrace, Vectra AI, Trend Micro and others in Network Detection and Response (NDR). Updated: July 2025.
864,155 professionals have used our research since 2012.