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Expel vs Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 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

Expel
Ranking in SOC as a Service
5th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (20th)
Palo Alto Networks Cortex X...
Ranking in SOC as a Service
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the SOC as a Service category, the mindshare of Expel is 6.8%, down from 10.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is 17.4%, up from 16.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SOC as a Service
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2578461 - PeerSpot reviewer
Rapid threat management and diverse technology integration for effective monitoring
Expel has made it easier for companies to monitor and manage various log sources. With its vast integration portfolio, customers can efficiently monitor diverse environments. Time to value is quick, as Expel can turn their service up very rapidly. They have both automated active responses and human processes that quicken threat resolution.
NikhilSharma2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Ability to multiple playbooks to fetch data from multiple firewalls and utomated several tasks, including vulnerability scans and SOCL (Security Orchestration, Automation
Recently, they started implementing microservices in XSOAR, which has improved quality and addressed previous issues. However, they should focus more on licensing costs. The user licensing fees are quite high. For example, I received a quote for XSOAR, and it was $12,000 per user per year. If you have a SOC team of 30 members/analysts, you're looking at a substantial expense. They should consider reducing these costs since this high pricing seems to be more about profit. So, there is room for improvement in the pricing. Moreover, the reporting and dashboard features are decent but could be improved. The user interface (UI) is quite heavy and takes time to load, which is a major drawback.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Their threat hunting protocol and process with AI and machine learning are strong, allowing for active and rapid responses."
"Each incident collected is orchestrated with automation that selects the security analyst to be involved, or provides complex execution plans for managing security incidents."
"It is a scalable solution."
"The product is quite easy to use."
"It’s easy to install."
"We use the solution to automate our SIEM tools and incidents."
"It is a scalable solution. I would rate scalability a ten out of ten."
"Palo Alto has gotten the investigators more presence to actually go in the report because being that the platform will email the investigator that it's been assigned to, now the investigators will jump in there and start going through the review process a lot quicker."
"The strengths of Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR stem from the fact that it provides functionalities related to patching and URL blocking...It is a scalable solution."
 

Cons

"The one area where Expel may not measure up is if a customer requires a managed SIEM as part of their overall solution. There's a gap there, and solutions might require third-party assistance for management."
"The integration could be better. Cortex, for example, does not work with iPhone."
"The complexity of Cortex XSOAR has a trade-off with its versatility. The deployment requires integration and the development of integration modules."
"The tool’s multi-tenancy feature must be improved."
"Implementing this solution requires a lot of involvement from the vendor and it should be made easier for the partners."
"When Palo Alto bought the solution, the pricing increased by 1.5 times. There's been a 50% increase, which is a lot."
"XSOAR could have more integration options."
"I would like to see Cortex become less dependent on Active Directory and group policies to manage the deployment. Maybe I need to update my understanding of how to deploy it, but that's the way I know how to use it."
"For building automation, there is not a lot of good documentation. The documentation is there, but it is not very good from my perspective. There should be an improvement in this area. I don't see issues with anything else. In terms of new features, I have heard that other products have EBA functionality. It would be good if this functionality could be added."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"When I first looked at Demisto, it had a price tag of $250,000 but when we finally purchased it, it was $345,000."
"There is a perception that it is priced very high compared to other solutions."
"It is expensive."
"The price of Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR could be reduced. We are always looking for a discount. There is an annual license needed to use this solution."
"The solution is based on an annual licensing model that is expensive."
"The price of Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is expensive."
"The pricing is fair. The pricing reflects the value and feature set it offers."
"The solution's cost is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Retailer
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Expel?
Expel's pricing has adapted as the market evolved and has become competitive over the past twelve months.
What needs improvement with Expel?
The one area where Expel may not measure up is if a customer requires a managed SIEM as part of their overall solution. There's a gap there, and solutions might require third-party assistance for m...
What is your primary use case for Expel?
I have experience reselling Expel. Customers often come to me wanting to evaluate multiple providers to make a choice based on their specific use cases, requirements, technology investments, and so...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR?
Even though customers often comment on the price, the potential savings come from managing a large number of security events with a limited number of analysts. This leads to economic advantages des...
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR?
For Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR, there is always room for improvement. One of the significant issues we encounter is system slowdown when we receive an influx of alerts, which inhibits how quic...
 

Also Known As

Workbench, Expel SOC-as-a-Service
Demisto Enterprise, Cortex XSOAR, Demisto
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amanda Fennell CSO
Cellcom Israel, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, esri, Cylance, Flatiron Health, Veeva, ADT Cybersecurity
Find out what your peers are saying about Arctic Wolf Networks, Palo Alto Networks, Netsurion and others in SOC as a Service. Updated: July 2025.
865,140 professionals have used our research since 2012.