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Fortinet FortiEDR vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 2024

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
4.7
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks provides cost savings, enhanced security, and compliance with reduced administrative effort and robust threat detection.
Sentiment score
2.8
Fortinet FortiEDR boosts ROI by reducing risk management, saving time, improving security, and increasing customer satisfaction and staffing efficiency.
Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers cost savings, enhanced security, time savings, and ransomware prevention, with improved functionality and productivity.
They appreciate the rich telemetry data from the solution, as it provides in-depth threat identification.
Cyber Security Manager at Welab bank
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks helps to reduce my total cost of ownership significantly.
Detection and Response Consultant at Inovasys
In Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks, most of the remediation is automated and the accuracy is quite good.
Network Security Engineer at Cyberwell Solution
Without detection and protection measures, organizations would face substantial payments and reputational damage, including the necessity to inform customers about data breaches, potentially leading to loss of business.
Consultant at ACT4SERVICES
Incident response time has significantly reduced, with MTTR reduced from two to three hours to less than one hour, mainly due to automation plus better visibility.
IT Infrastructure & Cloud Manager at Softcell Technologies Limited
We have seen a return on investment when using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, as it saves labor by reducing the need for staff to focus on it.
IT CONSULTANT at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Cortex XDR support varies by plan and location; premium plans provide better experiences but others report delays.
Sentiment score
7.3
Fortinet FortiEDR's customer service is mixed, with varied responsiveness; engaging local distributors and resellers can aid support experience.
Sentiment score
6.3
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint support satisfaction varies, with faster responses for premium support but slower tier-one assistance.
The technical support from Palo Alto deserves a mark of ten because they reach out within an hour whenever assistance is needed.
Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
There is no back and forth, and they know what we are asking for and come up with the best resolution for a solution.
Senior Process Expert at A.P. Moller - Maersk
If any of these services are missed, it becomes a problem in terms of support tickets, follow-up, or special configuration that needs to be done in the system.
Chief of IT Architecture at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The technical support from Fortinet is excellent.
Web Relationship Manager (WRM) at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
For setting up some proper solutions for issues at the customer site, it can take about one week.
Security Team Lead at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I believe the support from Fortinet is very good based on my experiences asking for help.
Pre Sales/ Cybersecurity Engineer at Contacta
The Microsoft agent, who did not actually work for Microsoft, is one of the vendors that Microsoft uses for support, said, 'Just to set expectations, my lunch break is in an hour and I am going to go away then.'
Security Analyst III at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
The level-one support seems disconnected from subject matter experts.
Office 365 Subject Expert at a government with 10,001+ employees
I rate Microsoft support 10 out of 10.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Cortex XDR offers scalable, flexible management for enterprises, supporting thousands of users with easy deployment and cloud-based maintenance.
Sentiment score
5.6
Fortinet FortiEDR is scalable and adaptable but may face integration issues and high costs for additional services.
Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers scalability and flexibility, supporting diverse organizations with seamless integration and extensive capabilities.
You can onboard 10,000 endpoints in just hours, which demonstrates the excellent scalability of this product.
Assistant Security Architect at Cloudnomics
Activating the newly purchased licenses is instantaneous, allowing installations without adjustments since it's cloud-based.
Junior Security Analyst at ITSEC Asia
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks can be expanded anytime by purchasing another license without any issues related to scalability.
Head of data centers at a non-profit with 10,001+ employees
When implemented in a Fortinet environment with an existing firewall, FortiAnalyzer, and FortiManager, it is straightforward to install and scale by adding more EDR for endpoints.
Security Team Lead at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I can give it nine points in terms of scalability.
Web Relationship Manager (WRM) at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
We managed to scale it out in a short amount of time, with two months of planning and three months of implementation on 10,000 computers.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is scalable enough to handle various devices across environments, whether they are laptops, Android devices, or operating in hybrid environments.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
Compatibility is its main feature.
IT CONSULTANT at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Cortex XDR is praised for its stability and performance, with manageable upgrades and frequent updates enhancing its features.
Sentiment score
8.4
Fortinet FortiEDR is reliable with some memory and integration issues; praised for seamless updates but needs ecosystem improvements.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is stable, reliable, integrates well with Windows, but occasionally faces update and cloud connectivity issues.
Cortex remains fast and responsive, even with increasing data and alerts.
Final Year Student at Gitam University
The thresholds we've seen on our firewall boxes at some instances reached 80% to 85%, but even at that level of utilization, we don't observe any latency or any issues reported with respect to accessing the application.
Senior Process Expert at A.P. Moller - Maersk
Cortex XDR is stable, offering high quality and reliable performance.
Cyber Security Manager at Welab bank
After that, I stopped scanning the Cisco AnyConnect and switched to Fortinet VPN. Everything worked fine afterward.
Security Team Lead at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
For stability, I would give it a score of ten, as we are not having any issues with that currently.
Web Relationship Manager (WRM) at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
I haven't seen any outages with Microsoft.
IT Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
I rate Defender 10 out of 10 for stability.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Defender for Endpoint is extremely stable.
Systems engineers at Delta Dental of Colorado
 

Room For Improvement

Cortex XDR users desire better OS integration, interface, threat detection, and pricing, while facing complexity and compatibility challenges.
Fortinet FortiEDR needs improvements in cloud security, usability, integration, machine learning capabilities, and enhanced scalability to better meet user expectations.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint needs better interfaces, support, integration, performance, reporting, pricing, Linux features, cloud integration, and automation.
Improving reporting and dashboard customization, along with the addition of real-time and exportable reports, would help SOC teams greatly.
Final Year Student at Gitam University
The inclusion of this feature would allow the application of DLP policies alongside antivirus policies via a single agent and console, making it more competitive as other OEMs often offer DLP solutions as part of their antivirus products.
Pre Sales Architect at network techlab
If the per GB data could be provided at a certain level free of cost or at the same cost which the customer is taking for the entire bundle, that would be better.
Cyber Security Information Security Specialist at MHM Holding GmbH
Fortinet could consider reducing the minimum order quantity for EDR, currently set at 500 pieces.
Security Team Lead at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Repeated interactions are necessary due to Level One's lack of tools and knowledge, hindering efficient problem-solving and negatively impacting our experience with Microsoft support.
Office 365 Subject Expert at a government with 10,001+ employees
In contrast, competing products offer reduced pricing for long-term commitments, which makes it difficult for us in that environment.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
We use Microsoft partners to help govern the platform, and as part of an alliance, we want to gather data from each tenant and combine them for a complete view.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Cortex XDR is seen as costly by some, but offers scalable licensing and satisfaction varies with advanced features.
Fortinet FortiEDR's pricing is mixed, seen as competitive by some, expensive by others, offering long-term value and scalability.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's pricing varies; included in some bundles but advanced features may require costly additional licenses.
The pricing on SentinelOne is far more reasonable and cheaper than Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks.
Consultant at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I would say it is definitely not a cheap product, considering how mature it is and how scalable all Palo Alto products are together.
Senior Process Expert at A.P. Moller - Maersk
Cortex XDR is perceived as expensive by some customers, yet offers dynamic pricing.
Cyber Security Manager at Welab bank
It's reasonably priced compared to other vendors' similar products.
Security Team Lead at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The pricing is moderate; I cannot label it as cheap, but it is moderate compared to other main solutions.
Web Relationship Manager (WRM) at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
That has been the trend we have seen with Microsoft lately—it is just getting more and more expensive.
Assistant Director, Hybrid Infrastructure & Operations at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
The standalone option can feel expensive if you opt for full P2 coverage.
Technical Head Cloud Services at Softcell Technologies Limited
Given our extensive Microsoft licensing, transitioning to Defender for Endpoint did not affect licensing costs.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Cortex XDR offers advanced security with robust detection, integration, and AI capabilities, praised for flexibility and user-friendly interface.
Fortinet FortiEDR excels in deployment, integration, threat response automation, and scalability, with strong security measures and user-friendly management.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint enhances security with seamless Windows integration, advanced threat detection, centralized management, and minimal performance impact.
It incorporates AI for normal behavior detection, distinguishing unusual operations.
Cyber Security Manager at Welab bank
The product provides automation responses in case of a threat attack, severity assessments, centralized manageability, and comprehensive compliance features, resulting in reduced costs.
Pre Sales Architect at network techlab
It includes machine learning to easily analyze data and detect complex threats across endpoints, networks, or clouds.
Final Year Student at Gitam University
The four pillars of the solution are security access via VPN, ZTNA, attack surface protection, and automatic incident response, integrating with Fortinet Security Fabric.
Pre Sales/ Cybersecurity Engineer at Contacta
This is especially relevant for government projects where the SD-WAN solution is within their private network, not touching the Internet or any other access.
Web Relationship Manager (WRM) at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
Defender for Endpoint's coverage across different platforms in our environment is pretty good. We have devices running Linux, Mac OS, Windows, iOS, and Android. It covers all of them.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides a unified management interface allowing customers to manage their on-premises and hybrid infrastructures from a single pane.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
One of the best features of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is its database for identifying zero-day attacks or malware attacks.
Consultant at ACT4SERVICES
 

Categories and Ranking

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Net...
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Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
110
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (4th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (6th), Ransomware Protection (2nd), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (1st)
Fortinet FortiEDR
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
14th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
215
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (2nd), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (6th), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category, the mindshare of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is 3.4%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortinet FortiEDR is 2.9%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 6.2%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint6.2%
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks3.4%
Fortinet FortiEDR2.9%
Other87.5%
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
 

Featured Reviews

ABHISHEK_SINGH - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Process Expert at A.P. Moller - Maersk
Gained full visibility and streamlined threat detection through behavior-based insights and AI integration
Initially, we got to have a lot of false positives when we onboarded, but nowadays it's quite smooth. We have fine-tuned our security policies and allowed different levels of policies to get rid of those false positives. Currently, we are getting a fairly good amount of incidents that are not false positives or benign, but actionable items. The process is streamlined. In the initial days, the operations used to get involved in a lot of benign and other activities, but now the process is streamlined. We are leveraging the auto-detection and remediation plans. The operations teams are now more involved in other business roles as well, not just looking into the logs and fetching out what's happening there. They have fixed a lot of things. Initially, they didn't have IAC code drift detection, cloud posture management, or security posture management, but they have those now. They purchased different vendors and did a merger with that. They have now Prisma Cloud that gets integrated and now they are working with Cortex Cloud. Everything that was negative has now been addressed, and the product altogether looks to be in a very better and mature shape now. Currently, it's more or less detecting the workloads with AI-based best practices. Since most organizations are consuming AI agents and other things, we are looking forward to seeing what other feature enhancements Palo Alto can support in that.
Anoop K Jayan - PeerSpot reviewer
Web Relationship Manager (WRM) at Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
Has strengthened endpoint protection for on-premise networks and supported migration to Linux environments
What really stands out in Fortinet FortiEDR is that we are integrating it with some private clouds at the customer's premises with secure SD-WAN networks. I don't know how much it contributes to this SD-WAN network in the own premises cloud solution, but that is what we are doing. This is especially relevant for government projects where the SD-WAN solution is within their private network, not touching the Internet or any other access. Their first requirement is centralized management. Additionally, they need antivirus updates and other things to be done through a centralized platform within that private cloud. That is their requirement, and currently, we temporarily allow internet access, but it is not preferred. We are moving towards a complete air gap, providing full isolation from the internet for that. We have started to work with machine learning capabilities in Fortinet FortiEDR. We are not that well-versed yet, but we have begun using machine learning for intrusion detection and other purposes. Regarding forensic analysis in Fortinet FortiEDR, it is useful in understanding attack vectors because our projects are based on the voice side, such as cloud PBX solutions and call center management. There are media activities and many attacks coming from the outside, as well as vulnerabilities from endpoints. In those cases, we need detailed analysis through an AI platform to inspect how these attacks are coming. We also require a proactive protection mechanism, including an alarm system for threat detection before attacks occur.
Kalpesh Pawar - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Head Cloud Services at Softcell Technologies Limited
Unified threat visibility has reduced incident impact and streamlines response across our endpoints
From a customer or SOC perspective, the best features Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers are the EDR with deep telemetry, which helps us with continuous behavioral monitoring. The automated investigation and remediation feature includes auto-isolation, file quarantine, and incident-level correlation. The advanced hunting KQL-based feature along with Attack Surface Reduction and vulnerability management proactively hardens exposures and provides visibility to reduce attack paths before exploitation. The advanced hunting and vulnerability management features in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint help my team day to day by allowing us to utilize Advanced hunting KQL for proactive threat hunting and validation of alerts, querying process trees, lateral movement, and IOC swipes across all endpoints in seconds. The vulnerability management feature gives us a real-time exposure view with risk-based prioritization. We align it with patching cycles and use security recommendations to reduce attack surface before exploitation. Device isolation and live response provide real operational value. This capability allows a SOC to instantly isolate compromised hosts and run remote forensics or commands without user impact, which is critical during active incidents.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise48
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise14
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business82
Midsize Enterprise43
Large Enterprise95
 

Questions from the Community

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. Sentinel One
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. SentinelOne SentinelOne offers very detailed specifics with regard to risks or attacks. ...
Comparing CrowdStrike Falcon to Cortex XDR (Palo Alto)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. CrowdStrike Falcon Both Cortex XDR and Crowd Strike Falcon offer cloud-based solutions th...
How is Cortex XDR compared with Microsoft Defender?
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface,...
What's the difference between Fortinet's FortiEDR and FortiClient?
I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protectio...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortinet FortiEDR?
The pricing is moderate; I cannot label it as cheap, but it is moderate compared to other main solutions.
What needs improvement with Fortinet FortiEDR?
I will have my team provide more details about disadvantages via email later.
Which offers better endpoint security - Symantec or Microsoft Defender?
We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior sol...
How does Microsoft Defender for Endpoint compare with Crowdstrike Falcon?
The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never pu...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint?
We have been discussing pricing, setup cost, and licensing, and we are currently on an E3. We are discussing going to...
 

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
enSilo, FortiEDR
Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
Financial, Healthcare, Legal, Technology, Enterprise, Manufacturing ... 
Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortinet FortiEDR vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
892,383 professionals have used our research since 2012.