Heimdal Endpoint Security vs WatchGuard EPDR comparison

Heimdal and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category. Heimdal is ranked #43 with an average rating of 9.0, while WatchGuard is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.8. Heimdal holds a 0.4% mindshare in EPP, compared to WatchGuard’s 2.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Heimdal users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Heimdal Endpoint Security and WatchGuard EPDR based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about CrowdStrike, Microsoft, SentinelOne and others in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP).

To learn more, read our detailed Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Report (Updated: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

January 2026

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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 XDR by Palo Alto Net...

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is 3.4%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Heimdal Endpoint Security is 0.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard EPDR is 2.0%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks	3.4%
WatchGuard EPDR	2.0%
Heimdal Endpoint Security	0.4%
Other	94.2%

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

Featured Reviews

ABHISHEK_SINGH

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.

Read full review

DEEPAK KUMAR PACHDEO DUBEY

Senior IT Support Specialist at PXGEO

Delivers efficiency and agility with USB control limitations

One area where we lag is that, since we use everything from Heimdal, including XDR and other features, we also use the privilege manager feature called Elevation. What we lack is granular USB control. We have an issue where we can only switch USB on or off. I want to whitelist specific devices in the network, which I currently cannot do.

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Norlia Jalani

Section Head, Information Technology at a transportation company with 201-500 employees

Using cloud-based console for software inventory management and email alerts

I have no idea if I use some automation functions. I can't find any disadvantages; maybe that is because many companies haven't used it. I would prefer to see some features such as AI in antivirus solutions. I appreciate reporting, but it could be better with monthly reporting or auto-generated monthly reports.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is the low consumption of system resources. The solution uses a lot of AI and machine learning."

"We can visualize and control the activities in the environment from anywhere."

"Cortex Xnor's playbooks predefine the workflow of the automation, such as response processes, alert triggering, and enriching the context, collecting relevant indicators such as hashes, IP addresses, or domains efficiently and can detect and block malicious attacks with firewalls."

"The solution helps find bugs, and it is safe to use to prevent attacks by hackers."

"Best solution for avoiding security breaches, malware attacks, and other kinds of security issues."

"Since they've done their most recent update, the ease to isolate endpoints is valuable. If we find one where there is a virus on it, we can easily isolate it. We don't even have to contact the user. We don't have to manually take them off the network. We can easily isolate them."

"The solution's most valuable feature is its ability to rapidly detect certain hardware files."

"Cortex XDR is a very capable solution for protecting large networks and a lot of endpoints. It's very useful because the automation is very high, and if you combine it with the features on Palo Alto firewalls, it provides very strong protection."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks pros

"As compared to multiple solutions I have used in the past, Heimdal is a very agile and lightweight solution."

"Heimdal is a very agile and lightweight solution."

"We have control over our devices, specifically USB ports, allowing us to block or control the traffic."

"Great technical support staff."

"It is stable, and the performance is good."

"The most valuable feature is the web filter application control."

"What I appreciate the most about WatchGuard EPDR is that with the managed detection and response system, when there is an alert about the product running, the turnaround time for enabling it is less than two hours."

"It prevents our users from circumventing security. Everything is password protected so they can't get into it. They can't uninstall it. They can't do anything."

"Their remote management (RMM) is very good."

"The patch management module is very important."

More WatchGuard EPDR pros

Cons

"Currently, if you use Palo Alto endpoint protection as the only solution it's very complicated to remove pre-existing threats."

"A little bit more automation would be nice."

"In an upcoming release, the solution could improve by proving hard disk encryption. If it could support this it would be a complete solution."

"The playbooks could be improved to include more functionalities or actions."

"There are some default policies which sometimes affect our applications and cause them to run around. In the hotel industry, we use a different type of data versus Oracle and SQL. By default, there are some policies which stop us from running properly. Because of this, the support level is also not that strong. We have to wait to get a results."

"In general, the price could be more competitive."

"The solution should force customers to integrate with network traffic to see the full benefits of XDR."

"The product's pricing needs improvement. They could provide more discounts. Additionally, the dashboard and control panel could be enhanced."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks cons

"What we lack is granular USB control."

"What we lack is granular USB control. We have an issue where we can only switch USB on or off."

"Panda Security Adaptive Defense can improve by including the intrusion and prevention system not only on their most expensive platform. Additionally, it blocks software that is legitimate from users. They complain and then we have to manually unblock the software, by hash, or we receive a message. Some of the prevention features are not available and this might cause us to need a separate firewall or something to protect the company."

"Panda Security Adaptive Defense is stable. However, when updates are being done on the computers we can experience some troubles because the computers need to be restarted. When we start the computers they are not functioning correctly and we have not received proper feedback regarding this random issue."

"They need to expand their offering of add-ons to enhance capabilities further."

"The stability could be improved. My teammates who use Panda Security and I have experienced some issues."

"It would be nice if Panda Security Adaptive Defense could come out with remote desktop usage."

"They could have more reports."

"Improvements could be made in terms of how the reporting is structured."

"The gap between the two final conclusions is a problem, whether or not a file is known to be malware or is known to be safe."

More WatchGuard EPDR cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is present, but when compared to other competitive products, I would say it is not less expensive; however, when all of the other added values are considered, the price is reasonable."

"I don't recall what the cost was, but it wasn't really that expensive."

"It's way too expensive, but security is expensive. You pay for your licensing, and then you pay for someone to monitor the stuff."

"In terms of the cost Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is very expensive because we are a Mexican company and when you translate dollars to pesos the cost is very high. The solution is very expensive for Mexican companies. I understand that they have international prices, but I do not think it offsets the price enough for many companies in countries, such as Mexico. The amount it is reduced is not a massive percentage."

"Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is quite an expensive solution."

"Licensing for Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR can be costly, especially when it comes to a hundred users. A license is required for each user, and the subscription must be renewed on a yearly basis."

"Very costly product."

"The price of the product is not very economical."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks pricing and cost advice

Information not available

"Panda is cloud-only and comes at a reasonable cost. It is a set price per seat."

"The product is available at a high price."

"Customers need to pay monthly licensing costs for Panda Security Adaptive Defense, which is not expensive."

"There is a license needed to use this solution and it is approximately $30 annually."

"The price is excellent."

"I don't think Panda's license is too expensive, but they're charging more than it's worth. It's a yearly license. For 1,000 endpoints, it's around $18,000."

"The price of this solution depends on the number of licenses that you are purchasing."

"The solution's pricing is better compared to other products."

More WatchGuard EPDR pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Non Profit

Media Company

Comms Service Provider

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Hospitality Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	42
Midsize Enterprise	21
Large Enterprise	47

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	26
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	2

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. ...

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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...

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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,...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Heimdal Endpoint Security?

Pricing, compared to what we had before, was quite economical. There was a difference of about twenty percent or some...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Heimdal Endpoint Security?

One area where we lag is that, since we use everything from Heimdal, including XDR and other features, we also use th...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Heimdal Endpoint Security?

My company colleagues and I use this antivirus solution. I am part of a company where I deploy solutions, and I also ...

See all answers

What do you like most about WatchGuard EPDR?

The product's most valuable features are the zero-trust application service and its capability to detect threats and ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WatchGuard EPDR?

The price of the solution is okay. It's all right.

See all answers

What needs improvement with WatchGuard EPDR?

I would not be able to say what areas of WatchGuard EPDR have improved, as I do not work with the product myself so m...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 9% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Complete vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 5% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 5% of the time

Cortex XSIAM vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 4% of the time

Symantec Endpoint Security vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 3% of the time

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks Competitors

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Heimdal Endpoint Security

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Heimdal Endpoint Security

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs Heimdal Endpoint Security

Compared 7% of the time

Infoblox BloxOne Threat Defense vs Heimdal Endpoint Security

Compared 5% of the time

Huntress Managed EDR vs Heimdal Endpoint Security

Compared 5% of the time

More Heimdal Endpoint Security Competitors

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs WatchGuard EPDR

Compared 9% of the time

ESET Endpoint Protection Platform vs WatchGuard EPDR

Compared 6% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs WatchGuard EPDR

Compared 5% of the time

Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business vs WatchGuard EPDR

Compared 4% of the time

Bitdefender GravityZone EDR vs WatchGuard EPDR

Compared 2% of the time

More WatchGuard EPDR Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

February 2026

Download Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks product report

Buyer's Guide

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

January 2026

Download Heimdal Endpoint Security product report

Buyer's Guide

WatchGuard EPDR

January 2026

Download WatchGuard EPDR product report

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps

Heimdal Next-Gent Endpoint Antivirus, Thor Vigilance Enterprise, Heimdal Endpoint Detection and Response, Heimdal DNS Security - Endpoint, Heimdal Threat Prevention, Heimdal Ransomware Encryption Protection

Panda Adaptive Defense 360

Overview

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks provides advanced threat detection with AI-driven endpoint protection and seamless integration, ensuring multi-layered security and automatic threat response.

Cortex XDR is designed to safeguard endpoints against malware and suspicious activities. It offers advanced threat detection and response capabilities using behavioral analysis, AI, and machine learning. It seamlessly integrates with security infrastructures, providing endpoint security, firewall integration, and enhanced visibility in both cloud-based and on-premises environments.

What are the key features of Cortex XDR?

Advanced Threat Detection: Uses AI and machine learning for proactive threat identification.
Multi-layered Security: Combines various security measures for comprehensive protection.
Endpoint Protection: Safeguards against malware and exploits.
Behavioral Analysis: Monitors suspicious activity for early detection.
Automatic Threat Response: Automates responses to neutralize threats.

What benefits should users expect?

Ease of Use: Simplifies security management with intuitive design.
Resource Efficiency: Minimizes impact on system resources.
Integration Capabilities: Works well with existing security setups.
Reduced Analyst Workload: Automates processes to decrease manual intervention.

Organizations in diverse sectors deploy Cortex XDR to protect against malware, leveraging its advanced threat detection capabilities. Its integration with existing security infrastructures appeals to those seeking comprehensive protection in both cloud and on-premises environments, providing enhanced visibility and threat intelligence.

Palo Alto Networks

Heimdal Endpoint Security, is a comprehensive suite of security tools designed to safeguard devices from a range of cyber threats. Offering functionalities like Next-Generation Antivirus, Endpoint Detection and Response, Application Control, Firewall, and Mobile Device Management, Heimdal ensures a multi-layered defense against malware, suspicious activities, and unauthorized applications. Its benefits include proactive threat detection, enhanced efficiency through task automation, centralized management for streamlined administration, and dedicated mobile device security features. Targeted primarily at businesses and organizations of all sizes, Heimdal Endpoint Security caters to the diverse cybersecurity needs of modern enterprises, providing robust protection against evolving threats.

Heimdal

EDR for continuous monitoring that prevents the execution of unknown processes. Behavioral analysis and detection of IoAs (indicators of attack) scripts, macros, etc.
Automatic detection and response for targeted attacks and in-memory exploits. Endpoint protection capabilities such as URL filtering, device control and managed firewall.
Zero-Trust Application and Threat Hunting features delivered as managed services. Lightweight agent and easy-to-use Cloud-based console with detailed reporting.

WatchGuard

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank

Brother, Symbion, CPH West

Indra, Valea AB, Fineit, Aemcom, Data Solutions INC., Gloucestershire NHS, Golden Star Resources Ltd, Hispania Racing Team, Instituto Dos Museus e da ConserÊo, Escuelas Pias Provincia Emaus, Axiom Housing Association, Municipality of Bjuv, Lesedi Nuclear, Mullsj_ municipality, Eng. skolan Norr AB, Dalakraft AB, Peter Green Haulage Ltd

Buyer's Guide

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

January 2026

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