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Kaspersky Next EDR Optimum vs Microsoft Defender XDR comparison

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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
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
3.0
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection offers a 30% ROI, top-tier protection against data loss, and is highly valued for its cost-effectiveness.
Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Defender XDR delivers significant ROI by reducing costs, response times, and increasing efficiency, justifying its investment.
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
I have observed value for money from Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum.
Senior IT Manager at HETCO
We can quarantine and isolate a device within minutes.
Information Security Analyst at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft Defender XDR has saved me at least 50% of my time.
House security operator at Cypress Creek Renewables
It helped stop multiple intrusion points where we would have had millions in lost revenue if the attackers got in.
Network Technician at T. Baker Smith, LLC
 

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
5.3
Kaspersky's support is praised for expertise, but experiences vary due to response times and communication clarity.
Sentiment score
6.3
Microsoft Defender XDR support is praised for responsiveness, though response times and first-level support knowledge can vary significantly.
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
Compared to other solution providers, the responses are not very clear when we need support.
Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We usually solve issues ourselves due to our experience, as paid support is not used.
Network Engineer at Berhan Bank
For technical support, Kaspersky provides two kinds: purchased support for real-time assistance and normal support during working hours.
CEO at Haniya Technologies
You get stuck in low-level support for way longer than you should, instead of them escalating the issue up the chain.
Enterprise Application Engineer at a legal firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
It's critical to escalate SEV B issues immediately to a domestic engineer.
Infrastructure engineer at Cetera Financial Group
Once issues are escalated to the second or third layer, the support is much better.
Cyber Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 1-10 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
7.9
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection scales well for large organizations, with straightforward licensing and strong integration for extended capabilities.
Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft Defender XDR offers scalable, efficient performance across systems, though large datasets can impact query speeds, especially on-premises.
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
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum can expand from Endpoint Detection and Response to Extended Detection and Response and then threat intelligence solutions.
CEO at Haniya Technologies
It is very easy for me to scale.
Senior IT Executer at Mylerz Co.
Currently, I find it good and easily scalable.
Network Engineer at Berhan Bank
My concern is about the scale of events and alerts being generated, and the product is doing a very good job of only surfacing the important items for us.
Vice President, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees
It has a very good integration system that integrates with all Azure services, all threat intelligence data models, and integrates very well with other systems such as Palo Alto.
Infosec at a government with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft Defender XDR shows tremendous scalability, much more so than on-premises solutions.
Infrastructure engineer at Cetera Financial Group
 

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
7.9
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is praised for its stability and performance, despite occasional disconnection issues.
Sentiment score
8.2
Microsoft Defender XDR is stable and reliable, maintaining high availability with prompt issue resolution and frequent updates.
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
The solution is highly stable, scoring more than nine in terms of protection.
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is stable.
Network Engineer at Berhan Bank
I would rate stability for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum as nine; it is pretty stable, a very good, stable product.
CEO at Haniya Technologies
The service has remained consistently online, with any issues isolated to specific components, suggesting a well-designed and modular architecture.
Senior System Engineer at a sports company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The services within our ecosystem have been reliable, meeting their SLAs.
Infrastructure engineer at Cetera Financial Group
It provides high-fidelity signals.
Information Security Analyst at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Cortex XDR users desire better OS integration, interface, threat detection, and pricing, while facing complexity and compatibility challenges.
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum needs improvements in integration, scalability, pricing, UI, support efficiency, and central management.
Microsoft Defender XDR needs improvements in alert noise reduction, tool integration, AI automation, and user interface to enhance usability.
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
To increase the benefits of the product, Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service from Kaspersky should be included.
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The uninstallation needs better handling, specifically with automatic license deletions.
Senior IT Manager at HETCO
SonicWall can integrate with other products such as Sophos, SentinelOne, and several others, but not with Kaspersky.
Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The licensing process needs improvement and clarification.
Owner at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Improvements are needed in automated response capabilities.
Security manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
If you have a central location where you perform one isolation method, all other potentially affected systems that have been touched may also be isolated simultaneously.
CISO at Loeb & Loeb LLP
 

Setup Cost

Cortex XDR is seen as costly by some, but offers scalable licensing and satisfaction varies with advanced features.
Kaspersky EDR Optimum offers competitive pricing, considered economical by some despite security concerns, compared to Fortinet or CrowdStrike.
Microsoft Defender XDR offers cost-effective protection for enterprises using Microsoft 365, but smaller organizations might find it pricey.
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
Kaspersky is very cheap compared to solutions like CrowdStrike or other vendors.
Senior IT Executer at Mylerz Co.
The value from Kaspersky is very good, especially since we recently got a special deal.
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is reasonably priced for the market.
Senior IT Manager at HETCO
There are certainly savings when using Microsoft Defender XDR, which can range from 30%, 40%, and even up to 50%.
Director, Sales at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
I would rate the pricing as eight out of ten, indicating it is a reasonable cost for the product.
Security manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft purposefully obfuscates this through marketing ploys to hide costs.
Senior System Engineer at a sports company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Cortex XDR offers advanced security with robust detection, integration, and AI capabilities, praised for flexibility and user-friendly interface.
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection provides advanced security with real-time analytics, automation, encryption, and user-friendly management for comprehensive protection.
Microsoft Defender XDR offers comprehensive threat detection and response with advanced features, centralized management, and seamless integration with Microsoft products.
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
It fulfills security and protection requirements against newly discovered malware, especially ransomware attacks.
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Threat Response Automation in Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is quite effective for enhancing security.
Senior IT Manager at HETCO
In the past month, we encountered an unknown type of malware, but the behavior was sufficient for Kaspersky to isolate the network based on this behavior, which proved very efficient.
Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
With Microsoft threat intelligence information, it detects various types of threats, including insider attacks, malicious content, and data exfiltration.
Security manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
This allows us to secure our systems in advance and proactively improve security, rather than waiting for incidents to occur.
Works at Hometrack
Once we have it on the security dashboard, we can see a real-time storyline.
Information Security Analyst at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Net...
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Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
6th
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) (5th), Ransomware Protection (2nd), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (1st)
Kaspersky Next EDR Optimum
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
25th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (23rd)
Microsoft Defender XDR
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
108
Ranking in other categories
Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category, the mindshare of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is 3.4%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kaspersky Next EDR Optimum is 0.4%, down from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 2.6%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks3.4%
Microsoft Defender XDR2.6%
Kaspersky Next EDR Optimum0.4%
Other93.6%
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.
Nadeem Syed - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Haniya Technologies
Continuous protection has improved automated threat response and reporting for our endpoints
We did work with one of our clients who required mobile security solutions. In my opinion, Trend Micro, when we went through the POCs and other components, we did not find it very strong as far as mobile security is concerned. I think Kaspersky is much better than Trend Micro when it comes to mobile security solutions. From an outside perspective, Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum looks pretty strong and comprehensive. The main improvement would be if they could decrease the cost, as it would be great for clients since it is quite expensive now compared to when it used to be cheaper. The key competitor for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is Trend Micro. Trend Micro is the only competitor in the market right now. I would say both Trend Micro Endpoint Detection and Response and Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum are quite similar; I cannot say that one is better than the other. The difference is mainly in cost; Trend Micro has mostly moved all their products to the cloud, offering no on-premises products now, whereas Kaspersky is still in a transition phase providing both on-premises and cloud solutions. Many clients prefer on-premises as it is less expensive compared to cloud.
reviewer2812758 - PeerSpot reviewer
Infosec at a government with 10,001+ employees
Integrated defenses have unified threat hunting, phishing simulations, and identity investigations
I appreciate Microsoft Defender XDR's MDE, Microsoft Defender tool, which has Attack Simulator. Instead of doing a phishing campaign and getting a separate tool, Microsoft Defender XDR does it all. These features of Microsoft Defender XDR have helped us conduct a phishing campaign quarterly, which has been beneficial. I also appreciate the fact that it has Defender for Office integrated, Defender for Identity, and everything integrated together. I would describe the process of using Microsoft Defender XDR to prioritize incidents in my security operations as quite decent. I appreciate the automatic alerting system where any incidents or alerts we receive come directly to our email. From there, we can open the email, go directly to Microsoft Defender XDR, and start our investigations and remediations. I perceive the integration of security and identity access management in Microsoft Defender XDR as affecting my identity protection strategies very well because it is well integrated with Purview, integrated well with Entra ID, and integrated well with Exchange. I especially appreciate MDO, the Office product. If anything happens and I want to conduct an investigation, it takes me directly to Exchange, where I can also investigate any emails or phishing incidents. Instead of going to different portals, everything can be done from Microsoft Defender XDR. If necessary for further investigation, Microsoft Defender XDR then directs me to that environment. I would assess the integration of AI in guiding security actions within Microsoft Defender XDR as quite positive. Recently, Security Copilot went big, and it is beneficial that I can use that, especially to write KQL. I can do threat hunting features and intelligence all within using Microsoft's Security Copilot. It also has a nice AI feature for threat hunting. I know that all the Defender logs go to Sentinel, and I can pull it up from Microsoft Defender XDR or from Sentinel. The fact that I can actually do all that within Microsoft Defender XDR is a nice feature. In the top module, I can do threat lookups, and I can actually type KQLs in Microsoft Defender XDR and look up incidents. Predictive shielding has had a nice impact on my proactive security measures. It is beneficial that it has, similar to Entra ID, a secure score. For me to improve the product, the secure score helps me out. If I rate it from highest to lowest, I can see what things I can improve. Secure score helps me see what areas I can improve in Microsoft Defender XDR to increase my score and bring it to 80 or more. Knowing Microsoft Defender XDR from using it since 2019, before COVID days, I know that they have improved significantly. It is much more user-friendly and has a very nice vulnerability feature that I find handy and useful. The fact that this feature integrates into Intune is also very decent.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business46
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise49
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business46
Midsize Enterprise29
Large Enterprise41
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum?
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is reasonably priced for the market. I do not know the exact cost o...
What needs improvement with Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum?
We did work with one of our clients who required mobile security solutions. In my opinion, Trend Micro, when we went ...
What is your primary use case for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum?
When it comes to endpoint security requirements, we work with Trend Micro most of the time; currently, my focus is mo...
What do you like most about Microsoft 365 Defender?
Microsoft Defender XDR provides strong identity protection with comprehensive insights into risky user behavior and p...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft 365 Defender?
My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Microsoft Defender XDR is that we are on an E5 license,...
What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?
From my perspective, Microsoft Defender XDR can be improved with better visibility in certain areas where I can trigg...
 

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
No data available
Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
Information Not Available
Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Find out what your peers are saying about Kaspersky Next EDR Optimum vs. Microsoft Defender XDR and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.