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Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence [EOL] vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 16, 2025

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
8.2
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence offers cost-effective security, saving 62% on budgets and reducing analyst needs with comprehensive threat intel.
Sentiment score
6.3
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series boosts agility, efficiency, security, and ROI, with significant cost-effective satisfaction and improved data visibility.
It's a value-for-money product.
Customers can see data within a week, indicating a quick return on investment.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Microsoft Defender's customer service is mostly satisfactory, with excellent technical support, but some users experience delays and access issues.
Sentiment score
7.5
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series has responsive, knowledgeable support, though communication issues and high premium costs are noted by users.
Level two support is knowledgeable and knows how the product works, which is very good.
I would give Microsoft an eight for their technical support.
The support quality could be improved.
Resolving issues promptly.
They are responsive and provide high-quality assistance.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is scalable, adaptable, and cloud-managed, providing seamless expansion for large organizations with positive user feedback.
Sentiment score
7.4
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series offers high scalability and adaptability, with some configuration challenges but generally positive user experiences.
If there were some customizations available, I would rate its scalability as nine out of ten.
They are easy to upgrade, and with credit licensing, they scale effectively according to demand.
The solution is scalable and can easily handle an increase in the number of users.
It is easy to use with an excellent graphical user interface and extensive documentation, which contributes to its high scalability.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is stable and reliable, praised for high performance despite occasional regional outages.
Sentiment score
8.1
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is highly stable, with minor issues during updates, making it a robust choice for users.
It provides a high level of security and avoids phishing and scam emails.
Hardware is generally very stable.
I have not experienced any major problems or downtime.
Perfection is unlikely as the dynamic nature of traffic and constant changes can result in occasional bugs despite regular updates.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender faces challenges with pricing, integration, AI enhancements, false positives, support, documentation, licensing, and compatibility improvements.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series needs UI, reporting, integration, cloud compatibility, scalable features, clear pricing, and enhanced AI capabilities.
Providing code customization would help keep pace with new vulnerabilities and threats.
The main area of improvement for Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is related to how information is conveyed.
From the telemetry data standpoint, I would prefer Defender data to be more open in future updates.
Integration with CSIRT across all use levels would make it easier for administrators to stay updated on the blocked entities without manual intervention.
Most customers go for partner-enabled support, which involves multiple layers, leading to delays.
When managing the firewall, it involves a Strata Cloud web browser that requires improvement to enhance deployment ease and call center efficiency.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence pricing is bundled in Microsoft 365, seen as cost-effective but complex or pricey when standalone.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series offers robust security and flexible pricing but requires careful licensing for cost-effectiveness.
Palo Alto is expensive in terms of pricing, particularly when comparing features to cost.
The cost involves purchasing through a vendor, which might mark up due to the supply chain.
Pricing for Palo Alto Networks is higher than other OEMs, but considering the robustness and features, it gains customer trust.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence integrates with Microsoft tools, offering real-time threat insights, seamless deployment, and advanced security features.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series offers advanced threat management, scalability, and security for cloud and data center environments with intuitive features.
If it wasn't for that real-time threat detection on the vulnerability, I think we would not have survived the attack.
One of the best features is that it provides a certain level of customization, allowing us to set our spam confidence levels.
Our threat detection is enhanced due to the AI agents in Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence, which helps in detecting automatically.
We use these tools to prevent all known and unknown threats using Palo Alto Networks' Wildfire and other data filtering tools to gather information, analyze traffic, manage malicious traffic, and offer visibility, control, and attack prevention.
Palo Alto's robust threat intelligence supports new updates, and I can open cases directly with their Threat Intelligence team.
The DNS security significantly enhances security through visibility and detection, allowing control over crucial traffic like DNS, which is often exploited by ransomware.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender Threat I...
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (16th)
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence [EOL] is 2.1%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is 2.9%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series2.9%
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence2.1%
Other95.0%
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

Charles Mokoena - PeerSpot reviewer
Has strengthened our ability to detect threats in real time and improved internal security decision-making
The features that I find most valuable in Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence include the Sentinel part of it. There are several features we've looked at, including Sentinel as well as extended Defender, which is XDR. I've used those two, and that's what I've found quite useful for us, especially in the hardening and analysis part of the whole threat analysis. We use the real-time threat detection features in Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence. If it wasn't for that real-time threat detection on the vulnerability, I think we would not have survived the attack. The integration capabilities of Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence with other Microsoft security tools have benefited our organization's threat management process by initially being quite a challenge, especially coming from other security tools such as Fortinet and Check Point. However, once you've gotten used to it, it's quite easy and user-friendly. The dashboard, especially the threat analysis dashboard, is quite detailed in terms of providing a view of which areas in our environment need attention, making it quite useful.
RonnieYazdani - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly CLI and efficient dashboard streamline operations with robust security features
I find Palo Alto Networks VM-Series easy to deploy, and none of my customers have had significant complaints. My customers have high certifications provided by Palo Alto Networks. The friendly dashboard and the ability to easily command and use the CLI make Palo Alto Networks VM-Series a better product. It offers robust solutions, making it valuable to my customers.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
13%
Educational Organization
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Performing Arts
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
It just runs in the background. I don't have to worry about, making sure it's Intelligence. So, you know, this kind of makes it very easy, have to worry about installing. It is easy to use.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
From the telemetry data standpoint, I would prefer Defender data to be more open in future updates.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
We have tried Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence. I have expertise with Microsoft Defender products. I am not familiar with Microsoft Defender for IoT because we did not use that in our environ...
Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls
In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it kind of depends what you value most. PA is good at app control, web filtering a...
How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?
Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the overall cost is reasonable. Azure Firewall offers a solid threat awareness, can...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Warren Rogers Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence [EOL] vs. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
870,623 professionals have used our research since 2012.