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

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 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
8.1
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence consolidates security, reduces costs, enhances intelligence, and effectively prevents breaches, offering significant ROI.
Sentiment score
7.1
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series offers strong ROI with enhanced security, increased agility, and significant time savings for users.
Customers can see data within a week, indicating a quick return on investment.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Defender support varies, with excellent technical help praised but mixed experiences with contact ease and expertise levels.
Sentiment score
7.6
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series support is responsive and professional, but some users note room for improvement in efficiency.
Level two support is knowledgeable and knows how the product works, which is very good.
The support quality could be improved.
Resolving issues promptly.
Sometimes cases take longer to resolve, and there's always room for improvement, especially in terms of response time from higher support levels.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence offers scalable security, favored for flexibility, ease of use, and seamless cloud integration despite potential costs.
Sentiment score
7.6
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is scalable, satisfying users despite some cloud integration challenges, and suitable for diverse enterprises.
If there were some customizations available, I would rate its scalability as nine out of ten.
It is easy to use with an excellent graphical user interface and extensive documentation, which contributes to its high scalability.
The solution is scalable and can easily handle an increase in the number of users.
They are easy to upgrade, and with credit licensing, they scale effectively according to demand.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is praised for stability, performance, security features, and resilience, despite occasional outages and delays.
Sentiment score
8.3
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is praised for stability and reliability, despite occasional bugs and manual interventions during upgrades.
It provides a high level of security and avoids phishing and scam emails.
Hardware is generally very stable.
Perfection is unlikely as the dynamic nature of traffic and constant changes can result in occasional bugs despite regular updates.
I have not experienced any major problems or downtime.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence needs pricing, integration, support, AI, automation, and customization improvements for better affordability and usability.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series needs better integration, scalability, documentation, cloud compatibility, and improved features to address user concerns and performance.
Providing code customization would help keep pace with new vulnerabilities and threats.
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.
There is a need for two-factor authentication, particularly for VPN and CloudProtect.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is cost-effective in E5 bundles but can be complex and costly standalone for SMEs.
Palo Alto Networks' VM-Series pricing is high but justified by advanced security features, with flexible licensing aiding budget management.
Although I rate the cost six out of ten, the features justify the higher expense.
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.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence integrates globally informed threat detection with seamless Microsoft product integration for comprehensive, automated protection and analysis.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series excels in threat prevention, scalability, and user-friendly management, integrating advanced security features and cloud services.
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.
The DNS security significantly enhances security through visibility and detection, allowing control over crucial traffic like DNS, which is often exploited by ransomware.
Palo Alto's robust threat intelligence supports new updates, and I can open cases directly with their Threat Intelligence team.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender Threat I...
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Threat Intelligence Platforms (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (15th)
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is 1.6%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is 2.5%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

TapabrataSamanta - PeerSpot reviewer
A cost-effective solution for monitoring and security but lacks supports for non-Microsoft products
There are weaknesses, and Microsoft is working on addressing them. Over the past three to four years, the ATP and other components have improved significantly, and the integration has also advanced. We are using third-party services. While we have Microsoft Threat Intelligence, which leverages Microsoft's facilities, we also utilize additional third-party threat intelligence. As of today, we don't completely rely on Microsoft for certain regions. This is an area where Microsoft needs to improve. Consequently, we use Anomali, a third-party threat intelligence provider. We integrate our product's intelligence with Anomali, from which we obtain threat insights. Microsoft products offer significant advantages, especially in the realm of threat intelligence. It works very well with Microsoft products. However, you might need additional services if you have non-Microsoft products in your environment. For instance, if you use Apple or Linux, Microsoft's solutions alone might not be sufficient. If they can work more effectively, especially with zero-day attack speed and other sophisticated threats, it will help us provide our customers with timely newsletters about new attacks.
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
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Educational Organization
11%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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 vs. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.