No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Microsoft Defender XDR vs SanerNow CyberHygiene Platform comparison

Why PeerSpot?
Sponsored
 

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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Net...
Sponsored
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
118
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (4th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (3rd), Ransomware Protection (2nd), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (1st)
Microsoft Defender XDR
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
108
Ranking in other categories
Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (4th)
SanerNow CyberHygiene Platform
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
59th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (60th), Patch Management (22nd), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (27th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category, the mindshare of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is 3.7%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 2.0%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SanerNow CyberHygiene Platform is 0.8%, up from 0.1% 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 Networks3.7%
Microsoft Defender XDR2.0%
SanerNow CyberHygiene Platform0.8%
Other93.5%
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.
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.
JU
Information Technology Supervisor at DMCI Homes, Inc.
Can automate updates and manage software licenses more effectively
Our team uses the SanerNow CyberHygiene Platform for threat detection, focusing on features like vulnerabilities and asset exposure. The asset exposure feature is packaged with software licenses and machines. We get the latest updates and patches for Windows workstations and applications for remediation. We can automate these updates, which greatly improves our previous manual and scripting-based tools. Before, we struggled with setting policies and making changes to workstations. Now, we can automate updates and manage software licenses more effectively. We monitor who's using various licenses like Office, CAD, Visio, and Lumion.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like that the product has behavior-based detection which offers many benefits over signature-based detection."
"From a single pane of glass, you can easily manage all of your endpoints."
"The solution allows us to gain remote access without the user's knowledge and take the necessary actions on the device."
"Palo Alto is constantly adding new features."
"After deploying Traps, we saw the performance of the network improve by 65 to 70 percent."
"Its ability to react to cyber data attacks is awesome."
"Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is easy to use and does not consume a lot of hardware resources."
"Cortex XDR can integrate the firewalls and determine the tendencies of the attacks. It's a new generation antivirus, with protection endpoints and detection response. It is very easy to use and everybody can operate the solution."
"The Email Explorer feature has proven invaluable, offering a broader perspective than automated alerts and incidents alone."
"Microsoft Defender is stable."
"Based on my experience, I rate Microsoft Defender XDR as nine out of ten."
"We are able to consolidate licences and make use of many Microsoft products using this solution, and if we have any Microsoft customers, we encourage them to use this solution for enterprise defence."
"Another noteworthy feature that I find appealing in Microsoft Defender is the credit-backed simulation. This feature enables organizations to train their users on effectively responding to phishing emails through a simulated training environment."
"The summarization of emails is a valuable feature."
"Microsoft 365 Defender is a stable solution."
"One of the most valuable features of Microsoft Defender XDR is its ability to provide preemptive reports regarding excessive privileged access."
"Although it is, in fact, a complete vulnerability management solution, the most valuable feature is the patch management functionality. Most of our customers give preference to this tool over other tools when it comes to patch management."
"Our team uses the SanerNow CyberHygiene Platform for threat detection, focusing on features like vulnerabilities and asset exposure. The asset exposure feature is packaged with software licenses and machines. We get the latest updates and patches for Windows workstations and applications for remediation. We can automate these updates, which greatly improves our previous manual and scripting-based tools."
 

Cons

"The connection to the internet has not performed as expected."
"Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR does not detect malicious activity like in other anti-virus solutions like Trend Micro and Windows with Cisco."
"The downside to the solution is that there are a large number of false positives."
"Basically, they don't provide customer support tools just to investigate the logs."
"It would be good to have a better way to search for a file within the UI."
"Dashboards do not allow everyone to see what's happening."
"Enhancing UI simplicity and playbook flexibility are areas that could benefit from more low-code automation options for smoother integrations."
"Currently, if you use Palo Alto endpoint protection as the only solution it's very complicated to remove pre-existing threats."
"I do think that maybe having a feature within my organization where there are three different domains within which we have to operate would be helpful, as there is currently no unified view within the domains."
"The support from Microsoft could improve. There are times I have to wait for a response from a qualified specialist."
"For Microsoft Defender XDR, there is currently no ability to reset passwords for on-premises accounts, which is a key challenge."
"Microsoft Defender XDR could be improved with a lower price."
"Advanced attacks could use an improvement."
"The solution could improve by having better machine learning and AI. Additionally, the interface, documentation, and integration could be better."
"The design of the user interface could use some work. Sometimes it's hard to find the exact information you need."
"The user interface of Microsoft 365 Defender could improve. They could make it simpler."
"SanerNow has good integration with the more well known ITSM tools, but at the same time there are many other ITSM (IT Service Management) tools available in the market, including local tools here in India, and I'm not sure how SanerNow plans to integrate with them all out of the box."
"SanerNow CyberHygiene Platform needs to incorporate more documentation."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is quite an expensive solution."
"Compared to CrowdStrike, Cortex XDR is an expensive solution."
"Cortex XDR's pricing is ok."
"It is cost-effective compared to similar solutions. It fits for the small businesses through to the big businesses."
"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."
"The price of the product is not very economical."
"The cost depends on your chosen license type, like Pro or other licenses."
"The tool's price is moderate."
"Microsoft Defender XDR is included in our license."
"The solutions price is fair for what they offer."
"365 Defender is billed per account. I don't know the exact price, but my supervisor told me that Microsoft Defender is cheaper than the alternatives. It's bundled, so you get all the features in one place."
"Purchasing Microsoft Defender XDR as part of a Microsoft 365 bundle can be cost-effective, but acquiring it as a standalone product may be more expensive."
"The functionality is fantastic, but for medium and small-sized companies it's overpriced. It would be better if it were a little bit cheaper."
"While the standalone price of Defender XDR might seem high, its value becomes clear when considering the ease of implementation and smooth integration with our existing Microsoft infrastructure, especially when bundled with other Microsoft products."
"For Defender, they have Endpoint Plan 1 and Endpoint Plan 2, but I don't know on what basis they have classified Endpoint Plan 1 and Plan 2, but it has given me enough pain to pick and design Endpoint Plan 1 or Endpoint Plan 2 for my organization. In fact, we are still struggling with it. Too many SKUs are confusing. There should not be too many SKUs, and they shouldn't charge for every new feature."
"Microsoft 365 Defender offers competitive pricing."
"The pricing is reasonable - we paid about 2.5 million for 3,500 nodes."
"As with several other solutions such as Microsoft MECM and SCCM, the licensing for SanerNow involves per-device pricing for each kind of product or service on offer."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions are best for your needs.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Construction Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Outsourcing Company
17%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Construction Company
8%
Retailer
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business47
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise55
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business46
Midsize Enterprise28
Large Enterprise41
No data available
 

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 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...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft 365 Defender?
My main use cases for Microsoft Defender XDR are telemetry, advanced hunting, and the ability to perform host isolati...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
SecPod SanerNow, SanerNow RP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Siemens, Aruba, SironLabs, POS Aviation, Kotak, Kaizen Automotive, Amagi, McNeilus Steel, Claremont, Glassbeam, Marlabs, Amazon Web Services
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender XDR vs. SanerNow CyberHygiene Platform and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.