Microsoft Defender XDR vs Symantec XDR comparison

Microsoft and Broadcom are both solutions in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category. Microsoft is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.4, while Broadcom is ranked #45. Microsoft holds a 4.7% mindshare in XDR, compared to Broadcom’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Defender XDR and Symantec XDR based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, TrendAI and others in Extended Detection and Response (XDR).

To learn more, read our detailed Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

April 2026

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Helped 886,077 peers since 2012

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 April 2026, in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category, the mindshare of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is 4.9%, down from 5.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 4.7%, down from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec XDR is 0.5%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender XDR	4.7%
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks	4.9%
Symantec XDR	0.5%
Other	89.9%

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

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

Kunle Oluwadiya

House security operator at Cypress Creek Renewables

Advanced threat hunting saves significant time in tracking and responding to incidents

Microsoft Defender XDR could be improved with a lower price. My main suggestion would essentially be what Copilot is providing, which is a single pane of glass, so I don't have to go to different windows. That's just a workflow consideration for me. It would be great to have all the information centralized into one particular data app. If I need to open up extra ones, I can, however, I would appreciate a future where everything I need is right there on one single pane of glass. Beyond that, there's really nothing else I see that I would want Microsoft to improve.

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BILALRAZA

Cyber Security Consultant at I(TS)² Saudi Arabia

A scalable and stable solution with straightforward deployment

We can generate maps from the environment. For example, suppose there is a virus that has a zero-day attack and is publicly unknown. We can block that and keep it away from the network so it is not further replicated. It also has custom white and black lists. We can add a good reputation on both lists and use the sonar technology for Symantec and the online network for advanced 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

"It collects and caches and the knowledge of machine learning from different customers to take to the cloud, it makes it better to use for everybody, it allows for quick learning and updates and can, therefore, offer zero-day malware security, and this sharing of metadata helps make the solution very safe."

"My advice for anybody who is considering Cortex XDR is that it is a complete solution, and has very good features."

"We've had a significant increase in blocking with a decrease in false positives, because it's looking at how the files work, not just a list of files that it's been told to look for."

"The scalability of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is very good."

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

"The stability is pretty good except for one or two cases, and based on the performance, it's been okay with pretty high performance, no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze."

"The user interface of the solution is sophisticated and straightforward."

"It has pretty much everything we need and works well within the Palo Alto ecosystem."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks pros

"The threat intelligence is excellent."

"We are connected to Microsoft and have every laptop enrolled. This acts as an endpoint. The tool helps me check security and compliance. I can also check what a device is doing."

"Overall, the solution has decreased our time to detect and respond."

"I like 365 Defender's advanced threat hunting. The dashboard is user-friendly with templates for site policies, etc. The most important use case is evaluating the risk links and applications."

"The ability to hunt that IM data set or the identity data set at the same time is valuable. As incident response professionals, we are very used to EDRs and having device process registry telemetry, but a lot of times, we do not have that identity data right there with us, so we have to go search for it in some other silo. Being able to cross-correlate via both datasets at the same time is something that we can only do in Def"

"Within advanced threat hunting, the tables that have already been defined by Microsoft are helpful. In the advanced threat hunting tab, there were different tables, and one of the tables was related to device info, device alert, and device events. That was very helpful. Another feature that I liked but didn't have access to was deep analysis."

"Advanced hunting is good. I like that. We can drill down to lots of details."

"A crucial aspect for our team is the inclusion of identity and access management tools from the vendor."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pros

"You can advise the solution and protect your environment."

"We can block a virus that has a zero-day attack and is publicly unknown and keep it away from the network so it is not further replicated."

Cons

"The dashboard is the area that needs to improve so that we can have the ability to drill down without having to go elsewhere to verify results."

"The solution should offer more dashboards and they should be better customized."

"Cortex XDR could be improved with more GUI features."

"When it comes to core analysis and security analysis, Cortex needs to provide more information."

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

"I have run into some detection issues with Cortex XDR. It needs to be better at detection of internal attacks."

"Traps doesn't work with McAfee. You need to remove McAfee to install Traps. This is very common, and its nothing that should be an issue. Some antivirus engines recognize Traps as an threat component, so maybe they need to shake hands somewhere."

"While using Cortex, I noticed some aspects that could be improved, such as increasing the synchronization speed between XDR and Xnor."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks cons

"What could be improved in Microsoft 365 Defender is its licensing; it needs to be more consolidated, because there are so many plans for Microsoft 365 Defender, and every other year, there will be new licensing options that become more and more different from each other."

"The solution can improve the rules and privileges it offers."

"The Defender agent itself is more compatible with Windows 10 and Windows 11. Other than these two lines, there are so many compatibility issues. Security is not only about Microsoft. The core technical aspects of it are quite good, but it would be good if they can better support non-Microsoft solutions in terms of putting the agents directly into VMware and other virtualization solutions. There should be more emphasis on RHEL and other operating systems that we use, other than Windows, in the server category."

"When we do investigations, it would be better if Microsoft could populate the host dashboard more. When we open any host for investigation, we want the entire timeline of what is happening on the host, including all the users logging in, their hardware, Windows version, etc."

"The customer support aspect can be better because it's the biggest complaint I hear about Microsoft."

"The design of the user interface could use some work. Sometimes it's hard to find the exact information you need."

"One of the biggest downsides of Microsoft products, in general, is that the menus are often difficult to find, as they tend to move from place to place between versions."

"Microsoft Defender XDR can be improved as a solution because it's still quite costly; it's part of E5, E5 security, so the cost is still quite high, especially considering SME and C customers, or SMB customers."

More Microsoft Defender XDR cons

"The solution should have better reporting."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution has one subscription for endpoint protection and one subscription for detection and response. The two licenses combined give you the BRO version."

"I did PoCs on products called Cylance and CrowdStrike. Although, I consider these products and they were also good, when it come to cost and budgetary factors, Traps has been proven to be better than the other two products. It is quite cost-effective and delivers all the entire solution which we require."

"I feel it is fairly priced."

"The pricing seems fair, and I do like the licensing model. You use wherever they are, and it is elastic."

"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."

"It has reasonable pricing for the use cases it provides to the company."

"The cost of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is $55 to $90 USD per endpoint per month."

"It's about $55 per license on a yearly basis."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks pricing and cost advice

"Microsoft Defender XDR is included in our license."

"Its licensing and pricing are handled by someone else. My role is limited to incidents or issues with the portal, but you get what you pay for. It is worth the cost."

"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."

"It has consistently offered highly appealing academic pricing, with distinct rates for higher education and general educational purposes."

"All I can say again is the E5 gives you all the capabilities that it offers. It also gives Office 365 and one terabyte of storage. All in all, the E5 license model makes sense. There are some people who say it's quite costly, but rather than paying different vendors, it makes sense to go all in with Microsoft if you've got that licensing. From that perspective, it's cost-effective, but I can't comment much on that."

"While Microsoft Defender XDR carries a higher cost, its ease of use compared to Defender may justify the investment."

"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."

"I believe that the pricing of the licensing is fair."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	44
Midsize Enterprise	20
Large Enterprise	48

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	46
Midsize Enterprise	26
Large Enterprise	40

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. ...

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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 do you like most about Microsoft 365 Defender?

Microsoft Defender XDR provides strong identity protection with comprehensive insights into risky user behavior and p...

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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,...

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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...

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Comparisons

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 8% 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 4% of the time

Cortex XSIAM vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 4% of the time

TrendAI Vision One vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 2% of the time

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks Competitors

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 10% of the time

Wazuh vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 7% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Complete vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

Check Point Harmony Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Defender XDR Competitors

Wazuh vs Symantec XDR

Compared 39% of the time

Trellix Endpoint Security Platform vs Symantec XDR

Compared 32% of the time

More Symantec XDR Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

April 2026

Download Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR

March 2026

Download Microsoft Defender XDR product report

Buyer's Guide

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

April 2026

Download Symantec XDR product report

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender

No data available

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

Microsoft Defender XDR is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect against threats in the Microsoft 365 environment.

It offers robust security measures, comprehensive threat detection capabilities, and an efficient incident response system. With seamless integration with other Microsoft products and a user-friendly interface, it simplifies security management tasks.

Users have found it effective in detecting and preventing various types of attacks, such as phishing attempts, malware infections, and data breaches.

Watch the Microsoft demo video here: Microsoft Defender XDR demo video.

Microsoft

Symantec Enterprise Security Products are now part of Broadcom. The consumer division of Symantec Corp. is now NortonLifeLock Inc. -- a standalone company dedicated to consumer cyber safety.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank

Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

April 2026

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