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Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB vs Vectra AI comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 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

Palo Alto Networks URL Filt...
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
12th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Vectra AI
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
3rd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Network Detection and Response (NDR) (2nd), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (14th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (10th), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is 2.3%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Vectra AI is 11.3%, up from 11.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Abdul  Basit - PeerSpot reviewer
Advanced features and robust support elevate overall network management experience
I think URL filtering could be better to some extent. Improvements could be made in Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB compared to Sophos. The URL filtering option in Palo Alto gives a very clear vision of the network and the applications using URL filtering. If you assign a user in a group not to access certain URLs, that user should only be allowed to access LinkedIn without running videos. However, deep URL filtering in Palo Alto is not configurable. One user can have access to LinkedIn with video running, while another cannot. They should improve this deep analysis of URL filtering options.
Mohammad Alkurdi - PeerSpot reviewer
Innovative detection features enhance monitoring
The advantages of the integration are not entirely out-of-the-box. You have to do it manually. When I'm doing tier response, an out-of-the-box solution is not available. You need to have a Linux server, and from the Linux server, you must perform AI tasks, and there is a lot to be handled in the back end. This is a major consideration about them. The recall feature, if it can be placed in some areas instead of the cloud, and charged for, would be better. Recall the storage where you watch all the traffic, and you can recall it and try to analyze it in the back end. It’s cloud-based. If they offer it on-prem, it would be better. I think they have a solution, but I have never tested it, to be honest with you.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Being able to manage blacklists and whitelists easily is very useful, especially for internal access and limiting outbound access."
"I do not have to use additional security solutions to block the URLs, as PAN-DB and URL filtering are both powerful tools when it comes to security."
"Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is easy to use, easy to operate, and easy to edit."
"I would rate Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB a perfect 10 out of 10."
"The tool blocks URLs."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The stability of the solution is perfect and totally useful."
"The URL categories are updated by Palo Alto Networks itself."
"The solution is currently used as a central threat detection and response system."
"It has reduced the time it takes to respond to attacks. That comes back to the proactive point. It makes us able to lower down in the kill chain, we can react now, rather than reacting to incidents that happened, we can see an instant, in some cases, as it's being implemented, or as it's being launched."
"It gives you access, with Recall, to instant visibility into your network through something like a SIEM solution. For us, being able to correlate all of this network data without having to manage it, has provided immediate value. It gives us the ability to really work on the stuff where I and my team have expertise, instead of having to manage a SIEM solution..."
"The key feature for me for Detect for Office 365 is that it can also concentrate all the information and detection at one point, the same as the network solution does. This is the key feature for me because, while accessing data from Office 365 is possible using Microsoft interfaces, they are not really user-friendly and are quite confusing to use. But Detect for Office 365 is aggregating all the info, and it's only the interesting stuff."
"I like the way that Vectra AI focuses on the internal network. Nowadays, most of the attackers are already inside, and they can be inside for many years before they start attacking. With normal monitoring, it's quite difficult to find them."
"What I like best about Vectra AI is that it alerts you about suspicious activities."
"The biggest feature for us, because we are heavy Microsoft users, is its integration with Office 365. On top of Vectra AI, we use all of the Microsoft security platforms, such as Defender ATP and Sentinel. Having full integration and a central platform to look at all of the threats that are coming through from the different platforms is a huge benefit for us."
"Cognito Streams gives you a detailed view of what happens in the network in the form of rich metadata. It is just a super easy way to capture network traffic for important protocols, giving us an advantage. This is very helpful on a day-to-day basis."
 

Cons

"Some software management-wise scalability features need improvement."
"I think Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is too costly compared to others."
"It is an expensive solution and not everyone has the budget for it."
"Customer service is sometimes inconsistent. Some engineers are very knowledgeable, while others cannot answer questions and delay solutions."
"An area for improvement would be the technical support, which can be slow."
"The solution is a bit expensive."
"For hosting sites like Blogspot, they host sites that should be in different categories, but get lumped together in general. There needs to be more granularity or multiple categorizations."
"The main limitation is that it needs a live Internet connection for ongoing updates."
"We had another product with Vectra AI and used the MDR solution as an add-on. Initially, it wasn't fully appropriately configured, so we didn't get the expected results. Even once configured correctly, we weren't fully satisfied with its response. The issue was both with their service response and the product's capabilities."
"There is room for improvement in the documentation. We would like to have more details on how it detects what we see."
"Neither Vectra nor Darktrace have a function like a status health check on my log sources and traffic sources."
"ExtraHop has better features that seem more advantageous when compared to Vectra."
"It would be commercially beneficial if Vectra AI had something like Darktrace's Antigena Email or something similar to email protection."
"I'd like to be able to get granular reports and to be able to output them into formats that are customizable and more useful. The reporting GUI is lacking."
"We are using SMB 3.0, which is an encrypted protocol. When we get some alerts or something, we cannot go deep into the protocol to see what's wrong because it's encrypted. We need to decrypt the protocol in another way, which is quite difficult. We might go back to SMB 2.0 just for this reason, but that's not a good solution."
"There could be an option where Vectra manages the solution remotely, and when there is an attack, there could be a notification center to give us information about the attack."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is more expensive than ASA but is far cheaper than Checkpoint. So, pricing wise, it is right in the middle."
"Expensive, but that's because it provides everything."
"From a licensing perspective, the Vectra detect platform is pretty doable. Also, the hardware prices are nothing that we're not used to. The stream part is a little overpriced compared to the detect part. The reason is that you need to stream data to detect events anyway, so the data is in there. The only thing that's not available is the UI to be able to look at the stream data, which is also on the appliances but is just not activated. That's mainly the thing that we want to improve on."
"It is an expensive solution, but it's not the most expensive we've seen. We also know how much we're going to pay, unlike with some other providers where all of a sudden our license explodes."
"It's relatively on the pricier side, but when compared to other solutions. It's not the most budget-friendly option, but it can be considered somewhat more cost-effective in comparison to other alternatives."
"At the time of purchase, we found the pricing acceptable. We had an urgency to get something in place because we had a minor breach that occurred at the tail end of 2016 to the beginning of 2017. This indicated we had a lack of ability to detect things on the network. Hence, why we moved quickly to get into the tool in place. We found things like Bitcoin mining and botnets which we closed quickly. In that regard, it was worth the money."
"Their licensing model is antiquated. I'm not a fan of their licensing model. We have to pay for licensing based on four different things. You have to pay based on the number of unique IPs, the number of logs that we send through Recall and Stream, and the size of our environment. They need to simplify their licensing down to just one thing. It should be based on the amount of data, the number of devices, or something else, but there should be just one thing for everything. That's what they need to base their licensing on. Cost-wise, they're not cheap. They were definitely the most expensive option, but you get what you pay for. They're not the cheapest option."
"The pricing is high."
"The pricing and licensing are quite straightforward because they're based on the IP licenses. As a result, they are easy to count."
"Vectra is a bit on the higher side in terms of price, but they have always been transparent. The reason that they are this good is that they invest, so they need to charge accordingly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB?
Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is a bit more expensive than other solutions we have analyzed, but it is valuable.
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB?
I am a fan of Palo Alto Networks and do not notice many negative aspects. However, Palo Alto should not be expected to behave exactly like Zscaler since they have other functionalities, like firewa...
What is your primary use case for Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB?
Today, we use our firewall for internet and for the consumption of our users. It's also used for internal networks and different communications between the cloud and on-premises.
What is the biggest difference between Corelight and Vectra AI?
The two platforms take a fundamentally different approach to NDR. Corelight is limited to use cases that require the eventual forwarding of events and parsed data logs to a security team’s SIEM or ...
What do you like most about Vectra AI?
The solution is currently used as a central threat detection and response system.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Vectra AI?
It is very acceptable when you compare it with Darktrace, for example.
 

Also Known As

Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering PAN-DB
Vectra Networks, Vectra AI NDR
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

TRI-AD, Telkom Indonesia
Tribune Media Group, Barry University, Aruba Networks, Good Technology, Riverbed, Santa Clara University, Securities Exchange, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB vs. Vectra AI and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
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