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Darktrace vs Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

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

Darktrace
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (9th), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (1st), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (1st), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (6th), AI-Powered Chatbots (2nd), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (15th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (12th), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (3rd), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (2nd)
Palo Alto Networks Advanced...
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Darktrace is 19.5%, up from 17.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is 7.4%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Peter-Murphy - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables proactive threat detection and immediate response through AI monitoring
The most valuable feature of Darktrace is its ability to detect and counter threats before they occur. The autonomous response capability is always enabled, blocking threats immediately without hesitation. Additionally, the Darktrace email platform is a significant asset since it addresses incoming threats before they reach the network, enhancing our security measures. Protecting the business is essential, and ensuring security through 24/7 AI monitoring is invaluable.
Carlos Bracamonte - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust, reliable, simple to install and good technical support
We are attempting to improve the use of URL filtering beyond threat protection. I'm not sure what the remaining threat protection features are off the top of my head. But beyond that, we use URL filtering. We have three approved cases for using external dynamic lists that are stored in a bucket repository. Then, for each URL site that needs to be whitelisted, we add it to the external dynamic list in order to gain access to this email. I would like Wildfire to be implemented. We use the equivalent in Cisco is the integration policies. We have the Wildfire but we are not currently implementing it. We don't have the license to use it, but we are not currently implementing it until we present the use cases that the company gives some value to and they approve the use of it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What I like about Darktrace, is that you can quickly identify threats."
"The most valuable feature is the solution's ability to trim out the false positives and point your attention to the real important stuff."
"The most valuable features of Darktrace are the tracing of unusual external emails and monitoring the local network."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is that it does not require human intervention to eliminate a threat."
"The most valuable feature is the alerts. The alerts are meaningful. The event rolls up into meaningful and actionable alerts rather than just being noise."
"AI analytics are built directly into the product."
"I have used multiple solutions, but its graphical user interface is quite interesting and quite descriptive. There are a lot of video animations, and we can easily see how the data is transferred between various points. That's something really interesting. It is also quite easy to understand for a new user."
"In terms of features, the data or information they collect and unsupervised machine learning are very valuable. Its unsupervised machine learning has reduced our team's effort. Both Darktrace and Vectra work on unsupervised machine learning that learns the behavior or develops a profile on its own, which allows our security team to do some other tasks rather than spending time on Darktrace or Vectra. Because of unsupervised machine learning, its detection capability is quite good. Along with that, if we utilize the integration feature properly, the automated incident response capability of Darktrace is quite useful."
"We are currently using the URL filtering feature, which is the most popular."
"You can scale the product."
"I like the solution's interface."
"It's very easy to use and configure. What is nice about Palo Alto is that even if you don't understand how to use it, you can just click on upload and upload everything that needs to be blocked."
"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Threat Prevention for our company is the next generation firewall."
"For those who want a next-gen firewall that's easy to configure and easy to operate, I think you should go for Palo Alto."
"The most valuable features are that it's user-friendly, has interesting features, URL filtering, and threat prevention."
"One of the most valuable features is the anti-malware protection."
 

Cons

"The interface is too mathematical and it should be simplified."
"There is a high ratio of false positive information."
"In the next version, I'd like to see penetration testing."
"I would like to see more protection in the endpoint. Especially because we have a lot of people using VPNs. If they would improve end point security, it would give more control there."
"This is quite an expensive product so the pricing is something that can be improved."
"The module can improve so that every time it's more intelligent."
"The pricing model is a little too high and could be more flexible."
"The Darktrace Mobile app needs improvement as it's currently limited in functionality, and the learning AI takes a while to adapt to new devices, flagging new users as threats for up to a month before recognizing them as regular network users."
"The installation was complicated."
"I think they can use some improvement on FID."
"The cost involves the price of the hardware, which is expensive. However, most of the Palo Alto solutions are expensive."
"Mission learning techniques should continue to expand and detect unknown threats on the fly."
"Sometimes when you want to group a set of ports, and communicate with Palo Alto, you cannot group TCP and UDP ports together. This needs to be adjusted."
"Generally, to deploy it will take some downtime, about a day."
"The solution needs to improve its local technical support services. There is no premium support offered in our market."
"We are attempting to improve the use of URL filtering beyond threat protection."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I'm unfamiliar with the exact cost, but we have a yearly license and had to pay for Darktrace's services before the deployment. The product is very expensive, so some organizations can't afford to pay the total amount directly, meaning they often seek a partner or pay in installments, which increases the price more."
"Our customers feel that the price of Darktrace is quite high compared to other solutions."
"It's an expensive solution."
"In the ballpark, we're talking about $30K, $50K, and up. It can even be as much as $50K or $100K."
"They are too expensive compared with other vendors."
"The price of Darktrace is high and could be reduced. We pay approximately $30,000 to $54,000 annually."
"It is inexpensive considering what it can do and the competition."
"Darktrace is expensive. You can pay for the license yearly."
"If you want to have all of the good features then you have to pay extra for licensing."
"The pricing could be lower."
"From one to ten, with one being the most expensive, I would rate the pricing of Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention a one out of ten. It is my understanding that Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention is the most expensive one."
"The price of the solution is higher than others on the market. A price reduction would be beneficial if it does not impact their database quality."
"The product’s pricing is expensive for small companies."
"Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention could improve by having consistent pricing at system levels."
"The cost involves the price of the hardware, which is expensive. However, most of the Palo Alto solutions are expensive."
"It's not too expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Crowdstrike Falcon compare with Darktrace?
Both of these products perform similarly and have many outstanding attributes. CrowdStrike Falcon offers an amazing user interface that makes setup easy and seamless. CrowdStrike Falcon offers a cl...
Which is better - SentinelOne or Darktrace?
Which solution is better depends on which is more suitable specifically for your company. Darktrace, for example, is meant for smaller to medium-sized businesses. It is also a good option for organ...
What do you like most about Darktrace?
A very useful feature in Darktrace for real-time threat analysis is the packet inspection that analyzes the packet traffic in real time.
Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?
Arbor would be the best bid, apart from Arbor, Palo Alto and Fortinet have good solutions. As this is an ISP, I would prefer Arbor.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention?
The pricing is competitive, and with current campaigns and discounts, it provides an excellent device for a reasonable price.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Irwin Mitchell, Open Energi, Wellcome Trust, FirstGroup plc, Virgin Trains, Drax, QUI! Group, DNK, CreaCard, Macrosynergy, Sisley, William Hill plc, Toyota Canada, Royal British Legion, Vitol, Allianz, KKR, AIRBUS, dpd, Billabong, Mclaren Group.
University of Arkansas, JBG SMITH, SkiStar AB, TRI-AD, Temple University, Telkom Indonesia
Find out what your peers are saying about Darktrace vs. Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
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