Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

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
79
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

"One member of staff is enough for deployment and maintenance because Darkforce is AI-driven. It does a lot of things by itself."
"Darktrace is very useful for us because it has a large number of models for detecting threats."
"Provides great network protection."
"The most valuable features of Darktrace are the tracing of unusual external emails and monitoring the local network."
"Darktrace's most valuable features are that it understands the network environment and is able to trace the traffic and alert on anomalies."
"Artificial intelligence and machine learning functionalities are valuable."
"The ability to see what we have not seen before is most valuable. It is very interesting to find out the most vulnerable devices in our network."
"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."
"The user interface is a bit more professional than some free products."
"The most valuable features are that it's user-friendly, has interesting features, URL filtering, and threat prevention."
"The stability of Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention is good."
"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Threat Prevention for our company is the next generation firewall."
"Edge protection is a valuable feature."
"Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention is the market leader as far as security gateways and endpoint protection. Additionally, the threat database that is used is one of the best."
"One of the most valuable features is the anti-malware protection."
"I find the malware protection very handy."
 

Cons

"The module can improve so that every time it's more intelligent."
"I'd love them to see maybe covering the cloud a bit more."
"The management dashboards and the meter dashboards should be more user-friendly and simple to use for easy management."
"The level of tracking within the network from the transmission level up to the machine level can use improvement."
"The cost is a bit on the higher side."
"Getting logs from different sources can be a challenge."
"Needs to improve its collaboration with local partners."
"Darkforce could be improved in the range of the interface; how to interact with the actions it's taking or not taking."
"In Africa, the technical support is probably not as good as in Europe and the USA because it's a specific premium support, partner-enabled premium support and all of that. But it's really good, I don't really have any complaints, it's fairly good. I'll give them 80%."
"The cost involves the price of the hardware, which is expensive. However, most of the Palo Alto solutions are expensive."
"The price of licenses should be lowered to make it less costly to scale our solution."
"Mission learning techniques should continue to expand and detect unknown threats on the fly."
"Generally, to deploy it will take some downtime, about a day."
"The initial setup is complex."
"I think they can use some improvement on FID."
"The organization mail security solutions could be improved. There is no mail security solution available."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of the solution can be reduced to make it more appealing to customers."
"It is a very expensive product."
"The pricing is subscription-based and it is high."
"The pricing is very flexible for Darktrace. Sometimes, a customer does not have the appropriate budget, but Darktrace can handle that. They offer monthly payments, so the customer can acquire the solution very easily."
"The price of the solution is not cheap. It is not a one-time purchase, there is a subscription that needs to be paid every one to five years depending on your choice. It is expensive but you can reduce the price by only using the services that you want."
"There is an annual license to use Darktrace."
"They are too expensive compared with other vendors."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"There is an initial, expensive investment but the return is good."
"The product’s pricing is expensive for small companies."
"The pricing has improved with the newer generation of their Firewalls, but the price could always be lower."
"If you want to have all of the good features then you have to pay extra for licensing."
"Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention could improve by having consistent pricing at system levels."
"The pricing and the licensing are pretty competitive at this stage. As a reseller, I would like to see the price come down a little bit so I can compete better against other firewalls because we do that all the time."
"It's not too expensive."
"The cost involves the price of the hardware, which is expensive. However, most of the Palo Alto solutions are expensive."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) solutions are best for your needs.
849,210 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
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.
849,210 professionals have used our research since 2012.