Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) vs Microsoft Defender XDR comparison

Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) vs. Microsoft Defender XDR

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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 March 2026, in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category, the mindshare of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is 3.4%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is 1.5%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 2.6%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks	3.4%
Microsoft Defender XDR	2.6%
Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)	1.5%
Other	92.5%

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

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.

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reviewer2406663

Director at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

Effective risk response, easy deployment, and enhanced security

They use Datto EDR as part of the solutions that we supply Datto EDR has helped reduce overall security incident costs by fifteen percent. The ease of deployment has been good, and the responsiveness of the application to risks has been quite effective. The inclusion of web filtering would be…

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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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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cortex XDR's most valuable feature is its intelligence-based dashboards."

"If any application performs suspicious activities, such as changing registries or modifying other applications, Cortex XDR detects and blocks the entire application."

"Palo Alto is the best security solution in the market."

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

"Based on my experience, I would recommend Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks to other people."

"The solution doesn't need a high level of technical training."

"The most valuable features of this product are the management capabilities, which allow an IT organization to get quite a good picture of attempted cyber attacks, and its out-of-the-box investigation capabilities."

"We think that this product will help us grow, as it meets our needs currently and we can grow with it over time."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks pros

"The insight that the solution provides is the most valuable aspect. The security scanning they do is excellent."

"Datto Endpoint Detection and Response is a perfect product for endpoint security."

"The most valuable feature of Datto EDR is the visibility of the endpoints."

"The ease of deployment has been good."

"The insight that the solution provides is the most valuable aspect."

"The feature of Microsoft Defender XDR that I preferred the most traditionally was its focus on endpoint protection, but now identity is right up there with endpoint security. Identity is important because different compromises start at the identity level. This allows us to understand what actions are being taken, who is doing them, and whether it is actually them."

"Microsoft Defender XDR is a complete package of different Defender solutions, including Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Office 365, Defender for Cloud, and Sentinel SIEM, among others."

"The summarization of emails is a valuable feature."

"Overall, the comprehensiveness of the threat protection is at 95 percent."

"Defender XDR has a feature called the timeline that lets you track all activities. It helps a lot with investigations."

"I like how Microsoft XDR and the other Microsoft products are integrated into a single unified security stack covering identity access management, endpoint protection, email, cloud applications, etc."

"The Endpoint Manager is incredible; it has a very straightforward interface and is exceedingly easy to use. Pulling out and deploying different tags or resources is a simple task across various departments with different levels of security. The notifications are also simple and satisfying; it's great to see the bubble informing us which devices are compliant and which are waiting to update."

"The EDR features are valuable. By getting the EDR features, we have more control over the device. We have information about events in real-time and more protection against zero-day threats and zero-day vulnerabilities. We can monitor every event or action that a device is going through. We can get an idea if it is something malicious or if we have to take any actions."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pros

Cons

"I recommend adding a data loss prevention (DLP) solution to Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks. The inclusion of this feature would allow the application of DLP policies alongside antivirus policies via a single agent and console, making it more competitive as other OEMs often offer DLP solutions as part of their antivirus products."

"In an upcoming release, the solution could improve by proving hard disk encryption. If it could support this it would be a complete solution."

"They have the worst support, as a company, that I have ever worked with, as they are difficult to get a hold of and keep on the phone. They don't know what they are talking about when you get them on the phone. They don't like to respond to messages when you send them to them. They like to "research problems" for weeks on end, then pass you off to somebody else."

"Data privacy is a matter of concern. You have to be careful with data privacy, it can be sensitive and Cortex can have most of your access."

"In terms of areas of improvement, we have not completed our review of the product. We're also looking at other products. So, it's a little bit hard to tell what could be different because we have not completed the review of this product, but based on our experience so far, its implementation is quite complex."

"Although I would say this product is highly-rated, it could probably do more because nothing does everything that you want."

"It's not an ideal choice for smaller businesses, as you need a minimum of 200 endpoints to even use the solution at all."

"It would be good if they could make an exception for applications. Sometimes, it can be a bit of a challenge to make exceptions for certain applications that have been used as rogue."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks cons

"The deployment of the solution right now is terrible. We find it to be very bad. It could be improved enormously."

"The solution should allow the automation of playbooks."

"The solution could improve by having more deployment methods."

"The inclusion of web filtering would be good."

"The deployment of the solution right now is terrible. We find it to be very bad."

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

"The data recovery and backup could be improved."

"Support is hit or miss. Microsoft wants you to buy premium support contracts. Though they call themselves professional support, it's almost like throwing questions into a black hole. You get an answer, but it's never helpful."

"There should be better information for experts on features in the solution. What I see when reading about features in Microsoft 365 Defender is that it is always general information."

"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."

"When integrating Defender for Cloud Apps with apps on third-party cloud platforms like AWS or GCP, there are limitations on our ability to control user activities."

"The licensing is a nightmare and has room for improvement."

"Microsoft support is not very good. You get stuck in low-level support for way longer than you should, instead of them escalating the issue up the chain."

More Microsoft Defender XDR cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is an expensive solution."

"The price is on the higher side, but it's okay."

"The return on investment is from the user side because we have seen the performance of it increase the delivery time of the product if we are using too many web-based and on-premise applications. In indirect ways, we saw the return of investment in terms of performance and user satisfaction increase."

"I feel it is fairly priced."

"Traps pays for itself within the first 16 months of a three-year subscription. This is attributed to OPEX savings, as security teams spent less time trying to identify and isolate malware for analysis as a result of a reduction in malware incidents, false positives, and breach avoidance."

"This is an expensive solution."

"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."

"It is present, but when compared to other competitive products, I would say it is not less expensive; however, when all of the other added values are considered, the price is reasonable."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks pricing and cost advice

"Datto Endpoint Detection and Response is not an expensive solution."

"There is an annual license to use this solution. The price of the solution can be expensive depending on the company."

"The solution is affordable, and we haven't been hit with any hidden costs. The subscription model is straightforward, and it's easy to understand how much additional features cost. If we need to cancel a license or feature, we do that well in advance to avoid being charged for it, but overall, the pricing and licensing are simple and easy."

"Microsoft is not competitive with the pricing of the solution. The competitors are able to offer lower discounts. The price of the solution is higher."

"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 price of the solution is high compared to others and we have lost some customers because of it."

"365 Defender can get expensive because you pay per gigabyte of data ingested. On the other hand, much of the data available in the other Microsoft security solutions are made available relatively cheaply—sometimes at cost or for free. Integrating only a limited set of third-party solutions with Sentinel would be cost-effective. It's much more affordable if companies only have Microsoft stuff."

"There are no issues with pricing, but sometimes, the clarity in licensing is a concern."

"It can be complex to navigate since customers have varying licensing agreements across Microsoft. If they go straightforward with E5 for all users, it's simple, but combinations based on budget constraints can complicate things."

"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."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions are best for your needs.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

12%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	44
Midsize Enterprise	20
Large Enterprise	47

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	46
Midsize Enterprise	26
Large Enterprise	39

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 Infocyte HUNT?

The price is quite low. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate it a four, meaning it is quite cheap.

What needs improvement with Infocyte HUNT?

The inclusion of web filtering would be good.

What is your primary use case for Infocyte HUNT?

They use Datto EDR as part of the solutions that we supply.

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...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft 365 Defender?

My experience with pricing, setup, costs, and licensing of Microsoft Defender XDR is tied to our E5 subscription, whi...

What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?

I am not aware of a mobile app that would be available for my team. With a single analyst, if she is ever away, it wo...

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Comparisons

Compared 9% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Complete vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 6% 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

SentinelOne Singularity Complete vs Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Compared 16% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Compared 9% of the time

Intercept X Endpoint vs Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Compared 7% of the time

Bitdefender GravityZone EDR vs Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Compared 6% of the time

More Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Competitors

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 11% of the time

Wazuh vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 5% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Complete 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

Product Reports

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Download Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks product report

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Download Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) product report

Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) report

Microsoft Defender XDR

Download Microsoft Defender XDR product report

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps

Infocyte HUNT

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender

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

With Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) you can detect and respond to advanced threats. Datto EDR is an easy to use cloud based EDR solution that's designed for Managed Service Providers (MSPs).

datto

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

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank

Check Point Software, PwC, Grant Thornton, AT&T, DHL, U.S. Department of Defense

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

Datto Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) vs. Microsoft Defender XDR