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Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
8.0
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence offers major ROI by saving 62% on budgets and providing comprehensive threat protection and business value.
Sentiment score
7.1
Users experienced 60%-70% ROI with Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, praising security improvements, time savings, and efficient deployment.
Customers can see data within a week, indicating a quick return on investment.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Defender support experiences vary; community platforms help, technical support is inconsistent, with level two proving effective.
Sentiment score
7.6
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series customer service is praised for responsiveness but faces occasional delays and complexity issues.
Level two support is knowledgeable and knows how the product works, which is very good.
The support quality could be improved.
Resolving issues promptly.
It is very hard to reach, and the process can be lengthy and frustrating because support involves several layers.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is highly scalable, serving diverse businesses effectively, though costs may rise with increased users.
Sentiment score
7.5
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is praised for scalability and integration but faces licensing and configuration challenges.
If there were some customizations available, I would rate its scalability as nine out of ten.
They are easy to upgrade, and with credit licensing, they scale effectively according to demand.
If I were to rate it on a scale, it would receive nine out of ten, and with two-factor authentication, it would be ten.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence offers high reliability and performance, with occasional regional outages, comparable to Office 365 stability.
Sentiment score
8.3
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is reliable and stable with minor bugs, managing 100 devices but less performant than physical appliances.
It provides a high level of security and avoids phishing and scam emails.
Hardware is generally very stable.
I have not experienced any major problems or downtime.
 

Room For Improvement

Improving pricing, integration, stability, and support could enhance Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence's market accessibility and effectiveness.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series needs improved interfaces, integration, cost-effectiveness, scalability, and support, with added features like AI threat management.
Providing code customization would help keep pace with new vulnerabilities and threats.
Most customers go for partner-enabled support, which involves multiple layers, leading to delays.
When managing the firewall, it involves a Strata Cloud web browser that requires improvement to enhance deployment ease and call center efficiency.
It may be beneficial if the firewall can monitor all internal elements like VMs pulling from HP servers.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence offers cost-effective bundling with E5 licenses, beneficial for enterprises but challenging for SMEs preferring E3.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series provides strong security but is costlier than rivals, with a complex licensing system.
The cost involves purchasing through a vendor, which might mark up due to the supply chain.
Pricing for Palo Alto Networks is higher than other OEMs, but considering the robustness and features, it gains customer trust.
Palo Alto is expensive in terms of pricing, particularly when comparing features to cost.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence offers advanced detection, seamless integration, robust security, proactive monitoring, and effective zero-day vulnerability management.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series offers advanced threat management, intuitive UI, and scalable security for cloud environments with no latency issues.
One of the best features is that it provides a certain level of customization, allowing us to set our spam confidence levels.
We use these tools to prevent all known and unknown threats using Palo Alto Networks' Wildfire and other data filtering tools to gather information, analyze traffic, manage malicious traffic, and offer visibility, control, and attack prevention.
Palo Alto's robust threat intelligence supports new updates, and I can open cases directly with their Threat Intelligence team.
Palo Alto Networks helps me visualize and manage network traffic effectively, blocking risky files and enhancing network security.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender Threat I...
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Threat Intelligence Platforms (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (18th)
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is 1.6%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is 2.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

Nim Nadarajah - PeerSpot reviewer
A native Microsoft solution the provides great ROI and continuously improves its offering
We have Microsoft bias. We generally don't have any significant negative feedback or improvement points around Defender, EDR and CMDR platforms. It does a good job across the board. The price point is something they can improve slightly for those who don't have an M 365 E5. I believe it's a $2.80 cents add-on. In Canadian, that's expensive. If they can drop it to a dollar, for those who don't have M 365 E5, they're going to open up market share and increase affordability for an entire market segment in the medium business category. Other than that, we have no major negative feedback.
AshwaniTyagi - PeerSpot reviewer
Advanced protection and good integration capabilities with good reliability
We use Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to offer services to our customers as a managed security service provider. We provide solutions and services to our customers across the globe. For example, if I want to host a firewall in the cloud or somewhere where the physical appliance is not a possibility…
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Educational Organization
11%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
It just runs in the background. I don't have to worry about, making sure it's Intelligence. So, you know, this kind of makes it very easy, have to worry about installing. It is easy to use.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
Some of the customization features could be improved by providing a portion of it as open source. This would allow integration with other solutions, enhancing Threat Intelligence. Providing code cu...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
We are using Microsoft Defender ATP specifically as an email security solution, as well as for our critical servers as a web security solution. We have almost eleven hundred users utilizing it for ...
Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls
In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it kind of depends what you value most. PA is good at app control, web filtering a...
How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?
Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the overall cost is reasonable. Azure Firewall offers a solid threat awareness, can...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Warren Rogers Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence vs. Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.