We performed a comparison between Palo Alto Networks Cortez XSOAR and Splunk Phantom based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Both solutions come across as reliable and powerful products. Cortex does slightly better in the Pricing category, however.
"The native integration of the Microsoft security solution has been essential because it helps reduce some false positives, especially with some of the impossible travel rules that may be configured in Microsoft 365. For some organizations, that might be benign because they're using VPNs, etc."
"Mainly, this is a cloud-native product. So, there are zero concerns about managing the whole infrastructure on-premises."
"It has basic out-of-the-box integrations with multiple log sources."
"The analytic rule is the most valuable feature."
"The UI-based analytics are excellent."
"The log query feature has been the most valuable because it's very good. You can put your data on the cloud and run queues from Sentinel. It will do it all very fast. I love that I don't have to upload it to an Excel file and then manually look for a piece of information. Sentinel is much faster and is good for big databases."
"The standout feature of Sentinel is that, because it's cloud-based and because it's from Microsoft, it integrates really well with all the other Microsoft products. It's really simple to set up and get going."
"One of the most valuable features is that it creates a kind of a single pane of glass for organizations that already use Microsoft software. So, when they have things like Microsoft 365, it is very easy for them to kind of plug in or enroll those endpoints into the Azure Sentinel service."
"The most valuable feature is its capability to automate responses and collect information for any security event before you even delve into the details. It's a vast product with an active roadmap, so I'm satisfied with it for now. It's very efficient at data collection and correlation."
"For organizations that are stable with their security operations, like those with around 50 members in their security team running full-phased operations 24/7, Cortex is necessary."
"The automation is excellent."
"Palo Alto has gotten the investigators more presence to actually go in the report because being that the platform will email the investigator that it's been assigned to, now the investigators will jump in there and start going through the review process a lot quicker."
"Its agility and scalability are valuable."
"The most valuable features of Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR are the remote controller from the workstation that can execute commands and isolate the systems outside of the network. Only the system with an internet connection can execute the task because the main console is in the cloud."
"They have a portal where you can find any kind of integration that you need."
"The product can automate security tasks."
"It helps increase efficiency and productivity."
"So far, the interface is very easy to use."
"Splunk SOAR's quick response to incidents is the most valuable part."
"Before its use, analyzing each email would take at least 15 to 20 minutes, with some complex cases taking up to 30 minutes...With the automation provided by Splunk Phantom, we could significantly reduce the amount of time and human effort required to complete this task."
"The solution’s dashboard is really good and customizable. It also has a good UI."
"Scalability is the best feature of the solution."
"I like the way Splunk interacts with various systems via the API. The ability to integrate Splunk with our ticketing system has been an immense help because we can maintain our workflow while blending Splunk with our support desk and other ways that we track work."
"The most valuable features of Splunk SOAR are the easy integration with other solutions, including other Splunk solutions. The most important playbooks we need on the market come already on the Frontend. However, nowadays, Splunk changed its name, it's not Frontend anymore, it's Splunk Store. This is a very strong point."
"There is some relatively advanced knowledge that you have to have to properly leverage Sentinel's full capabilities. I'm thinking about things like the creation of workbooks, how you do threat-hunting, and the kinds of notifications you're getting... It takes time for people to ramp up on that and develop a familiarity or expertise with it."
"We'd like to see more connectors."
"While I appreciate the UI itself and the vast amount of information available on the platform, I'm finding the overall user experience to be frustrating due to frequent disconnections and the requirement to repeatedly re-authenticate."
"Sentinel can be used in two ways. With other tools like QRadar, I don't need to run queries. Using Sentinel requires users to learn KQL to run technical queries and check things. If they don't know KQL, they can't fully utilize the solution."
"It has been a challenge with Azure Sentinel to onboard the Syslog server from FortiGate. Azure Sentinel can work better on that shift between the Syslog server and a firewall."
"Microsoft should improve Sentinel, considering that from the legacy systems, it cannot collect logs."
"The performance could be improved. If I create 15 to 20 lines for a single-use case in KQL, sometimes it takes more time to execute. If I create use cases within a certain timeline, the result will show in .01 seconds. A complex query takes more time to get results."
"We do see continuous improvement all the time, however, I haven't got a specific feature that is lacking or not well designed."
"Palo Alto needs to develop more AI-centric products."
"Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR lacks to offer SIEM functionalities currently."
"It doesn't offer automatic internet reports out of the box."
"The configuration of the solution could improve it is difficult."
"When Palo Alto bought the solution, the pricing increased by 1.5 times. There's been a 50% increase, which is a lot."
"The solution requires DV but does not support open-source DV elastic searches."
"I would love to see more flexibility on what we can display and design on the dashboards."
"The solution is complicated to learn."
"I haven't used it fully, but based on my usage, I could not find simulation tools and features. It currently lacks simulation features, which are important for me for creating a playbook. It is also very expensive for my region."
"The technical support for the Splunk SIEM solution was average."
"The Splunk SOAR platform was not designed specifically for case management which is why this area needs improvement."
"Splunk SOAR can improve IoT/OT security-related case studies or your use cases. Their integration with identity and access management (IAM) solutions is a bit shaky. They don't have good integration with a lot of IAM solutions. They do have good capability in terms of user access management internally, but even with privileged user access, they have a good module. However, if they have to integrate with solutions, such as CyberArk or IBM IAM solutions they are lacking, the visibility of user access is not that much."
"We've had trouble implementing the solution with Microsoft products. There seems to be an integration gap."
"It would be ideal if we could automate processes even more."
"Creating playbooks using the solution’s playbook editor, for me, is very cumbersome. There have been instances where I have said to myself that I just don't want to use this editor. I might just use a code block and write my own code within it... The functionality in the playbook editor is 80 percent there, but that 20 percent is still lacking. They could make it more efficient."
"Suppose I am initially granted user rights or analyst rights, but later on, I also get admin rights. SOAR is unable to amend the limitations of my role. I raised a support ticket with Splunk about this. They said it's a bug in their 5.3.5 version. To fix this, I had to reinstall the entire platform from scratch.."
More Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR Pricing and Cost Advice →
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is ranked 2nd in Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) with 42 reviews while Splunk SOAR is ranked 3rd in Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) with 30 reviews. Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is rated 8.4, while Splunk SOAR is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR writes "Enables the investigators to go through the review process a lot quicker". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Splunk SOAR writes "Takes most of the work away, but the time they take to implement new features is a little bit of concern". Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is most compared with Cortex XSIAM, Fortinet FortiSOAR, Swimlane, IBM Resilient and ServiceNow Security Operations, whereas Splunk SOAR is most compared with Cortex XSIAM, ServiceNow Security Operations, Torq, Tines and Cisco SecureX. See our Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR vs. Splunk SOAR report.
See our list of best Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) vendors.
We monitor all Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.
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