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Chandra Mohan - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Security Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
MSP
Top 10
Jul 18, 2024
Ability to mitigate ransomware issues and includes advanced threat analytics and behavioral analytics
Pros and Cons
  • "If any application performs suspicious activities, such as changing registries or modifying other applications, Cortex XDR detects and blocks the entire application."
  • "Product might have some bugs."

What is our primary use case?

Cortex XDR mainly focuses on endpoint protection. Unlike other antivirus products, it is way more advanced. It allows you to manage your endpoints and includes advanced threat analytics and behavioral analytics. For example, it offers a behavioral analysis, the main purpose of which is to identify suspicious activity.

If any application performs suspicious activities, such as changing registries or modifying other applications, Cortex XDR detects and blocks the entire application. This ensures that unauthorized actions are prevented.

Another feature of Cortex XDR is its ability to mitigate ransomware issues. It creates duplicate files on the endpoint, and if any ransomware attempts to access these files, it detects and identifies the ransomware attack. Cortex XDR offers many such advanced features in its cloud platform.

How has it helped my organization?

 

What needs improvement?

Product might have some bugs. But these will be fixed in the next version. They'll try to work on that and fix those issues. They won't let it go easily.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been implementing and supporting this product for one year.

Buyer's Guide
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks
January 2026
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The end users are around thousands.

How are customer service and support?

I am from the support team. I fix things. If customers have any issues with the product, they call me. That's the role of my job. I am from the partner side.

How was the initial setup?

The deployment and setup process is handled by a different team. So I have never deployed Cortex, but I know the steps. It is not easy, but at the same time, it is not very complicated.

It's cloud-based. You don't have to set up a server; it's all on the cloud. You have to set up your tenant on their dedicated server once you subscribe to the product.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Price-wise, Cortex XDR is quite expensive compared to regular endpoints. It is a bit more expensive than other products, but it's worth the money.

What other advice do I have?

Cortex is a good product. But like every other product, it has some flaws. Not every product is ideal. Every product has its flaws. So when compared with other products, Cortex is one of the good products. I would suggest you take the product because it is really one of the good products, but it has some flaws.

So, I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. customer/partner
PeerSpot user
EhabAli - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Dec 13, 2022
It provides a whole new level of visibility and integrates with most other vendors
Pros and Cons
  • "Cortex covers everything I need. It's a perfect solution. Cortex provides a different level of visibility because it's an extended EDR, allowing you to grab logs from the network and firewalls. Palo Alto invented the concept of the extended EDR or XDR."
  • "The price could be a little lower."

What is most valuable?

Cortex covers everything I need. It's a perfect solution. Cortex provides a different level of visibility because it's an extended EDR, allowing you to grab logs from the network and firewalls. Palo Alto invented the concept of the extended EDR or XDR.

What needs improvement?

The price could be a little lower. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cortex for four years.

How are customer service and support?

Palo Alto provides on-the-ground and remote support. They have a local team on the ground and teams in India or other countries. Their support is excellent, and they know what they're doing. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Some of my customers have McAfee, Symantec, or Kaspersky. Palo Alto can integrate with other vendors, so it's not locked to one single vendor. Other vendors like Trend Micro, Bitdefender, CrowdStrike, etc. have limitations on log collection from other places. On Palo Alto's datasheet, it tells you that it can talk to Check Point, Fortinet, etc. It's pretty awesome. I believe this is a huge advantage that allows us to implement Cortex anywhere. 

How was the initial setup?

I rate Cortex XDR 10 out of 10 for ease of setup. It can be deployed on-prem or on the cloud. It's an easy process that doesn't take long. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Cortex XDR 10 out of 10. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner/Implementer
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks
January 2026
Learn what your peers think about Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
879,455 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1389378 - PeerSpot reviewer
Divisional Operations Director at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
MSP
Aug 19, 2022
Allows us to create queries for investigation, provides good visibility, and has been able to see every single threat
Pros and Cons
  • "The live terminal is probably the best thing ever. It gives you the access to get straight onto any machine."
  • "It tends to do 99.9% of things. The only thing I'd like is single sign-on authentication into their cloud platform so that my users can be properly authenticated against it."

What is our primary use case?

Officially, I'm an MSP, but I also host it for our own internal software. I've got XDR installed on 26,000 devices. It is used for threat prevention, policy enforcement, firewall rules, and DLP. We use it for pretty much everything. Our firewalls also integrate with XDR.

We use XDR Pro. It is in the cloud, and we have got version 7 at the moment, which is probably the latest update of it.

How has it helped my organization?

The key thing is the visibility of what's going on in our networks and on our end devices. It gives us visibility.

It provides the ability to query. I can query for any file or any IOC on any of the devices installed, and it will search for a data link.

What is most valuable?

The live terminal is probably the best thing ever. It gives you the access to get straight onto any machine. 

In general, it has been able to see every single threat that has ever come up and it helps us stop it. 

I've used it for a great many years now, and it worked really well. From the Palo Alto side, whatever they buy, they integrate that really well into their integration suite, and that makes a massive difference.

What needs improvement?

The onboarding process could be better. 

It tends to do 99.9% of things. The only thing I'd like is single sign-on authentication into their cloud platform so that my users can be properly authenticated against it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Its stability is very good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Its scalability is very good. It is on my servers as well as my end users. I've got five and a half thousand end-users plugged in, and they're all on, and then I have 26,000 servers on it as well.

How are customer service and support?

I would rate them a 9 out of 10. The only reason why they lose a point is that if I escalate, it gets done really quickly. I've got all the various contacts I could ever need inside Palo Alto, but some of my other colleagues don't have that same level of contact. So, if I'm doing it, it is rapid, but if they're doing it, it is slower.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've worked with Carbon Black, which Cortex XDR beats hands down. The reason it beats it hands down is because of the ability to query. I couldn't do that with Carbon Black. For me, that was a genuine issue with Carbon Black. That was one of the main reasons why we've literally moved 22,000 devices off Carbon Black into Cortex XDR.

We also use Sophos, McAfee, and BitDefender. As a group, we buy multiple companies a year. So, we come across most of them.

If it is my own device, I would love to have Cortex, but I can't buy one license. I have to buy a minimum of 250 licenses. So, I normally go for something like BitDefender because it has the least amount of bloatware.

How was the initial setup?

It is straightforward. It is pretty much out of the box. It works how you want it to work. So, you can't really ask for more.

It is also easy to maintain.

What about the implementation team?

It was implemented in-house.

What was our ROI?

In the company I'm in, we make software. On that basis, we've gone for what we need to make sure our software and all of our customer data are secure. That drives us more than the ROI. It may sound a little weird, but it is the way we run because, for us, the ROI is almost pointless if we lose all our data.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I have the full Pro Prevent license. So, I've got post analytics, forensics, and the whole lot of it.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to others who would like to start working with Cortex is to not dip your toe in the water. Go big or go home. If you integrate everything in, you'll get fantastic results. You shouldn't do some bits here and there. You need to use their ecosystem as a whole. If you're in their entire ecosystem, the results are amazing.

I would rate it a 10 out of 10.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Kelvin Choy - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Specialist at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Jun 23, 2022
Good pricing and an easy initial setup but needs better internal attack detection
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup isn't too bad."
  • "If they had pulse rate detection, it would be better."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for security.

What is most valuable?

We're trying to explore Cortex's possibly to detect digital forensics and the source of the issues. 

The initial setup isn't too bad.

What needs improvement?

I have run into some detection issues with Cortex XDR. 

If they had pulse rate detection, it would be better.

The whole state IPS should be better. 

It needs to be better at detection of internal attacks. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We started using the solution since about 2019 or 2020. It's been around two or three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is pretty good except for one or two cases. Based on the performance, it's been okay. It's got pretty high performance. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have around 4,500 users on the solution currently. It usually handles around 1,400 people. We have these devices across many departments. 

The solution has the capability to scale. A company can expand it as necessary.

How are customer service and support?

I've contacted technical support one or two times and found that their support is very fast to respond. They are helpful in each case. We are very satisfied with their level of service.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used to use Symantec. We have since stopped.

Symantec can easily be put on a USB device, and then they can check it all to scan within the computer. However, we tried to submit a case for a feature enhancement, and, after two or three years, they still do not have this feature enabled and available. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup isn't overly difficult on the cloud. We do not wish to have endpoint clients plow into our internal environment. The deployment shouldn't take up too much manpower. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is pretty good. It's reasonable. I'd rate it four out of five. Of course, it could always be a bit lower. 

What other advice do I have?

I'm a customer and end-user. 

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Mirko Minuzzo - PeerSpot reviewer
Business development manager for Palo Alto Networks at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Dec 5, 2023
Has a simple setup process and efficient stability
Pros and Cons
  • "The product's most valuable features are massive user and feature intelligence exploit detection."
  • "It is an enterprise-level solution. Its price could be less expensive."

What is our primary use case?

We use the product as a detection and response application.

What is most valuable?

The product's most valuable features are massive user and feature intelligence exploit detection. It is very useful in detecting threats to databases. The last meter statistics prove the efficient capabilities of the solution.

What needs improvement?

It is an enterprise-level solution. Its price could be less expensive.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks for three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is 100% stable. I have never received any complaints from the customers.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is easily scalable as it is a cloud-based product.

How are customer service and support?

We provide support services for our customers. Palo Alto's support services are expensive, and customers also encounter language barriers.

How was the initial setup?

The initial process is simple. It requires training of about three to four days to understand the installation process. It is deployed on the cloud. The number of software engineers required depends on the number of the endpoints.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We pay in advance for the product's license. It has reasonable pricing for the use cases it provides to the company. We can split this payment monthly, quarterly, or yearly, according to the customer's requirements. For a cost-benefit analysis when choosing a security solution, consider factors such as the number of attacks prevented, the impact of those attacks, potential losses, and other hidden costs.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks for ten out of ten. It could be improved from a commercial perspective. It could approach the SMB market as well.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
PeerSpot user
Disha Shah - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Associate at a reseller with 1-10 employees
Real User
Feb 24, 2023
Great threat detection capabilities and good internal threat intelligence
Pros and Cons
  • "Has great threat detection capabilities."
  • "The encryption is not up to the mark."

What is our primary use case?

This solution is a next-generation antivirus with more advanced capability and security. We have a partnership with Palo Alto.

What is most valuable?

Cortex XDR is very easy to deploy and has great threat detection capabilities and good internal threat intelligence.

It uses advanced AI analytics, behavior analytics, and custom-made detection to detect advanced threats before they occur.

If a customer says it's expensive- let's say I will say no it is not. Other values are added then it is more reasonable having strong features.

With a click, I can access the system and isolate it from other networks, and then go into a further forensic investigation of the current threat without compromising anything else.

Its stitches with external logs are perfect and enhanced.

What needs improvement?

1. Disk Encryption capability.

2. User group-wise admin role. They have module-wise roles but a user group-wise role is not available.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been supplying this solution to customers for two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have found this solution as NG AV is most stable compare with other solution

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is perfect.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very easy.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented the solution with a vendor team, HTH Global Network. Their expertise is an eight out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend this solution, it works well and I rate it a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
MartinPulpan - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner and Executive Director at a security firm with 1-10 employees
Real User
Jan 31, 2023
Good features, strong protection, and very scalable and stable
Pros and Cons
  • "Cortex XDR is a very capable solution for protecting large networks and a lot of endpoints. It's very useful because the automation is very high, and if you combine it with the features on Palo Alto firewalls, it provides very strong protection."
  • "It's more focused on network communication. If a customer wants to increase the level of protection and start working with documents, it's impossible to integrate these features into the system. It's more of a communication-oriented system than a content security-oriented system."

What is our primary use case?

It's mainly for protection against malware. We work very closely with a major partner of Palo Alto in the Czech Republic, and we have experience with the whole XDR solution. It's very useful for us and a very capable solution.

How has it helped my organization?

Clients have a big problem with phishing campaigns and phishing attacks. Cortex XDR provides some level of protection against malware spreading in the network with a wrong click of users.

What is most valuable?

Cortex XDR is a very capable solution for protecting large networks and a lot of endpoints. It's very useful because the automation is very high, and if you combine it with the features on Palo Alto firewalls, it provides very strong protection.

What needs improvement?

Its price is too high. That's a big problem for customers.

It's more focused on network communication. If a customer wants to increase the level of protection and start working with documents, it's impossible to integrate these features into the system. It's more of a communication-oriented system than a content security-oriented system.

In terms of additional features, there is very strong development. I have seen the roadmap, and we will see what happens. The roadmap looks nice, but it's still more of a network security solution than a content-security solution. The development in network security is quite strong. I'm very happy with that, but if a customer would like to implement a zero-trust security concept, it's necessary to combine this solution with other vendors. There is some part of the integration that is not so easy because you have to integrate rules and some features. It's not so automatic in network communication. You have to make some appropriate automation there, or you have to do it manually. It's time-consuming and it's also expensive.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it from the beginning. It has been more than six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a very stable solution. I would rate it a nine out of ten in terms of stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's a very scalable solution. If you compare it with a SIEM solution from Palo Alto, it's very powerful. I would rate it a nine out of ten in terms of scalability. It's definitely for enterprises.

How are customer service and support?

Their technical support is not bad, but sometimes, when we have some issues, the support teams from Europe or Central Europe are not able to help us. We have to escalate the issue somewhere else, such as to the US. They have a very strong support team there, but it's time-consuming. Sometimes, it takes them days or weeks to solve some tricky problems, but their support for standard issues is okay. There is a very good response, but for a technical issue, it's sometimes more difficult. I would rate their support a seven out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I also worked a little bit with SentinelOne. Cortex XDR is very similar to the SentinelOne solution from the features point of view. It's a little bit different technology, but both solutions are very capable.

How was the initial setup?

It's somewhere in the middle. It's not for beginners, but if you know what to do, it's quite easy.

It's a cloud-based solution, which sometimes is an issue for customers. In the past, it was on-prem, but Palo Alto decided to change the policy and everything is cloud-based or located in the cloud. It's not a security problem from my point of view, but a few customers feel uncomfortable with sending data to the cloud and back.

What about the implementation team?

Very often, it's an in-house implementation.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's the most expensive solution, but features-wise, it's quite strong. It's very good for protection, so the results are very good in the case of protection. I would rate it a two out of ten in terms of pricing.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate it an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Kamil Fahmi - PeerSpot reviewer
Site administrator officer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Jan 18, 2023
Effective machine learning capabilities, responsive support, and easy to understand
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is its machine-learning capabilities. Additionally, there is full integration with other solutions."
  • "Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks could improve by adding a sandbox feature to better compete with their competitors which have it."

What is our primary use case?

Cortex XDR is used for monitoring and securing large numbers of endpoints, typically in the range of 5,000 to 10,000. It is considered to be an effective solution for mitigating security risks in these environments.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is its machine-learning capabilities. Additionally, there is full integration with other solutions.

What needs improvement?

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks could improve by adding a sandbox feature to better compete with their competitors which have it.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks for approximately four months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

I rate the stability of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks an eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is a highly scalable solution.

I rate the scalability of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks an eight out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

The support team at Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is very responsive and helpful in addressing any issues or challenges that may arise. They are highly accessible and knowledgeable about the products they offer. Overall, I have been very satisfied with the support provided by Palo Alto while deploying their solutions.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used CrowdStrike Falcon X.

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is easier to understand and use compared to CrowdStrike Falcon X endpoint. The dashboard and interface of CrowdStrike Falcon X can be cluttered, making it difficult for some users to understand where to begin when it comes to incident response or threat hunting. In contrast, Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is simple to navigate and understand.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of the solution can take approximately one hour. One hour is the longest it has ever taken us for the setup. We have not had an issue with the setup.

I rate the initial setup of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks a seven out of ten.

What about the implementation team?

We do the implementation of the solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of the solution could be reduced. I have customers that have voiced that the solution is good for the value but if I want to sell more of the solution the price reduction would help.

Customers tend to rather have a less expensive solution than the best one.

I rate the price of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks an eight out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

We are using two engineers for the maintenance of the solution.

In our market here in Malaysia, the solution is perceived as being of high quality and providing good service. 

I would recommend this solution to others, it is a good solution. It is my job to recommend solutions.

I rate Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks an eight out of ten.

The solution is not perfect and that is why I gave the rating of eight.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: January 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.