We compared Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks and Darktrace based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison of Results: Based on the parameters we compared, Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks seems to be the superior solution. Our reviewers feel that because Darktrace is lacking where security is concerned, Cortex XDR is a better investment.
"This is stable and scalable."
"The product's initial setup phase is very easy."
"Exceptions are easy to create and the interface is easy to follow with a nice appearance."
"Fortinet FortiEDR made our clients feel secure and more at ease, knowing that they had an EDR solution that would close the gap in their security posture."
"It is stable and scalable."
"It is a scalable solution...The initial setup of Fortinet FortiEDR was straightforward."
"Fortinet FortiEDR's scalability is quite good, and you can add licenses to the solution."
"The console is easy to read. I also like the scanning part and the ability to move assets from one to the other."
"Best solution for avoiding security breaches, malware attacks, and other kinds of security issues."
"Stability is a primary factor, and then there's the ease of distribution and policy management."
"The multi-layered approach to the product gives you confidence that it will stop exploits, ransomware, worms, or viruses from compromising endpoints, essentially providing peace of mind."
"The interface is easy to use and it is more up to date than our previous solution."
"The behavior-based detection feature is valuable."
"The initial setup isn't too bad."
"Since they've done their most recent update, the ease to isolate endpoints is valuable. If we find one where there is a virus on it, we can easily isolate it. We don't even have to contact the user. We don't have to manually take them off the network. We can easily isolate them."
"The anti-exploit is impenetrable. We chose Traps because it is the only product that we were not able to get anything past."
"I have used multiple solutions, but its graphical user interface is quite interesting and quite descriptive. There are a lot of video animations, and we can easily see how the data is transferred between various points. That's something really interesting. It is also quite easy to understand for a new user."
"I like the dashboards, which are cool. They are more user-friendly, in my experience. Its learning capabilities are really good."
"In terms of features, the data or information they collect and unsupervised machine learning are very valuable. Its unsupervised machine learning has reduced our team's effort. Both Darktrace and Vectra work on unsupervised machine learning that learns the behavior or develops a profile on its own, which allows our security team to do some other tasks rather than spending time on Darktrace or Vectra. Because of unsupervised machine learning, its detection capability is quite good. Along with that, if we utilize the integration feature properly, the automated incident response capability of Darktrace is quite useful."
"What I like about Darktrace, is that you can quickly identify threats."
"The most valuable feature is that it gives us visibility of rogue traffic that is on the network."
"Darktrace is very flexible."
"I am impressed with the product's ability to give insights into network traffic."
"The platform has many modules, and each module examines a different situation in the behavior."
"We'd like to see more one-to-one product presentations for the distribution channels."
"The solution should address emerging threats like SQL injection."
"I would like the solution to extend beyond endpoint protection and include other attack surfaces such as other network components."
"Everything with Fortinet having to do with their cloud services. They need to invest more in their internal infrastructure that they are running in the cloud. One of the things I find with their cloud environment compared to others' is that they go cheap on the equipment. So it causes some performance degradation."
"The security should be strong for the cloud. Some applications are on-prem and some are on the cloud. Fortinet should also have strong security for the cloud. There should be more security for the cloud."
"The only minor concern is occasional interference with desired programs."
"Integration with Azure and SaaS provisioning tools could improve Fortinet FortiEDR."
"They can include the automation for the realtime updates. We have a network infrastructure with remote sites. Whenever they send updates, they are not automated. We have to go into the console and push those updates. I wish it was more automated. The update file is currently around 31 MB. It could be smaller."
"The licensing model is complex to understand. It requires expertise to explain how the licensing works. You need expertise to guide you through the subscription plan."
"A little bit more automation would be nice."
"It is a complex solution to implement."
"The product's pricing could be better."
"The solution lacks real-time, on-demand antivirus."
"Limited remote connection."
"Cortex XDR could be improved with more GUI features."
"Every 30 or 40 days, there's a new version and we need to go and make sure our customer's laptops are upgraded."
"I believe their network monitoring device licensing module could use some improvement."
"One thing that I would like to look at going forward is to have a fully automated network infrastructure that is monitored automatically real-time, and that gives me this kind of capability where I would be able to look at my network at any given time and see the state of my network. With Darktrace, at the moment, I have to almost put in a date and tell them that want you to give me data from this date to this date. I don't want that. I want a fast solution in which it doesn't matter when I log into the application. Whenever I log in, I must be able to see my network and run a report. In other words, if I go in now and I say, "Give me a full report of what happened today, it must be able to give me that. It mustn't just be limited to a seven-day period, for argument's sake. It must be able to give me real-time and day-to-day tracking of what has happened within my network."
"I would like to see some additional enhancements."
"I think there is some MSSP missing."
"The main portal needs improvement as it is difficult to use."
"This is quite an expensive product so the pricing is something that can be improved."
"In terms of improvements, fine-tuning is the area where we have to spend some time because it works on unsupervised machine learning. It would be good if they can improve their algorithm or technical functionality to reduce the fine-tuning effort. They can also come up with something at the endpoint level. So far, Darktrace has been a network detection response (NDR) solution. It does not offer much at the endpoint level or on user-client devices or servers. There should be more visibility at the endpoint level. It would be good to have the detection and response at the endpoint level by Darktrace. It should also have integration with an agile environment so that we can have continuous development and continuous integration in the application development environment. This is currently not there. It should also have internet-facing platform visibility, which is currently missing. They also need to improve the reporting and management dashboards. Currently, these are not so easy for a non-technical person. All these features would make Darktrace much better, and they would also be helpful in selling more solutions."
"The solution can improve the reporting."
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Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is ranked 4th in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) with 80 reviews while Darktrace is ranked 11th in Email Security with 65 reviews. Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is rated 8.4, while Darktrace is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks writes "Perfect correlation and XDR capabilities for network traffic plus endpoint security". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Darktrace writes "Great autonomous support, offers an easy setup, and has responsive support". Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is most compared with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, CrowdStrike Falcon, Symantec Endpoint Security, Trellix Endpoint Security and Check Point Harmony Endpoint, whereas Darktrace is most compared with CrowdStrike Falcon, Vectra AI, SentinelOne Singularity Complete, Cisco Secure Network Analytics and ExtraHop Reveal(x).
We monitor all Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) 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.