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Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response vs Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 2, 2025

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
6.7
Arctic Wolf enhances security efficiency, reduces risk, and fosters investor partnerships with effective support and 50% return efficiency.
Sentiment score
5.7
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR enhances security efficiency by automating tasks and significantly improves ROI with mature SOC processes.
Employee engagement is high, with a 96% viewing and participation rate for their training materials.
Technical Security Engineer & Data Governance at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response helped secure our investor relationships, specifically with Merrill Lynch, which required us to document our security posture, and Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response made it really easy for that.
Network Administrator at a real estate/law firm with 201-500 employees
We are positioning Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR, which can be used in the SOC and do a lot of automation for the customer.
Vice President, Technology at Cache Digitech Pvt Ltd.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.4
Arctic Wolf MDR receives high praise for its 24/7 responsive support, proactive engagement, and effective technical assistance.
Sentiment score
6.6
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR support is praised for expertise but criticized for occasional delays and impersonal interactions.
We have monthly meetings where they help us with network security.
Head of IT at AHMM
The customer support for Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response is excellent and very fast.
Network Administrator at a real estate/law firm with 201-500 employees
We used Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response's support from time to time, and they were responsive.
Systems administrator at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Their support has been better than Anomali's and they are more responsive.
Enterprise Security Architect V at FirstEnergy
The technical support provided by Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is good.
Vice President, Technology at Cache Digitech Pvt Ltd.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Arctic Wolf offers scalable detection and response with flexible licensing, benefiting small to medium enterprises without data ingestion costs.
Sentiment score
7.2
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is scalable with smooth API integration, though planning is crucial for large deployments.
The scalability of Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR supports our growth and security needs because we can integrate various tools and continuously add more capability.
Enterprise Security Architect V at FirstEnergy
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.6
Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response is highly stable, with users praising its reliability, minimal issues, and uninterrupted service.
Sentiment score
7.4
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is highly reliable and stable, with occasional issues primarily related to configuration or updates.
 

Room For Improvement

Arctic Wolf requires faster alerts, better tool integration, enhanced detection, improved licensing, and expanded training for user benefits.
Cortex XSOAR requires simpler setup, affordability, improved UI, more integrations, and enhanced features for better user experience and scalability.
The threat intelligence feature is expected to be a significant advantage.
Technical Security Engineer & Data Governance at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Some of the reports from Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response were difficult to understand, and it would take time to go through the report to actually be able to comprehend all of the data.
Systems administrator at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We cannot fully secure these devices until they release an updated version of their agent software.
Head of IT at AHMM
The deployment requires integration and the development of integration modules.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
One of the significant issues we encounter is system slowdown when we receive an influx of alerts, which inhibits how quickly we can access the information needed for investigation.
Enterprise Security Architect V at FirstEnergy
To improve the solution, it needs to have complete features that are low-code, no-code, and should be plug-and-play.
Vice President, Technology at Cache Digitech Pvt Ltd.
 

Setup Cost

Arctic Wolf offers transparent pricing and comprehensive features, positioned as a cost-effective, turnkey solution with annual contracts.
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is costly but valued for features, mainly suited for medium and large enterprises.
The pricing is okay and comparable to other solutions, with competitive pricing obtained for most options.
Head of IT at AHMM
It was a good experience because of the transparent pricing, which was very reasonable based on some of the other services that we looked at.
Network Administrator at a real estate/law firm with 201-500 employees
The pricing for Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response was comparable to other products.
Systems administrator at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
For customers, it is zero versus $20 million, which is why they have to make a decision.
Vice President, Technology at Cache Digitech Pvt Ltd.
 

Valuable Features

Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response offers robust security with real-time alerts, 24/7 monitoring, integrations, and user-friendly interface.
Cortex XSOAR offers seamless integration, extensive automation, robust playbooks, and user-friendly interface, simplifying incident management and enhancing efficiency.
Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response has helped with investor requirements by assisting us with incident response paperwork, providing a score for NIST 2.0 framework rating, and allowing us to easily fill out documentation for bigger investors like Merrill Lynch.
Network Administrator at a real estate/law firm with 201-500 employees
The asset scanning feature and the entire solution, especially their advanced threat protection recently released, are very effective.
Technical Security Engineer & Data Governance at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
The solution works well for our team as it offers a hands-off approach, which we need.
Head of IT at AHMM
Execution of automatic tasks for collecting, enriching, and correlating security events from hundreds of different technologies.
Presale Engineer at Westcon-Comstor
If I already have an established process, I do not have to change my process to fit into the tool. I can modify the tool to fit into my process, which makes things considerably easier.
Enterprise Security Architect V at FirstEnergy
We have implemented automation features, such as automated responses to email threats and automatic configuration of target devices for blocking specific IPs.
Vice President, Technology at Cache Digitech Pvt Ltd.
 

Categories and Ranking

Arctic Wolf Managed Detecti...
Ranking in SOC as a Service
1st
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (4th)
Palo Alto Networks Cortex X...
Ranking in SOC as a Service
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the SOC as a Service category, the mindshare of Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response is 18.7%, down from 37.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is 6.5%, down from 24.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SOC as a Service Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response18.7%
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR6.5%
Other74.8%
SOC as a Service
 

Featured Reviews

Dan Stepanukha - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Administrator at a real estate/law firm with 201-500 employees
Stays ahead of threats with fast alerts and improves compliance documentation for investor readiness
The best features Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response offers are its time sensitivity. It alerts us right away if an anomaly occurs. The time sensitivity helps our team by making our response faster in case it's an actual attack, which luckily hasn't happened yet. Speed is definitely one of the best features of Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response. The documentation is really good with Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, making filling out our NIST and incident response really easy. Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response has positively impacted my organization as it's an added layer of security, which has been really good. It also helped us stay up to date with our security posture so we can work better with investors who require certain paperwork or security postures. Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response has helped with investor requirements by assisting us with incident response paperwork, providing a score for NIST 2.0 framework rating, and allowing us to easily fill out documentation for bigger investors like Merrill Lynch so we can continue to work with them.
CC
Enterprise Security Architect V at FirstEnergy
Customization supports seamless workflow while data influx challenges response time
What I appreciate most about Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is that it is very open, even more so than Anomali. I can create various custom automations and custom fields. There is significant customization ability in this platform. If I already have an established process, I do not have to change my process to fit into the tool. I can modify the tool to fit into my process, which makes things considerably easier. All of our alerts from different tools come into this central place as we have multiple SIEMs. We have items coming from Anomali and other platforms that are not SIEM tools. This serves as our central location where our SOC analysts can work and determine if incident response is needed. The platform provides data enrichment capabilities, offering information upfront so analysts do not have to search for it. They can access details such as username, phone number, email address, and workplace information. For malware files, they can retrieve details from VirusTotal, including file names and environment presence. We have built substantial automation around these features, which also helps us track case metrics, investigation time, and threat mitigation duration.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
6%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise25
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response?
The agents give pretty good visibility into what is happening at the endpoint.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was very good. It was a good experience because of the transparent pricing, which was very reasonable based on some of the other services that ...
What needs improvement with Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response?
Some of the alerts or reports were not very easy to understand, and it took time to go through those, which was sometimes a little frustrating. Some of the reports from Arctic Wolf Managed Detectio...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR?
Comparing pricing to Micro Focus, they were offering bundles, making it free with their SIEM. For customers, it is zero versus $20 million, which is why they have to make a decision.
What needs improvement with Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR?
To improve the solution, it needs to have complete features that are low-code, no-code, and should be plug-and-play. We need to see improvements in that area to facilitate cyber analysts.
 

Also Known As

Arctic Wolf AWN CyberSOC
Demisto Enterprise, Cortex XSOAR, Demisto
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Agero, Madison Memorial Hospital, DLZ, Howard LLP, City of Sparks
Cellcom Israel, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, esri, Cylance, Flatiron Health, Veeva, ADT Cybersecurity
Find out what your peers are saying about Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response vs. Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.