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Cisco XDR vs Rapid7 InsightIDR comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Net...
Sponsored
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
110
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (4th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (6th), Ransomware Protection (2nd), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (1st)
Cisco XDR
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Rapid7 InsightIDR
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
23rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (23rd), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (10th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (39th), Threat Deception Platforms (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category, the mindshare of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is 4.7%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco XDR is 1.7%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 InsightIDR is 2.1%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks4.7%
Cisco XDR1.7%
Rapid7 InsightIDR2.1%
Other91.5%
Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
 

Featured Reviews

ABHISHEK_SINGH - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Process Expert at A.P. Moller - Maersk
Gained full visibility and streamlined threat detection through behavior-based insights and AI integration
Initially, we got to have a lot of false positives when we onboarded, but nowadays it's quite smooth. We have fine-tuned our security policies and allowed different levels of policies to get rid of those false positives. Currently, we are getting a fairly good amount of incidents that are not false positives or benign, but actionable items. The process is streamlined. In the initial days, the operations used to get involved in a lot of benign and other activities, but now the process is streamlined. We are leveraging the auto-detection and remediation plans. The operations teams are now more involved in other business roles as well, not just looking into the logs and fetching out what's happening there. They have fixed a lot of things. Initially, they didn't have IAC code drift detection, cloud posture management, or security posture management, but they have those now. They purchased different vendors and did a merger with that. They have now Prisma Cloud that gets integrated and now they are working with Cortex Cloud. Everything that was negative has now been addressed, and the product altogether looks to be in a very better and mature shape now. Currently, it's more or less detecting the workloads with AI-based best practices. Since most organizations are consuming AI agents and other things, we are looking forward to seeing what other feature enhancements Palo Alto can support in that.
Fred Parks - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Systems Consultant at W.C. Bradley Co.
Centralized visibility has transformed incident investigations and now cuts response time dramatically
Workflows could definitely be easier to work with. Workflows are automated tasks that can be kicked off inside of a playbook. When someone is responding to something, they can click a button and it will perform automated tasks for them inside of these other products. The product can actually control the behavior of a firewall and you can write a rule in a firewall from Cisco XDR without having to go into the firewall software. However, if it is not a native workflow automation, it is very difficult to create your own. It is not intuitive and you almost have to be a developer and get really good with the API. This could definitely be improved on, particularly the custom workflow automation. Another thing that could be improved is Cisco documenting how it makes decisions, because there are certain factors or criteria that it uses from the source products. Cisco XDR gets all of its data from the integrations, so if you do not integrate anything, it is not going to do anything. Sometimes in these integration products, such as Secure Network Analytics or Cisco Security Exposure, they could be generating some type of alert and you do not necessarily see that in Cisco XDR. This is because it knows, maybe because of these other products, it is not really a big deal and is not big enough to raise an incident. However, I do not think Cisco does a great job in explaining what those rules are, such as why this happens and how this happens. This can cause some questions and some concern. I think it is doing the right thing, but I think it would be better if they had a rule set to say, based on this data, this is how the product actually works.
SohailHyder - PeerSpot reviewer
Head Of Cyber Security at Super Secure
Has supported compliance needs for mid-sized organizations but lacks customization and advanced integration
If we pitch Rapid7 InsightIDR against solutions such as SIEMs from Splunk or LogRhythm, it is not as customizable as a SIEM solution is. This is where it can improve if we keep in front the feature sets of a complete SIEM solution. Most common in the market is QRadar, but it is depleting now. It has been taken over by some other products such as Splunk and LogRhythm. If we compare these things with Rapid7 InsightIDR, then there are definitely some gaps that need to be filled. Data retention is also one concern because Rapid7 InsightIDR is cloud-based and operates on a subscription model. Whatever data you want to retain, it has to be paid for separately or it has a cost. Other solutions that are on-premises can have their own infrastructure or they provide some data retention for a month or in some capacity-wise, they provide that solution to them which makes them more attractive.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The main benefit of using Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks while employing Palo Alto Firewall at the internet edge is that it improves security on our endpoint devices, integrating seamlessly with Palo Alto Firewalls to deliver comprehensive network, analyst, and security details all in a single dashboard, which allows us to manage everything from our network devices."
"Palo Alto Networks Traps improves our security posture and lowers risk by providing next-gen methods to combat against modern threats on all the major platforms."
"It's a nice product that's stable and scalable."
"The stability of the solution is very good. We have about 100 users on it right now, and we use it twice a week."
"On a scale from one to ten, I would rate Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks a nine."
"They have a new GUI which is just fantastic."
"This software helps us understand any issues that may arise when someone is not at work."
"I like the centralized console and the predictive analysis it does of malware. It is very stable and also scalable."
"The feature I appreciate the most about Cisco XDR is the flexibility for a user to be able to create their own reporting and dashboards, ingest all the analytics, and make it something meaningful to their business to actually get real, purposeful information out of just a swamp of data."
"Technical support from Cisco is good and very helpful."
"I appreciate the granularity of what I get from Cisco XDR the most."
"My advice for other organizations considering Cisco XDR is that it offers proactive security measures that are really very helpful."
"The feature I appreciate the most about Cisco XDR is the reliability."
"In just four months, I have seen a good return on investment with Cisco XDR, as I have reduced incidents and saved time because previously, if I encountered any incident, I would have spent considerably more time and effort reaching out to every security control on my network and checking logs across multiple systems."
"One of my favorite features of Cisco XDR is the automation tool, which saves a lot of time because we can craft these automations and workflows."
"Cisco XDR has positively impacted my organization because instead of ten people working on one event, Cisco XDR can do many things an analyst can do, reducing the human effort required and coordinating everything."
"InsightIDR’s ability to process millions of transactions per day, and to notify me of the most critical ones, is priceless."
"Rapid7's reporting is more robust than Tenable's."
"Great coverage of all systems within our network from endpoint to firewall."
"During simulations or demonstrations, the tool generates alerts, providing details such as the specific application, its origin, and potential threats. For instance, it can identify if an application belongs to a known ransomware group. The system rates the threat, offering a clear detection ratio, such as 97 out of 100. It not only identifies threats but also illustrates the associated behaviors, helping us understand the potential risk to a particular endpoint."
"I rate Rapid7 nine out of 10 for affordability"
"InsightIDR has allowed us to find potential security issues that we did not know existed, and get remediation quickly."
"Enables the use of honey pots, honey users, and honey files to monitor for suspicious patterns."
"Dashboards, including the main screen, provide much-needed information at a glance, without hours of coding and sifting through logs to find it. In case of an actual security incident, I have faith that insightIDR has retained all logs in a secure manner that prevents log tampering as well."
 

Cons

"I think sometimes Cortex XDR agent automatically stops event capturing from the device, and then even the dashboard does not get any notifications from the agent."
"If Palo Alto reduces the pricing slightly for their products, it would make them more scalable in markets such as India and globally for cybersecurity."
"It is not very strong in terms of endpoint management. It should have additional features like DLP, encryption, or advanced device control."
"Being able to filter the events to see those that are related to the actual alert would save time spent by the engineer."
"I would like to see improvement in the tool's user interface, particularly in the area of managing alerts and providing more reporting capabilities."
"The solution should enhance the ADR and reporting."
"They've been having some issues with updating their endpoint agents, and it has been quite frustrating."
"The solution lags to the real-time scenarios here and there."
"If we have a list of domains we need to block, such as 4,000 domains, I can only block 100 domains at a time because if I put in more than 100 domains, I hit that 2,000 character max and can't continue with an investigation. Being able to put in all 4,000 domains, without a character limit or observable limit, would make doing those case books a whole lot easier and blocking those domains a whole lot easier too."
"Cisco XDR can be improved in terms of out-of-the-box integrations and standard operating procedures available on the platform where we would not have to refer to documents outside of the platform to integrate."
"Cisco XDR can be improved by addressing the upfront cost. Everything matters for us since we're small, mom and pop, so every dollar counts."
"I believe the false positive reports can be reduced through AI automation, as well as the duration while loading the software."
"While Cisco XDR is robust, it could benefit from improvements on the AI side."
"Improvements in Cisco XDR revolve around performance."
"They need to provide better pricing and bundle XDR licenses with products like Meraki solutions or Firepower Threat Defense."
"Cisco XDR can be improved by addressing the upfront cost."
"Rapid7 InsightIDR is not intuitive to search for logs. It should be more user-friendly and improve the dashboards. We should be able to use ready-made templates instead of having to build one."
"The product allows us to make only 30 custom rules."
"There is a future in AI with Rapid7, however, it is not fully operated. There are certain limitations with Rapid7 that I am working on."
"Inability to get access to compliance reports within the solution."
"InsightIDR is only available in a cloud version. Some of our customers prefer an on-prem solution because they want to manage the security within their environment."
"Needs a better ability to customize the check within the console."
"The ability to tune the collector for custom logs would greatly help."
"InsightIDR is only available in a cloud version. Some of our customers prefer an on-prem solution because they want to manage the security within their environment."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Very costly product."
"It has reasonable pricing for the use cases it provides to the company."
"Cortex XDR is a costly solution."
"I feel it is fairly priced."
"Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is quite an expensive solution."
"The price of the product is not very economical."
"I don't have any issues with the pricing. We are satisfied with the price."
"Cortex XDR's pricing is ok."
"The licensing of Cisco XDR is a bit complicated. The cost can depend on what it is, and the process can be a little complicated."
"The pricing is good, and it is not very expensive."
"I rate Rapid7 InsightIDR's price a four on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"It is more reasonably priced than other vendors."
"​I am sure that there are cheaper products out there, but none that meet so many of our needs whilst maintaining stability and usability.​"
"Licensing is straightforward. If, for some reason, you don’t meet the minimum licensing requirements, there is a third-party managed service that can help."
"The pricing and licensing are competitive."
"Rapid7 InsightIDR charges us based on the endpoints we connect to."
"The team is very willing to work with companies. My suggestion is to call the Rapid7 sales department and see how they can help.​"
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Construction Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise48
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business13
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. Sentinel One
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. SentinelOne SentinelOne offers very detailed specifics with regard to risks or attacks. ...
Comparing CrowdStrike Falcon to Cortex XDR (Palo Alto)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. CrowdStrike Falcon Both Cortex XDR and Crowd Strike Falcon offer cloud-based solutions th...
How is Cortex XDR compared with Microsoft Defender?
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface,...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco XDR?
Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Cisco XDR, it was my client that did the licensing and costing, so I...
What needs improvement with Cisco XDR?
At the moment, I am still exploring Cisco XDR, and while it seems well built and the team has done good work on it, I...
What is your primary use case for Cisco XDR?
I have used Cisco XDR to detect and respond to malicious activities on my client's endpoint. For instance, the last t...
What SOC product do you recommend?
For tools I’d recommend: -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is a...
What needs improvement with Rapid7 InsightIDR?
If we pitch Rapid7 InsightIDR against solutions such as SIEMs from Splunk or LogRhythm, it is not as customizable as ...
 

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
No data available
InsightIDR
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
Information Not Available
Liberty Wines, Pioneer Telephone, Visier
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco XDR vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,244 professionals have used our research since 2012.