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Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs CrowdStrike Falcon comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 30, 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
7.7
Cortex XDR secures data, reduces malware, lowers costs, and replaces systems, enhancing user satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Sentiment score
7.5
CrowdStrike Falcon improves ROI by cutting costs and increasing productivity through efficient threat management and strong security measures.
They appreciate the rich telemetry data from the solution, as it provides in-depth threat identification.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Cortex XDR support is praised for responsiveness but criticized for delayed responses and knowledge gaps in certain regions.
Sentiment score
7.1
Customers generally praise CrowdStrike Falcon's responsive, knowledgeable support, despite occasional slow responses and limited expertise concerns.
Every vendor has similar support; it depends on how the case is handled and raised.
Their support is efficient and responsive whenever I raise a ticket through my portal.
The CrowdStrike team is very efficient; I would rate them ten out of ten.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cortex XDR offers scalable, efficient data handling across Linux, Mac, and Windows, praised for simplifying large enterprise management.
Sentiment score
7.9
CrowdStrike Falcon excels in scalable, seamless deployment across various organizations, with flexible licensing and minimal disruption during expansion.
It has adequate coverage and is easy to deploy.
When it comes to scalability, it is entirely based on premium models according to demand.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Cortex XDR is praised for its stability and reliability, with minor issues noted but generally offering seamless protection.
Sentiment score
8.2
CrowdStrike Falcon offers stable, reliable performance with minor update issues and high user satisfaction ratings for protection.
Cortex XDR is stable, offering high quality and reliable performance.
I have never seen instability in the CrowdStrike tool.
We are following N-1 versions across our environment, which is stable.
 

Room For Improvement

Cortex XDR struggles with integration, high memory, false positives, limited features, complex setup, and lacks enhanced support and customization.
Users desire improved dashboard functionality, integration, machine learning, and interface enhancements with cost-effective options for better threat management.
The inclusion of this feature would allow the application of DLP policies alongside antivirus policies via a single agent and console, making it more competitive as other OEMs often offer DLP solutions as part of their antivirus products.
Cortex XDR could improve its sales support team, including better commission structures and referral programs.
Another concern is CrowdStrike's GUI. It changes annually, making it hard to work and find options.
Threat prevention should be their first priority.
Simplifying the querying process, such as using double quote queries or directly obtaining logs based on IP addresses or usernames, would be beneficial.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers view Cortex XDR as expensive yet flexible, offering scalable licensing with varying costs based on features and users.
CrowdStrike Falcon is pricier than competitors but valued for strong security, flexible features, and excellent support.
Cortex XDR is perceived as expensive by some customers, yet offers dynamic pricing.
Compared to competitors such as CrowdStrike and Sophos, the pricing of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is similar to CrowdStrike but more expensive than Sophos.
It is expensive compared to SentinelOne, but as the market leader, it is worth it.
 

Valuable Features

Cortex XDR excels in cybersecurity with advanced detection, ease of use, and integration, offering scalable, efficient threat management.
CrowdStrike Falcon excels with real-time threat detection, cloud-native flexibility, and seamless integration, enhancing endpoint security and management.
The product provides automation responses in case of a threat attack, severity assessments, centralized manageability, and comprehensive compliance features, resulting in reduced costs.
It incorporates AI for normal behavior detection, distinguishing unusual operations.
I can investigate by accessing the customer's host based on the RTR environment and utilize host search to know details for the past seven days, including logins, processes, file installations, malicious processes, and network connections.
The meantime to detection in the cloud is almost real-time.
The machine learning behavior for anomaly detection is a valuable feature.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Net...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
4th
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
7th
Ranking in Ransomware Protection
2nd
Ranking in AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
CrowdStrike Falcon
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
2nd
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
1st
Ranking in Ransomware Protection
1st
Ranking in AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
126
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (6th), Identity Management (IM) (6th), Threat Intelligence Platforms (2nd), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (1st), Active Directory Management (2nd), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (1st), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (3rd), Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms category, the mindshare of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is 10.7%, down from 13.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of CrowdStrike Falcon is 22.8%, down from 29.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Mohammad Qaw - PeerSpot reviewer
Perfect correlation and XDR capabilities for network traffic plus endpoint security
The solution should force customers to integrate with network traffic to see the full benefits of XDR. If you are not integrating it or feeding in your network traffic, then you are just buying a normal antivirus which doesn't make any sense. You are paying double the price to use the antivirus feature or to say you have XDR, but in reality you are not using it. The solution should include an on-premises option because some customers want only on-premises. It would be hard, but good to do if possible. Open XDR would be beneficial in the future. Right now, the solution is Closed XDR so cannot communicate with the few new vendors in the Open XDR market.
Chintan-Vyas - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to set up with good behavior-based analysis but needs a single-click recovery option
Most organizations are currently looking for a scheduled scan to meet their compliance needs. Other players like Symantec and Trend Micro, FireEye, et cetera, are still providing the signature-based regular scheduled scans also, which is not available in CrowdStrike. That is one parameter that we feel should be there in CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike is only working on the dynamic or the files under execution. CrowdStrike is not scanning the static files. The product could be more accurate in terms of performance. We'd like to have a single-click recovery option. With some machines getting corrupted by malware, we need an easy way to start with a blank slate if things happen. That one feature should be there in the EDR.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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. The ability to reverse damage caused by ransomware with minimal interruptions to...
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 that are very scalable, secure, and user-friendly. Cortex XDR by Palo Alto offers ...
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, applies behavioral-based endpoint protection and response, and includes risk-ba...
How does Crowdstrike Falcon compare with Darktrace?
Both of these products perform similarly and have many outstanding attributes. CrowdStrike Falcon offers an amazing user interface that makes setup easy and seamless. CrowdStrike Falcon offers a cl...
How does Microsoft Defender for Endpoint compare with Crowdstrike Falcon?
The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never push your machine hardware to "test", you don't have the usual "scan now" feature ...
Is Crowdstrike Falcon better than Trend Micro Deep Security?
I like that Crowdstrike allows me to easily correlate data between my firewalls. What’s most useful for my needs is the intelligence modules feature. I also find that Crowdstrike Falcon’s dashboard...
 

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
CrowdStrike Falcon, CrowdStrike Falcon XDR, CrowdStrike Falcon Threat Intelligence, CrowdStrike Identity Protection, CrowdStrike Falcon Surface
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
Information Not Available
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