Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs Wazuh comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 25, 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
7.3
Cortex XDR enhances security, reduces costs, boosts threat identification, compliance, and user confidence, offering cost-effective data protection.
Sentiment score
4.4
Wazuh offers significant ROI through reduced detection times and cost-effectiveness, benefiting small and medium businesses financially.
They appreciate the rich telemetry data from the solution, as it provides in-depth threat identification.
I have seen a return on investment with Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks, as this product is offered at a minimal cost, and we can find a good ROI from it.
I have seen value in security cost savings with Wazuh, as using proprietary EDR versions could save us substantial money.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Cortex XDR support is responsive and knowledgeable, despite occasional delays and regional language barriers affecting resolution times.
Sentiment score
4.3
Wazuh support is effective for paid users, but open-source users face variability in community responsiveness and documentation use.
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.
They did well with handling high-risk threats.
They responded quickly, which was crucial as I was on a time constraint.
We use the open-source version of Wazuh, which does not provide paid support.
The documentation is good and provides clear instructions, though it's targeted at those with technical backgrounds.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Cortex XDR is praised for smooth scalability, managing diverse endpoints, and effective expansion in various organizational sizes.
Sentiment score
6.6
Wazuh offers adaptable scaling, effective for most, despite challenges, excelling in compliance and endpoint management with varied scalability scores.
It can accommodate thousands of endpoints on one instance, and multiple instances can run for different clients.
Currently, I don't see any limitations in terms of scalability as Wazuh can still connect many endpoints.
Scalability depends on the configuration and the infrastructure resources like compute and memory we allocate.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Cortex XDR is stable, with resolved bugs and ongoing improvements, earning high stability ratings from users.
Sentiment score
6.6
Wazuh's stability generally ranges from moderate to high, contingent on proper maintenance, updates, and user-specific technical environments.
Cortex XDR is stable, offering high quality and reliable performance.
For the last 11 months, we haven't faced any outage issues, so it is a stable product.
All the situations and issues were controlled in a good way by Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks.
The stability of Wazuh is strong, with no issues stemming from the solution itself.
The stability of Wazuh is largely dependent on maintenance.
The indexer frequently times out, requiring system restarts.
 

Room For Improvement

Cortex XDR struggles with compatibility, high memory usage, difficult management, limited features, and needs better integration, UI, and pricing.
Wazuh requires enhanced interface usability, scalability, AI integration, and easier deployment, with improved reporting and native system integration.
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.
If the per GB data could be provided at a certain level free of cost or at the same cost which the customer is taking for the entire bundle, that would be better.
Cortex XDR could improve its sales support team, including better commission structures and referral programs.
Machine learning is needed along with understanding user behavior and behavioral patterns.
The integration modules are insufficiently developed, necessitating the creation of custom integration solutions using tools like Logstash and PubSub.
I think Wazuh should improve by introducing AI functionalities, as it would be beneficial to see AI incorporated in the threat hunting and detection functionalities.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find Cortex XDR expensive, but competitive, with flexible licensing; costs vary by usage, features, and setup.
Wazuh is cost-effective for enterprises with open-source availability but incurs costs for infrastructure, support, and managed hosting.
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.
Wazuh is completely free of charge.
I would definitely recommend Wazuh, especially considering Fortinet's licensing model which is confusing and overpriced in my opinion.
Totaling around two lakh Indian rupees per month.
 

Valuable Features

Cortex XDR offers robust endpoint security with advanced threat detection, ease of use, seamless integration, and real-time monitoring capabilities.
Wazuh offers customizable open-source security solutions with SIEM, MITRE, and compliance tools for cloud-native, Kubernetes, and Azure environments.
It incorporates AI for normal behavior detection, distinguishing unusual operations.
The product provides automation responses in case of a threat attack, severity assessments, centralized manageability, and comprehensive compliance features, resulting in reduced costs.
If a user doesn't click any link within 30 days and on the 31st day clicks a new link, Cortex XDR immediately alerts us that this user has clicked on an uncommon link or their behavior is uncommon.
Wazuh is a SIEM tool that is highly customizable and versatile.
The system allows us to monitor endpoints effectively and collect security data that can be utilized across other platforms such as SOAR.
With this open source tool, organizations can establish their own customized setup.
 

Categories and Ranking

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Net...
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
92
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (5th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (9th), Ransomware Protection (2nd), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (4th)
Wazuh
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
5th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (1st), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category, the mindshare of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is 5.4%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Wazuh is 10.2%, down from 12.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Wazuh10.2%
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks5.4%
Other84.4%
Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
 

Featured Reviews

HectorRios - PeerSpot reviewer
Has detected high-risk threats effectively and provides strong behavioral protection
They did well with handling high-risk threats. I would rate Palo Alto support an eight or nine. I would give them an eight because in the majority of cases, we talk with local partners, and only in case of an emergency or a difficult issue, we jump to Palo Alto support. When we had that experience with Palo Alto support, it was nice service, but it was really difficult to get it. To jump from the partner to Palo Alto directly was challenging. I understand that it's part of the service, as the local partner just jumps up to Palo Alto support in case they need it. In some cases, when we faced an important issue, it was preferred to jump directly to Palo Alto to save time.
Ebenezer Okoh - PeerSpot reviewer
Innovative platform enables proactive threat hunting and endpoint monitoring
I have not seen Wazuh moving in the direction of AI-driven threat detection projects myself, but since the market is moving that way, I wouldn't be surprised if they implemented it soon. My plans to increase the usage of Wazuh or switch to another tool depend on what my boss decides. We don't refer to any community support specifically, as we rely on other platforms such as GitHub or Discord, depending on the application. I recommend that as more companies come on board with Wazuh, it will motivate those who contribute to it, but I am also cautious that as it gains attention, a large company might buy it and change its course of business. Overall, I rate Wazuh a nine out of ten.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions are best for your needs.
869,089 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
9%
University
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business41
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise36
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise8
 

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...
What do you like most about Wazuh?
Wazuh is its flexibility and open-source nature, which allows us to tailor threat detection and response across diverse client environments. Its integration capabilities with SOAR, cloud platforms,...
What needs improvement with Wazuh?
The lack of AI features is an issue at the moment in the industry. Forti provides user behavior capabilities, which I would want to see in Wazuh. In FortiSIEM, they provide user behavior understand...
What is your primary use case for Wazuh?
At the moment, I'm working in software integration, so we are working with FortiGate. To research and get an idea, I did some investigation into Wazuh. They have already used Fortinet products. The...
 

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
Wazuh All-In-One Deployment
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs. Wazuh and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,089 professionals have used our research since 2012.