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Expel vs Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 28, 2025

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

Expel
Ranking in SOC as a Service
4th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (16th)
Palo Alto Networks Cortex X...
Ranking in SOC as a Service
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
Security Orchestration Automation and Response (SOAR) (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the SOC as a Service category, the mindshare of Expel is 8.8%, down from 10.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is 5.6%, down from 22.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
SOC as a Service Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR5.6%
Expel8.8%
Other85.6%
SOC as a Service
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2578461 - PeerSpot reviewer
MDR Specialist at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Rapid threat management and diverse technology integration for effective monitoring
Expel has made it easier for companies to monitor and manage various log sources. With its vast integration portfolio, customers can efficiently monitor diverse environments. Time to value is quick, as Expel can turn their service up very rapidly. They have both automated active responses and human processes that quicken threat resolution.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Their threat hunting protocol and process with AI and machine learning are strong, allowing for active and rapid responses."
"The most valuable feature is automation."
"It was easy to integrate Cortex with existing infrastructure and other tech tools."
"The most valuable feature is its capability to automate responses and collect information for any security event before you even delve into the details. It's a vast product with an active roadmap, so I'm satisfied with it for now. It's very efficient at data collection and correlation."
"The drag-and-drop interface enables analysts with no programming knowledge to create playbooks easily."
"Each incident collected is orchestrated with automation that selects the security analyst to be involved, or provides complex execution plans for managing security incidents."
"The automation is excellent."
"Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR has had a positive impact on the mean time to resolution for incidents (MTTR), as it has significantly reduced noise."
"From the security team's standpoint, the solution has improved our organization's overall cybersecurity."
 

Cons

"The one area where Expel may not measure up is if a customer requires a managed SIEM as part of their overall solution. There's a gap there, and solutions might require third-party assistance for management."
"Its dashboard features need improvement."
"The product can be tailored for each deployment to respond to specific customer needs, and this complexity may be seen as a downside."
"I think they should increase their collaboration base."
"The price of the solution could be lower."
"There should be an on-premise version available for customers to have different choices."
"I would like to see Cortex become less dependent on Active Directory and group policies to manage the deployment. Maybe I need to update my understanding of how to deploy it, but that's the way I know how to use it."
"Palo Alto needs to develop more AI-centric products."
"The dashboard performance could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The price of Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR is expensive."
"The solution's cost is high."
"It is approx $10,000 or $20,000 per year for two user licenses."
"Palo Alto offers significant discounts to customers who purchase the products repeatedly."
"The solution is based on an annual licensing model that is expensive."
"The pricing is fair. The pricing reflects the value and feature set it offers."
"There is a perception that it is priced very high compared to other solutions."
"Cortex XSOAR's price could be lower."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Retailer
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise26
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Expel?
Expel's pricing has adapted as the market evolved and has become competitive over the past twelve months.
What needs improvement with Expel?
The one area where Expel may not measure up is if a customer requires a managed SIEM as part of their overall solution. There's a gap there, and solutions might require third-party assistance for m...
What is your primary use case for Expel?
I have experience reselling Expel. Customers often come to me wanting to evaluate multiple providers to make a choice based on their specific use cases, requirements, technology investments, and so...
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?
Regarding areas for improvement in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR, I want to highlight one concern about playbook creation. While I personally appreciate this approach, I have observed that junior...
 

Also Known As

Workbench, Expel SOC-as-a-Service
Demisto Enterprise, Cortex XSOAR, Demisto
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Amanda Fennell CSO
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 Networks, Palo Alto Networks, Fortra and others in SOC as a Service. Updated: February 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.