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Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence [EOL] vs Palo Alto Networks VM-Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 16, 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
8.2
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence enhances security, saves on budgets, and improves detection, offering significant ROI and value.
Sentiment score
5.7
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series delivers strong ROI through enhanced security, rapid deployment, and significant time savings despite high pricing.
It's a value-for-money product.
Mobility & IT Project Manager at Voicevine Pty Ltd
Customers can see data within a week, indicating a quick return on investment.
Senior Manager Technical Security at Hitachi Systems, Ltd.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Microsoft Defender support is rated very good, with knowledgeable level two assistance, competent partners, and a helpful community platform.
Sentiment score
7.5
Customers appreciate Palo Alto Networks VM-Series support for responsiveness and expertise, despite occasional delays and high premium service costs.
Level two support is knowledgeable and knows how the product works, which is very good.
Cloud Solution architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
I would give Microsoft an eight for their technical support.
Mobility & IT Project Manager at Voicevine Pty Ltd
The support quality could be improved.
Senior Manager Technical Security at Hitachi Systems, Ltd.
Resolving issues promptly.
Head of Sales at Omgea Exim Ltd
They are responsive and provide high-quality assistance.
Cyber security consultant at L&T Technology Services
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is highly scalable, adaptable for businesses of all sizes, and supports thousands of endpoints efficiently.
Sentiment score
7.4
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is scalable, easy to deploy, and suits businesses with positive feedback on flexibility and growth.
If there were some customizations available, I would rate its scalability as nine out of ten.
Cloud Solution architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
They are easy to upgrade, and with credit licensing, they scale effectively according to demand.
Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The solution is scalable and can easily handle an increase in the number of users.
Cyber security consultant at L&T Technology Services
It is easy to use with an excellent graphical user interface and extensive documentation, which contributes to its high scalability.
Senior Security Consultant at Netsecurity.no
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is seen as stable and secure, with high reliability and effective phishing prevention despite occasional outages.
Sentiment score
8.2
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series is highly regarded for stability, reliable performance, and consistent uptime, despite minor navigation delays.
It provides a high level of security and avoids phishing and scam emails.
Cloud Solution architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Hardware is generally very stable.
Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
I have not experienced any major problems or downtime.
Senior IT Infrastructure Specialist at contemi
Perfection is unlikely as the dynamic nature of traffic and constant changes can result in occasional bugs despite regular updates.
Senior Security Consultant at Netsecurity.no
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender needs price adjustments, improved integration, better accuracy, enhanced AI, and smoother user experience for evolving cybersecurity.
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series needs UI updates, better platform integration, scalability, user-friendliness, and improved documentation for broader efficiency.
Providing code customization would help keep pace with new vulnerabilities and threats.
Cloud Solution architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
The main area of improvement for Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is related to how information is conveyed.
Mobility & IT Project Manager at Voicevine Pty Ltd
From the telemetry data standpoint, I would prefer Defender data to be more open in future updates.
Consultant at Dell Technologies
Integration with CSIRT across all use levels would make it easier for administrators to stay updated on the blocked entities without manual intervention.
Cyber security consultant at L&T Technology Services
Most customers go for partner-enabled support, which involves multiple layers, leading to delays.
Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Having those features missing, we are not proposing Palo Alto Networks VM-Series to all customers.
Sr. Network Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is cost-effective in bundles, but SMEs face challenges with standalone pricing and evolving licensing.
Palo Alto VM-Series is costly but reliable, with complex licensing; AWS Marketplace offers scalable subscription options.
Palo Alto is expensive in terms of pricing, particularly when comparing features to cost.
Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The cost involves purchasing through a vendor, which might mark up due to the supply chain.
Senior IT Infrastructure Specialist at contemi
Pricing for Palo Alto Networks is higher than other OEMs, but considering the robustness and features, it gains customer trust.
Head of Sales at Omgea Exim Ltd
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence excels in integration, threat detection, user interface, data retention, real-time protection, and analytics.
The VM-Series provides scalable, flexible security with advanced threat management, visibility, and integration features, enhancing network protection.
If it wasn't for that real-time threat detection on the vulnerability, I think we would not have survived the attack.
Mobility & IT Project Manager at Voicevine Pty Ltd
One of the best features is that it provides a certain level of customization, allowing us to set our spam confidence levels.
Cloud Solution architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Our threat detection is enhanced due to the AI agents in Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence, which helps in detecting automatically.
Consultant at Dell Technologies
We use these tools to prevent all known and unknown threats using Palo Alto Networks' Wildfire and other data filtering tools to gather information, analyze traffic, manage malicious traffic, and offer visibility, control, and attack prevention.
Senior Manager Technical Security at Hitachi Systems, Ltd.
Palo Alto's robust threat intelligence supports new updates, and I can open cases directly with their Threat Intelligence team.
Security Technical Lead at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The DNS security significantly enhances security through visibility and detection, allowing control over crucial traffic like DNS, which is often exploited by ransomware.
Senior Security Consultant at Netsecurity.no
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender Threat I...
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Palo Alto Networks VM-Series
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (12th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (11th)
 

Featured Reviews

Charles Mokoena - PeerSpot reviewer
Mobility & IT Project Manager at Voicevine Pty Ltd
Has strengthened our ability to detect threats in real time and improved internal security decision-making
The features that I find most valuable in Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence include the Sentinel part of it. There are several features we've looked at, including Sentinel as well as extended Defender, which is XDR. I've used those two, and that's what I've found quite useful for us, especially in the hardening and analysis part of the whole threat analysis. We use the real-time threat detection features in Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence. If it wasn't for that real-time threat detection on the vulnerability, I think we would not have survived the attack. The integration capabilities of Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence with other Microsoft security tools have benefited our organization's threat management process by initially being quite a challenge, especially coming from other security tools such as Fortinet and Check Point. However, once you've gotten used to it, it's quite easy and user-friendly. The dashboard, especially the threat analysis dashboard, is quite detailed in terms of providing a view of which areas in our environment need attention, making it quite useful.
AV
Cyber security consultant at L&T Technology Services
Enhance cybersecurity for large enterprises using advanced threat management
An improvement could be the integration of security intelligence with Palo Alto cloud via APIs. This would allow IOCs, domains, and hash values to be automatically entered, reducing manual entry. Integration with CSIRT across all use levels would make it easier for administrators to stay updated on the blocked entities without manual intervention.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Educational Organization
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise24
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
It just runs in the background. I don't have to worry about, making sure it's Intelligence. So, you know, this kind of makes it very easy, have to worry about installing. It is easy to use.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
From the telemetry data standpoint, I would prefer Defender data to be more open in future updates.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
We have tried Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence. I have expertise with Microsoft Defender products. I am not familiar with Microsoft Defender for IoT because we did not use that in our environ...
Features comparison between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls
In the best tradition of these questions, Feature-wise both are quite similar, but each has things it's better at, it kind of depends what you value most. PA is good at app control, web filtering a...
How does Azure Firewall compare with Palo Alto Networks VM Series?
Both products are very stable and easily scalable. The setup of Azure Firewall is easy and very user-friendly and the overall cost is reasonable. Azure Firewall offers a solid threat awareness, can...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Warren Rogers Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, Proofpoint and others in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.