We use Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks for endpoint security. It scans for unwanted and malicious activity on endpoints and servers, creating alerts and incidents.
IT Specialist at RateGain
Scans for unwanted and malicious activity on endpoints and servers, creating alerts and incidents
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are incident creation, policy-based protection, IP whitelisting, and device encryption. These are beneficial for endpoint and server security."
- "There's room for improvement with Mac device installations, which can be challenging."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are incident creation, policy-based protection, IP whitelisting, and device encryption. These are beneficial for endpoint and server security.
What needs improvement?
There's room for improvement with Mac device installations, which can be challenging.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the tool for two years.
Buyer's Guide
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks
May 2025

Learn what your peers think about Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
About 20 people in our company use Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks across the country.
How was the initial setup?
We've had some issues isolating endpoints and have sought support from Palo Alto for that.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost depends on your chosen license type, like Pro or other licenses.
What other advice do I have?
I'd recommend using Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks for security purposes. It's good at detecting malware and is a better strategy than other antivirus solutions. I rate the overall solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Last updated: Sep 1, 2024
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Senior System Administrator at a government with 10,001+ employees
Makes it easy to isolate endpoints and lets us know if something needs to be addressed
Pros and Cons
- "Since they've done their most recent update, the ease to isolate endpoints is valuable. If we find one where there is a virus on it, we can easily isolate it. We don't even have to contact the user. We don't have to manually take them off the network. We can easily isolate them."
- "We had a problem with getting our older endpoints up to date, but their newest updates have been really good. I've been pleased with it in terms of what our needs are. It's doing what we want it to do."
What is our primary use case?
We use it to make sure that our antivirus is up to par.
It used to be on-prem, but now, it's completely on the cloud. In terms of the version, we've got some old endpoints that we had to manually bring up to date, but for the most part, it's up to date.
How has it helped my organization?
I don't have to do much monitoring with it. I don't have to have anybody manually looking at this. It gives us reports, and it lets us know if something needs to be addressed, and we can easily address it. I've been pleased with it. It's been a really good product for us.
What is most valuable?
Since they've done their most recent update, the ease to isolate endpoints is valuable. If we find one where there is a virus on it, we can easily isolate it. We don't even have to contact the user. We don't have to manually take them off the network. We can easily isolate them. The hash that they use is pretty comprehensive. I like WildFire. It gives us a better idea of what is a true virus and what is a false positive.
What needs improvement?
We had a problem with getting our older endpoints up to date, but their newest updates have been really good. I've been pleased with it in terms of what our needs are. It's doing what we want it to do.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using it for at least three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It has been stable. I have not had any issues with it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
For our use, we didn't need scalability with it. It has just been working as we needed it to work.
How are customer service and support?
The only time we had to deal with their support was when we had a problem with getting our older endpoints up to date. They made the upgrades and gave us the solutions on what we needed to do, and that has been working for us.
How was the initial setup?
It was pretty straightforward, and now that it does an automatic update, I don't even have to remember to update it anymore. Once a definition expires, it automatically goes in and puts in the newest definitions, and updates all the endpoints. It is way better than what it used to be.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I don't recall what the cost was, but it wasn't really that expensive.
What other advice do I have?
The only thing I would advise is to get a solution for which you don't have to do a lot of monitoring. It helps when we don't have to have an extra person to manually go through and look at each endpoint to make sure things are up to date and all definitions are up to date.
I would rate it a nine out of ten because it's a really stable platform, and it is doing everything that I need it to do. You can always have improvement, but I'm really not sure what that improvement would be.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks
May 2025

Learn what your peers think about Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Cash Management Officer at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Lightweight, helpful technical support, and user-friendly
Pros and Cons
- "The solution's most valuable feature is its ability to rapidly detect certain hardware files."
- "Currently, we are monitoring all USB drives and ports but we would like to improve our device control capabilities."
What is our primary use case?
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is the antivirus solution we use for Androids.
What is most valuable?
The solution's most valuable feature is its ability to rapidly detect certain hardware files.
All other features of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks are fine.
What needs improvement?
We have implemented a product that blocks USB usage and also provides device control for our company.
Currently, we are monitoring all USB drives and ports but we would like to improve our device control capabilities.
Although we are using this feature, we allow specific systems and USB devices. For example, we enable certain users to use external hard drives but we may disable them if necessary. However, due to the nature of our organization, we do not have a dedicated department for this task.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks for approximately seven years.
We are working with the most recent version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks a ten out of ten.
In our organization, we have 2,700 licenses. Our users are mostly IT specialists.
Our organization is using the Cortex system across all platforms, including servers running Linux, Mac, and Windows operating systems.
Maintenance is done by the vendor.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is good.
We have also used them for Palo Alto Firewalls.
We do not have any issues with support, I would rate them a nine out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, approximately one year ago, we used Kaspersky.
We are currently using both Kaspersky and Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks.
How was the initial setup?
The installation process is straightforward, and the software itself is lightweight.
What about the implementation team?
The installation process takes less than a minute.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our license will require renewal in August, after which the maintenance will continue as usual.
I am not aware of the fees, it is handled by our financial department.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend this solution to others who are interested in using it.
I would rate Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Sr. Network Engineer at a construction company with 10,001+ employees
Low system resource usage, reliable, and flexible
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is the low consumption of system resources. The solution uses a lot of AI and machine learning."
- "Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks could improve by offering remote management. It would be useful to look at the client's issue to fix it."
What is our primary use case?
We are using Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks for all of our remote users because they are not connected to our on-premise data center.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is the low consumption of system resources. The solution uses a lot of AI and machine learning.
What needs improvement?
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks could improve by offering remote management. It would be useful to look at the client's issue to fix it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks for approximately two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is scalable. add license and add many clients.
We have approximately 300 users using this solution in my company.
How are customer service and support?
I have not had an issue to need the support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have previously used antivirus solutions. We decided to use Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks because of its flexibility.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is straightforward because it is in the cloud. The whole deployment took approximately one day.
I rate the setup of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks a four out of five.
What about the implementation team?
We used the vendor to do the implementation of the solution.
What other advice do I have?
After the deployment of this solution, there is no need for maintenance.
I recommend this solution to others because it is easy to manage, reliable, and overall good to use.
I rate Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
CISO at International Bank of Azerbaijan
Provides great security with its machine-learning technology and behavior-based analytics features
Pros and Cons
- "Palo Alto is constantly adding new features."
- "The solution lacks real-time, on-demand antivirus."
What is our primary use case?
This solution has replaced our traditional antivirus solutions; it protects our environment and safeguards our endpoints from any malware or exploitation. We are based in Azerbaijan, I'm the CISO of the company and we are customers of Palo Alto.
How has it helped my organization?
We've seen benefits because the solution includes a big data approach to cyber security. All information is collected from the network, the endpoints, and the logs and analyzed by applying a big-data approach that shows up anomalies.
What is most valuable?
I chose this solution because they constantly add new features and are very proactive about that. To my mind, signature-based antivirus is a thing of the past. These days it's machine-learning technology and behavior-based analytics features that make us more secure. XDR feels secure because of those features.
What needs improvement?
There are still a few gaps with this solution. For example, real-time, on-demand antivirus is not there. If you're looking for compliance XDR is somewhat lacking. There is also no recovery feature; if some endpoint is under attack there must be the possibility of recovering it or restoring it to a normal state. That is currently lacking in XDR.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for about two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
We have premium Palo Alto support and they provide good service.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward.
What other advice do I have?
I think any XDR technology is best for protecting an environment from cyber attacks. The visibility it provides is crucial and XDR gives us that, we can see all effect vectors.
I rate this solution eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Has a centralized console and does predictive analysis of malware
Pros and Cons
- "I like the centralized console and the predictive analysis it does of malware. It is very stable and also scalable."
- "It would be good if they could make an exception for applications. Sometimes, it can be a bit of a challenge to make exceptions for certain applications that have been used as rogue."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case is mainly endpoint protection.
How has it helped my organization?
Previously, we had to install endpoint protection per machine and then scan and update. If there were any possible threats, then you would have to go manually to the machine and scan. Cortex XDR basically does that centrally and predictably.
We get notified, and if need be, we'll investigate an endpoint. For the most part, we haven't had to do a whole lot of that because most of the time, it just stops the threat before it even becomes one. So, we have more time to do day-to-day work rather than spend time chasing those endpoints.
What is most valuable?
I like the centralized console and the predictive analysis it does of malware.
It is very stable and also scalable.
It is easy to deploy and update. It does not require a lot of maintenance.
What needs improvement?
It would be good if they could make an exception for applications. Sometimes, it can be a bit of a challenge to make exceptions for certain applications that have been used as rogue. So, making exceptions would be easier and would probably be better for logging.
It would be nice if it were easier to use and if there were some free training hours.
As for additional features, I would suggest having mobile access to the console, perhaps through a mobile app for the console.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using it for about three years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is great. I think they set the standard for SDR solutions at the moment.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's very scalable. We have it on Macs, Windows, Windows servers, and multiple flavors of Linux.
We have about 460 endpoints deployed. As far as technical users, we have a team of about 10, and that's mixed between server admins and their subsupport users.
The usage is extensive, and we've recently deployed it everywhere. We do plan on probably increasing usage because we have current consultants who use the product in order to access our systems.
How are customer service and technical support?
I wish there could have been more live contact with technical support rather than updated tickets and possible notifications via email. When I've had live encounters, it's been amazing. Sometimes, I think they could be a little bit more responsive live wise, but for the most part, it's been good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used Sophos, and it was okay. The only thing I liked about Sophos was that it was easier to deploy to the desktop, but with Cortex XDR, once you have it already deployed, updating it is easy.
We needed something that was going to work with Macs and Linux, different products. Also, we needed something that would be more predictive versus relying on definition files that are publicly available. You don't want to be in a zero-day attack. With Cortex XDR, it's one of those where you can download any virus. It's just not going to run on your machine. Most malware products rely on a database to tell you that there's a virus file.
Sometimes, there are false positives. If it's a legit file or application that an end user is trying to download and use on their machine, it won't allow that. With Cortex XDR, however, they can download the file. It's just going to be rendered useless until you enable it and make an exception for it. It can run what identifies it and just sends you a notification saying that it's a malicious file and that it's there. It's not going to do anything to the system. That was a huge selling factor with Cortex XDR.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is pretty straightforward. It took a couple of hours and was pretty easy to deploy.
Once it's deployed in your system, you can push updates yourself. In the case of Macs, when you get new releases you sometimes have to tweak it and then push it out manually to end users. One admin could dedicate a couple of hours a week at best because there's not much maintenance.
What about the implementation team?
Palo Alto got on the phone with us and walked us through it. They were very helpful.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's about $55 per license on a yearly basis.
What other advice do I have?
Learn the product because once you deploy it and a lot of people look at it from an endpoint perspective, they get the endpoint protection instantly. However, there are other things that you need to learn more about. Once you deploy Cortex XDR, you get a subscription to a data lake, which helps you retain logs. We have Palo Alto firewalls and later on learned that we can also integrate our firewalls and get the logs.
You have a limited amount of space for log retention, but things like that are important in cases where you need to have PCI compliance or have a company policy of retaining a certain amount of logs.
So, learn all the features and ask questions, and perhaps if it's going to be something that you're going to use as an investment for your company, take a training class.
On a scale from one to ten, I would rate Cortex XDR at nine.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Used for investigating incidents and malware analysis
Pros and Cons
- "The solution allows us to gain remote access without the user's knowledge and take the necessary actions on the device."
- "It takes time to scan the servers and devices."
What is our primary use case?
I used the solution for investigating incidents and malware analysis.
What is most valuable?
The solution allows us to gain remote access without the user's knowledge and take the necessary actions on the device. For investigation, we can just drop down and easily elaborate on the issues, like where the user went and what they downloaded. We can use the solution to find out everything easily.
What needs improvement?
It takes time to scan the servers and devices. Scanning the server sometimes takes two to three days. If the device is offline, the scan gets disconnected.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks for one and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Around seven people used the solution in our organization.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is quite an expensive solution.
What other advice do I have?
I use the solution for investigation, which includes incident handling and incident alerts. There is a separate part in Cortex XDR where we can use timestamps to categorize the alert or attack type. Based on the attack criticality, we can investigate and fine-tune a lot of things. In Cortex XDR, we can get the same alert at different times. We can fine-tune using the Cortex XDR tool.
Also, we can use queries in Cortex XDR for automation, accessing the device, or scanning the device. The query part is good, but we need to spend a little time learning about the query. It's easy to understand the query.
There is a template that you can use to click and say something. If you are going to investigate, many tabs are given based on the tactics, techniques, and procedures. It is easy to understand, and we can gather basic information from there. It is easy for a new user to learn to use the solution for the first time.
Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Business development manager for Palo Alto Networks at Westcon-Comstor
Has a simple setup process and efficient stability
Pros and Cons
- "The product's most valuable features are massive user and feature intelligence exploit detection."
- "It is an enterprise-level solution. Its price could be less expensive."
What is our primary use case?
We use the product as a detection and response application.
What is most valuable?
The product's most valuable features are massive user and feature intelligence exploit detection. It is very useful in detecting threats to databases. The last meter statistics prove the efficient capabilities of the solution.
What needs improvement?
It is an enterprise-level solution. Its price could be less expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is 100% stable. I have never received any complaints from the customers.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is easily scalable as it is a cloud-based product.
How are customer service and support?
We provide support services for our customers. Palo Alto's support services are expensive, and customers also encounter language barriers.
How was the initial setup?
The initial process is simple. It requires training of about three to four days to understand the installation process. It is deployed on the cloud. The number of software engineers required depends on the number of the endpoints.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We pay in advance for the product's license. It has reasonable pricing for the use cases it provides to the company. We can split this payment monthly, quarterly, or yearly, according to the customer's requirements. For a cost-benefit analysis when choosing a security solution, consider factors such as the number of attacks prevented, the impact of those attacks, potential losses, and other hidden costs.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks for ten out of ten. It could be improved from a commercial perspective. It could approach the SMB market as well.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller

Buyer's Guide
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Updated: May 2025
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