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CrowdStrike vs. Cortex XDR
The promise of XDR, delivered. Cortex XDR natively unifies your key security data for unparalleled detection, investigation, and response.
CrowdStrike
Falls short on default out-of-the-box prevention
- Prevention policies need to be tuned to block threats effectively, weakening initial security posture.
Why Palo Alto Networks
Stops breaches with the world’s most accurate prevention
The XDR agent blocks sophisticated threats in real-time, with rigorously tested capabilities that work right out-of-the-box.
Zero
Prevention false positives in the latest MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations.
CrowdStrike
Detection gaps force teams into manual work
- Doesn’t include native analytics for non-endpoint sources like network and email, forcing your team to write custom detection rules.
Why Palo Alto Networks
Delivers the best detection with zero manual work
Palo Alto Networks pioneered the XDR category. Cortex XDR collects telemetry from every key source: endpoint, network, cloud, identity, and email to power pre-built, AI-driven detectors that find threats fast without manual work.
100%
Detection in the latest MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations, with no configuration changes.
CrowdStrike
Breaks the analyst experience
- CrowdStrike forces analysts to switch between products to fully address an incident, wasting time and losing context. Detection, alert triage, investigation, and response for non-endpoint sources (network, email) require their separate NG-SIEM product.
Why Palo Alto Networks
Unifies the analyst experience
Cortex XDR provides everything you need in one product for multi-domain detection, alert triage, investigation, and response. It saves hours of analysts time each day by automatically turning related alerts from every source into single, prioritized cases that tell the complete story of an attack.
98%
Reduction in alerts to triage with AI-driven grouping and scoring.
CrowdStrike
Slows response with limited automation
- CrowdStrike automation is incomplete and lacks the actions needed to go beyond basic tasks.
- You don’t get everything out-of-the-box - response actions and playbooks are blocked by license type.
Why Palo Alto Networks
Slashes response time with full automation across every key data source
We deliver outcome-oriented automation that matters. Cortex XDR includes built-in playbooks from Cortex XSOAR (the #1 SOAR), enabling full response and remediation across every key data source, cutting response time to minutes.
95+
Integrations power comprehensive playbook automation.
CrowdStrike
Doesn’t deliver a true SOC platform
- To go beyond EDR, CrowdStrike forces customers to use separate products, including an incomplete SIEM product that lacks unified analytics across endpoint, network, cloud, identity, and email sources. This fails to deliver a true, holistic SOC platform.
Why Palo Alto Networks
The true SOC platform that starts with XDR
Cortex XDR immediately sets the foundation for your AI-driven SOC. It unifies data from all key sources in a single data lake, powering native security analytics. This provides a frictionless path to Cortex XSIAM—the single, complete platform that unifies your entire SOC and stops threats faster.
1
Single data lake with a frictionless path to a unified, AI-driven SOC.
Side-by-Side: Cortex XDR vs. CrowdStrike
Cortex XDR
|
CrowdStrike
| |
|---|---|---|
Endpoint Prevention | High efficacy out-of-the-box The AI-driven XDR agent blocks sophisticated threats in real time, with rigorously tested capabilities that work right out-of-the-box. Achieved 99% prevention in the latest AV-Comparatives EPR test. | Requires policy tuning Prevention policies are off by default, requiring tuning to begin blocking effectively. Achieved 97.7% prevention in the latest AV-Comparatives EPR test. |
Threat Detection | Native analytics for all key data sources 10K detectors and 2.6K ML models detect threats natively across endpoint, network, cloud, identity, and email sources. With endpoint data alone, Cortex XDR achieved 100% detection in MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations Round 6. | Lacks analytics for several key data sources No native analytics for network or email data sources, requiring manual work for detection. Did not participate in MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations Round 6. |
Investigation Workflow | Unified, AI-driven investigations Builds rich context from all key data sources, allowing AI-driven grouping and scoring to create unified cases that tell the complete story of an attack. Analysts experience 8x faster investigations and 98% fewer alerts to triage. | Fragmented investigations Investigations involving third-party data are split between EDR/XDR and NG-SIEM, requiring multiple products to investigate the complete story of an attack. |
Response Automation | Outcome-oriented playbooks Native automation playbooks built into Cortex XDR are focused on remediation, not just simple tasks. Playbooks support all key data sources. | Basic playbooks Native playbooks are focused on simple tasks, and require NG-SIEM to unlock coverage for many 3rd-party sources. |
SOC Platform | The foundation of the Cortex SOC platform With key data in place, Cortex XDR creates the foundation for a unified, AI-driven SOC with a frictionless path to Cortex XSIAM. | Not a unified SOC platform Lacks native analytics coverage across the key data sources needed for a unified SOC platform. |
Why Trust Palo Alto Networks
Proven leadership from the world’s largest cybersecurity company
- 100% technique-level detection in MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations Round 6
- AAA rated with 100% prevention in the 2025 SE Labs Ransomware Test
- 3x Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Endpoint Protection Platforms
- 29% lower 5-year TCO than Crowdstrike in the latest AV-Comparatives EPR Test
98%
Willingness to recommend score in the 2025 Gartner Peer Insights Voice of the Customer for EPP.
“The user experience and interface of Cortex XDR is exceptional, allowing us to easily navigate and digest reports. With this solution, we also have extensive visibility into our security stack and our data lake, helping us triage and investigate alerts for response and remediation action.”
“With Palo Alto Networks, we can sunset point solutions and roll them into a consolidated platform for more efficient operations and cost savings.”
“We get far fewer alerts from Unit 42 MDR than we did from our previous provider. If they surface an incident, we know it’s something we need to look into, and then we work together to resolve it quickly. They use their knowledge and expertise to determine priority, which is a big time-saver.”
“It’s a lot like having another member of our team. They [Unit 42 MDR] manage our alerts and escalate the ones that matter.”
“Palo Alto Networks makes it far, far easier to safeguard our university infrastructure and respond instantly to incidents. By protecting what’s important in the background, we can fight fires in a different forest.”
“Cortex XDR, Data Lake, and Cortex XSOAR was a powerful combination—it allowed us to realise the benefits of automation to support a next-generation SOC.”
“The user experience and interface of Cortex XDR is exceptional, allowing us to easily navigate and digest reports. With this solution, we also have extensive visibility into our security stack and our data lake, helping us triage and investigate alerts for response and remediation action.”
“With Palo Alto Networks, we can sunset point solutions and roll them into a consolidated platform for more efficient operations and cost savings.”
“We get far fewer alerts from Unit 42 MDR than we did from our previous provider. If they surface an incident, we know it’s something we need to look into, and then we work together to resolve it quickly. They use their knowledge and expertise to determine priority, which is a big time-saver.”
“It’s a lot like having another member of our team. They [Unit 42 MDR] manage our alerts and escalate the ones that matter.”
“Palo Alto Networks makes it far, far easier to safeguard our university infrastructure and respond instantly to incidents. By protecting what’s important in the background, we can fight fires in a different forest.”
“Cortex XDR, Data Lake, and Cortex XSOAR was a powerful combination—it allowed us to realise the benefits of automation to support a next-generation SOC.”
