Northwave vs Palo Alto Networks
Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Palo Alto Networks is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Northwave targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Palo Alto Networks serves Mid-market and Enterprise. Northwave includes 2 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Network), compared to 5 for Palo Alto Networks (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
Buyer brief
Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Palo Alto Networks is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Northwave targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Palo Alto Networks serves Mid-market and Enterprise. Northwave includes 2 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Network), compared to 5 for Palo Alto Networks (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
Palo Alto Networks is the choice if you want a single-vendor stack with deep integration. Northwave is better if you have existing tools and want flexibility.
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC | Enterprise organizations already invested in the Palo Alto ecosystem (NGFW, Prisma, WildFire) wanting native MDR |
| Price | Custom quote | Cortex XDR Pro platform: ~$81/endpoint/yr; MDR extra |
| Response authority | 1/6 actions · Configurable | 6/6 actions · Configurable |
| Stack | Works with existing stack | Requires own platform |
| Data access | Dashboards | Full query access |
| Warranty | None listed | Available |
- Best fit
- Benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 1/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
- Best fit
- Enterprise organizations already invested in the Palo Alto ecosystem (NGFW, Prisma, WildFire) wanting native MDR
- Price
- Cortex XDR Pro platform: ~$81/endpoint/yr; MDR extra
- Response authority
- 6/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Requires own platform
- Data access
- Full query access
- Warranty
- Available
›› Detailed comparison
| FIELD | NorthwaveTECH-AGNOSTIC | Palo Alto NetworksPLATFORM |
|---|---|---|
| ›› Fit | ||
| Target size | Mid-market, Enterprise | Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Mixed | Positive |
| ›› Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Requires their platform |
| EDR integrations | Customer endpoint telemetry | Cortex XDR (native, required for full endpoint D&R)Third-party EDR telemetry (MSIAM 2.0, Feb 2026) |
| SIEM integrations | Customer log sources | Cortex XSIAM (native) |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: LimitedIDIdentity: LimitedSaaSSaaS: Not coveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: CoveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on |
| ›› Response | ||
| Response type | Active Remediation | Active Remediation |
| Approval policy | Configurable | Configurable |
| Response actions | Custom playbooks | IsolateKill processContainDisable accountsQuarantineCustom playbooks |
| IR included | Separate | Separate |
| ›› Cost | ||
| Price range | Not published | Cortex XDR Pro: ~$81/endpoint/year reported (platform only, pricing sources vary). Unit 42 MDR service is additional custom pricing. Total cost depends on endpoints, tier, coverage scope, and contract terms. |
| Minimum seats | None | None |
| Breach warranty | – | ✓ |
| ›› More details | ||
| Requires own agent | No | Yes |
| Endpoints | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Cloud workloads | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| Identity | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| SaaS apps | Not offered | ✓ Included |
| Network | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| OT/ICS | + Optional | + Optional |
| Threat hunting | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Response SLA | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Custom quote. Northwave does not publish MDR package pricing. | Subscription-based, custom pricing. Cortex XDR/XSIAM platform license required as prerequisite, with Unit 42 MDR service as additional subscription. |
| Hidden cost warnings | Public pages do not publish response SLAs or named default response actions.. Rapid Response is a separate related service, so buyers should confirm what incident-response support is included in base MDR.. Cloud, SaaS and identity coverage are not named as clearly as endpoint, log and network telemetry.. Detection tuning depends on onboarding log sources and threat-based use cases, which may affect deployment effort. | Cortex XDR/XSIAM platform license is a significant prerequisite cost on top of MDR service fee. Cortex Data Lake storage costs are separate and scale with data volume. Renewal price increases reported by community (up to 225% per some Gartner reviews). Best experience requires native Cortex XDR agent, third-party EDR support available via MSIAM 2.0 but with reduced fidelity. Enterprise pricing only, not accessible for SMBs |
| Data portability | Partial | Limited |
| Contract terms | Custom | Annual, Multi-year |
| Channels | PortalEmailPhone | PortalEmailPhone |
| Data access | Dashboards | Full query access |
| Dedicated analyst | – | ✓ |
| SOC regions | Europe | North AmericaEuropeAsia-Pacific |
| Onboarding | Northwave says implementation starts with a plan covering service elements, phases, planning and threat-based use cases, then onboarding log sources and processes. No standard public onboarding duration was found. | 4-8 weeks typical for enterprise |
| Industry focus | Financial ServicesHealthcareManufacturingLogisticsTechnologyPublic SectorCritical Infrastructure | Government/Public SectorFinancial ServicesHealthcareTechnologyCritical Infrastructure |
| MTTD | Not published | Not formally published. Customers report up to 90% reduction. 2x faster than average MDR participant (Frost & Sullivan 2024). Green Bay Packers case study: 5-minute response time. |
| MTTR | Not published | Not formally published. Green Bay Packers case study: median resolution time 42 minutes with Cortex XSIAM. Customers report up to 90% reduction in MTTR. |
| Community view | Northwave has limited MDR-specific public review volume. The public buyer case rests on European delivery, Utrecht SOC operations and the connection between MDR, CERT, red team and threat research. Buyers should validate response authority, cloud and identity coverage, pricing and escalation rules before signing. | PeerSpot 8.4/10 (Cortex XDR platform, not MDR-specific). Frost & Sullivan Frost Radar Leader Global MDR 2024 and 2025. Strong detection capabilities and threat intelligence praised. Pricing is the most consistent complaint. No G2 MDR listing. No Reddit discussion specific to Unit 42 MDR found. |
| Compliance | NIS2ISO 27001GDPRTISAX | SOC 2+ (aligned to HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, UK NCSC)ISO 27001FedRAMP ModerateDoD IL5StateRAMP |
| Certifications | – | SOC 2+ (with HIPAA Security Rule alignment)ISO 27001FedRAMP Moderate (Cortex XDR, Cortex Data Lake, Prisma Access, Prisma Cloud, WildFire)DoD IL5StateRAMPGovRAMP |
| Founded | 2006 | 2005 |
| Data retention | Not published as a standard MDR retention period. | Cortex Data Lake: ~$11,000 per 1TB. Retention configurable by customer. |
| API available | – | ✓ |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
›› FAQ
What is the main difference between Northwave and Palo Alto Networks?
Northwave is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Palo Alto Networks is a Platform vendor that is platform-native (requires their own security stack). Northwave covers 2 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 5 for Palo Alto Networks.
How do Northwave and Palo Alto Networks differ in response capabilities?
Northwave supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Palo Alto Networks supports 6 autonomous actions (account disable, custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, file quarantine, network containment, process termination) and approval is configurable.
How does Northwave pricing compare to Palo Alto Networks?
Northwave pricing: Not published. Palo Alto Networks pricing: Cortex XDR Pro: ~$81/endpoint/year reported (platform only, pricing sources vary). Unit 42 MDR service is additional custom pricing. Total cost depends on endpoints, tier, coverage scope, and contract terms.. Watch for with Northwave: Public pages do not publish response SLAs or named default response actions.; Rapid Response is a separate related service, so buyers should confirm what incident-response support is included in base MDR.. Watch for with Palo Alto Networks: Cortex XDR/XSIAM platform license is a significant prerequisite cost on top of MDR service fee; Cortex Data Lake storage costs are separate and scale with data volume.
Should I choose Northwave or Palo Alto Networks?
Choose Northwave if: benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC. Choose Palo Alto Networks if: enterprise organizations already invested in the Palo Alto ecosystem (NGFW, Prisma, WildFire) wanting native MDR. Northwave is not ideal for buyers that need public MDR pricing or response SLAs before engaging sales. Palo Alto Networks is not ideal for sMBs or budget-constrained organizations (significant platform prerequisites plus MDR service fee).
Daylight Security
AI-native MDR for buyers comparing active remediation across endpoint, cloud, identity, and SaaS. Daylight works with existing EDR/SIEM stacks and uses ChatOps-native collaboration, so it can be a useful third reference point in this comparison.