9 best XDR tools – integrated defense for modern IT [buyer’s guide]

Cybersecurity continues to be a top priority for organizations, but confidence in existing systems is alarmingly low. Only 4% of organizations are confident that their connected devices and related technologies are protected against cyberattacks.

This gap highlights the need for advanced cybersecurity solutions, such as XDR. Also known as extended detection and response, XDR combines cybersecurity solutions like EDR, NGAV, IAM, and SIEM into a unified platform, offering multilayered protection for organizations.

In 2025, there are dozens of XDR solutions available, which makes choosing between them difficult. To help you with this process, we’ve reviewed the best XDR software below. Before that, let’s look at what an XDR tool is, what its key components are, and why you should invest in one.

What is an XDR tool?

XDR (Extended Detection and Response) software integrates and correlates data from multiple security layers, such as endpoints, networks, the cloud, or email, and provides a comprehensive view of your overall security posture.

XDR tools combine technologies from multiple security tools, such as EDR and SIEM. The integrated nature of XDR software is why many organizations are looking to invest in it.

Key components of XDR software

The key components of XDR tools are data collection, threat detection, automated responses, incident management, and continuous learning. 

Here’s how XDR tools work in five steps:

1. Integrated data collection

XDR tools collect data from multiple sources, including endpoints, servers, networks, identity, email systems, and cloud workloads. This data is then centralized, and you can access it through a single interface.

With data integrated from all of your sources, you have complete visibility across your entire IT ecosystem, ensuring that no touch point is overlooked.

2. Threat detection

After collecting the data, XDR tools analyze it using techniques like machine learning and AI, threat intelligence, and advanced analytics. The purpose of this process is to identify unusual patterns and flag potential security threats.

3. Automated response

Once threats are detected, XDR systems prioritize threat data by severity so that IT staff can quickly analyze and prioritize the most critical events and automate responses to them. 

Based on the severity, the automated responses can include isolating compromised endpoints, enforcing security policies, terminating suspicious processes, and so on.

4. Detailed incident management

XDR providers not only detect threats but also help understand why they occur. XDR systems include a root cause analysis tool, which identifies the source of incidents, monitors their progression, and gives insights on how to prevent hackers from exploiting your system again.

5. Continuous learning

XDR software uses AI and machine learning to learn and improve continuously. Machine learning algorithms continually update their threat detection capabilities, meaning your protection will only improve over time.

Why do you need an XDR tool?

Why should you invest in an XDR tool? XDR tools come with many benefits, and the main ones are:

• Integrated threat visibility: XDR tools are the most comprehensive cybersecurity solution, thereby offering the best threat protection. Unlike EDR, SIEM, and SOAR, XDR tools collect data from endpoints, network traffic, email, servers, cloud workloads, and more.
• Reduced alert fatigue: XDR tools prioritize alerts based on their severity so you can focus on the ones that matter most. Alert filtering has become increasingly critical as SOC teams receive 4,484 alerts a day, with 67% being ignored because of alert fatigue and false positives.
• Faster breach identification and containment: On average, it takes 194 days to identify a data breach and 292 days to contain it fully. XDR tools significantly shorten this process by monitoring your system activity, alerting you to potential issues, and offering tools to remediate them.
• Boosted productivity: XDR tools can automatically respond to threats by isolating compromised systems, blocking malicious IP addresses, resetting passwords, and more. This frees up the IT staff’s time to focus on more strategic tasks.
• Access to recent technology: Within the XDR and ITSM market, new technologies, like Agentic AI, have already emerged, which can completely transform how your organization manages IT operations. Using the right XDR tools, you can get access to tools using these technologies.

The 9 best XDR tools for a holistic defence in 2026

Below, we’ve reviewed the 9 top XDR solutions according to our research, which are:

• Bitdefender GravityZone – Best XDR for layered protection
• Cynet – Best all-in-one XDR platform
• ESET – Best low-cost XDR
• SentinelOne Singularity XDR – Best for large organizations
• Microsoft Defender XDR – Best XDR for Microsoft 365 and Azure environments
• Sophos XDR – Best XDR with a strong feature set
• CrowdStrike Falcon – Best XDR with workflow automation
• Cortex XDR – Best XDR for cross-data source correlation
• Cisco XDR – Best XDR for organizations with Cisco infrastructure

Bitdefender GravityZone – Best XDR for layered protection

Bitdefender GravityZone offers threat visibility and response across endpoints, identities, networks, clouds, mobile devices, and applications. The tool correlates threat signals from various data points and provides an incident graph, a detailed attack synopsis, and a guided response plan.

To assist with incident management, GravityZone offers an Incident Advisor feature that outlines what, why, and how an incident happened. Users also have access to a root cause analysis tool to investigate the root causes of an incident deeply.

G2 Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars (70+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (220+ reviews)

Bitdefender GravityZone pricing:

• The GravityZone Business Security Premium enterprise pricing plans start from $570 per year for 10 devices.

Cynet – Best all-in-one XDR platform

Cynet is an all-in-one XDR platform that offers full end-to-end protection of endpoints, servers, networks, users, emails, and the cloud. It monitors your IT environment in real-time to ensure threats are not missed. Cynet helps with automated threat detection and response through features like continuous email monitoring, user behavior analytics, and port scanning.

Like ESET, Cynet integrates with Atera for additional capabilities, such as patch management, RMM, remote access, and IT ticketing. Cynet also offers an MDR software for organizations that need 24/7 expert help.

G2 Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars (210+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0 stars (5 reviews)

Cynet pricing:

• Elite: $7 per month per endpoint
• All in One: $10 per month per endpoint 

ESET – Best low-cost XDR

ESET is a low-cost XDR solution for identifying anomalous behavior and breaches on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. Its key features include incident visualization for a better understanding of incidents, root cause analysis to pinpoint the origin of threats, and live response options for eliminating threats. 

ESET has an alert scoring system to prevent alert fatigue from happening. For extended IT management functionality, ESET integrates with Atera. ESET also offers an MDR solution, which is essentially an XDR as a managed service.

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (850+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars (1,100+ reviews)

ESET pricing:

• ESET Protect Entry: Starts at $153.50/year for 5 endpoints
• ESET Protect Advanced: Starts at $200/year for 5 endpoints
• ESET Protect Complete: Starts at $246/year for 5 endpoints

SentinelOne Singularity XDR – Best for large organizations

SentinelOne Singularity XDR is a strong option for large organizations looking to gather and combine data across different sources to understand a threat in depth. To respond to threats, you can use automated workflows, real-time alerts, and AI response actions. Like Atera’s Network Discovery tool, SentinelOne XDR offers network discovery as an add-on to map out your assets.

Singularity XDR integrates with Singularity Cloud to extend security across servers, containers, VMs, and Kubernetes clusters. This is ideal for teams needing protection across public cloud, private cloud, and on-premise data centers.

G2 Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars (180+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0 stars (100+ reviews)

SentinelOne pricing:

• Singularity Core: $69.99/year, per endpoint
• Singularity Control:  $79.99/year, per endpoint
• Singularity Complete: $179.99/year, per endpoint
• Singularity Commercial: $229.99/year, per endpoint
• Singularity Enterprise: Pricing is based on a custom quotation

Microsoft Defender XDR – Best XDR for Microsoft 365 and Azure environments

Microsoft Defender XDR is the best XDR for Microsoft 365 and Azure environments. It helps to protect endpoints, SaaS apps, identities, IoT devices, and email and collaboration tools. Defender XDR has an incident queue page that lists unresolved incidents and their severity. Once threats have been identified, the tool responds to them automatically by blocking URLs, stopping processes, isolating devices, and more.

Defender XDR integrates with Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Sentinel, and more. In addition, it offers support for MSPs with a multitenant environment feature.

G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars (290+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars (60+ reviews)

Microsoft Defender XDR pricing:

• You need to fill out a form on Microsoft’s website to get the pricing. Their security expert will be in touch with you via phone. 

Sophos XDR – Best XDR with a strong feature set

Sophos XDR combines eight different Sophos products into one unified solution, making it one of the most robust XDR solutions on the market. It detects anomalies across endpoints, cloud environments, mobile devices, firewalls, and networks. Once the threats are detected, the automated actions include process termination, ransomware rollback, and network isolation.

Similar to Atera, Sophos has cybersecurity AI capabilities that assist in identifying suspicious activity. The AI capabilities give insights into attacker behavior, help understand detections, and recommend next steps.  For even more functionality, Sophos integrates with Microsoft, CrowdStrike, Darktrace, BrightGauge, and more.

G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (450+ reviews)

Capterra rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars (210+ reviews)

Sophos Intercept X pricing:

• To get the pricing, fill in a form on Sophos’ website. Their team will contact you.

CrowdStrike Falcon – Best XDR with workflow automation

CrowdStrike Falcon is mainly used for enterprise IT management and comes with advanced detection and workflow automation capabilities. It works alongside its EDR tools, which can be extended to gather data from identity, cloud, mobile, data flows, and third-party applications.

CrowdStrike has a Charlotte AI chatbot feature where you can ask questions about your assets. Similar to Atera’s AI script generator, Charlotte AI is capable of generating scripts to resolve problems.

G2 rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars (290+ reviews)

Capterra rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars (45+ reviews)

CrowdStrike Falcon pricing:

• Falcon Go: $59.99/device, per year
• Falcon Pro: $99.99/device, per year
• Falcon Enterprise: $184.99/device, per year
• Falcon Complete MDR: You need to contact sales for pricing

Cortex XDR – Best XDR for cross-data source correlation

If you want to collect data from almost any imaginable source, whether it’s endpoints, network traffic, cloud services, identity systems, or third-party tools, Cortex XDR is the best solution.

Cortex XDR collects data and uses AI to identify anomalies that may indicate attacks. Users get a complete picture of threats with Cortex XDR’s incident management tool. With a single click, you can view the root cause of any alert. To safeguard endpoints, Cortex XDR offers technologies like NGAV, disk encryption, USB device control, and a host firewall.

G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (45+ reviews)

Capterra rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 stars (15+ reviews)

Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR pricing:

• To get the pricing, you need to request a demo from the Palo Alto Networks website.

Cisco XDR – Best XDR for organizations with Cisco infrastructure

Cisco XDR is a popular choice for organizations that are already using Cisco products, such as Cisco’s Meraki MX network switches and business routers. Meraki MX products natively integrate with Cisco XDR and provide visibility into network activity.

Cisco XDR’s key features include threat hunting with automated MITRE ATT&CK mappings, customizable orchestration playbooks, incident prioritization, and automation. Cisco’s AI Assistant in XDR provides guidance based on real-time data, remediation tactics, and next steps for fixing threats.

G2 Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars (3 reviews)

Capterra Rating: n/a

Cisco XDR Pricing:

• Cisco offers three XDR packages, which all come at custom pricing. To get the pricing, join Cisco’s demo webinar.

Atera – the best IT management platform with integrated XDR

Atera is an all-in-one IT management platform that integrates with the leading XDR solutions to complement its endpoint management capabilities. Atera’s XDR integrations include Bitdefender, Cynet, and ESET. Here’s what each of them is useful for:

• Bitdefender: Use Atera and Bitdefender to get access to antimalware, advanced threat control, web filtering, and ransomware mitigation capabilities. 
• Cynet: Get security insights into endpoints, networks, users, and SaaS applications by combining Atera and Cynet.
• ESET: Use multilayered protection for computers and smartphones, and access mail security with the Atera and ESET integration.

Using Atera, enterprises can access our built-in capabilities for endpoint management and use the XDR integrations to protect against advanced threats further.

Features and capabilities

Atera integrates with the leading XDR software but also has built-in features to protect your workstations and other endpoints against threats. These include:

• Real-time monitoring and alerting: Monitor your system activity in real-time with  Atera’s RMM and receive alerts when potential issues arise, helping you to keep your systems secure.
• AI agents: Access Atera’s two innovative AI agents and run your IT operations autonomously. Tackle manual, repetitive tasks like creating step-by-step instructions, resolving technical issues, or generating scripts automatically. Eliminate 40% of your IT workload and free up techs’ time for more strategic tasks.
• XDR integrations: Integrate Atera with the leading XDR tools, including ESET, Cynet, and Bitdefender. Use Atera’s other integrations with antivirus software, firewall management, and threat intelligence integrations.
• Reports: Monitor system health and performance through Atera’s reports and analytics, like system health, patch status, software inventory, ticket activity, and more.
• Automation: Use Atera’s IT automation profiles to automate tasks like deploying patches, performing maintenance tasks, and running scripts.
• Helpdesk and ticketing: Manage tickets, respond to them automatically with Atera’s AI Copilot, create customer portals, and use the integrated PSA and billing for client support.

For a detailed list of Atera’s features and their benefits, read our Atera review.

Customer reviews and ratings

G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (830+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on G2:

• “Atera is a powerful RMM platform that we’ve integrated into our IT operations for managing endpoints. It offers full control over both the devices and applications we manage, which is vital for our IT team,” a G2 user says.

• “We use Atera in a healthcare environment, and it’s incredibly easy to set up automation policies and create scripts for rolling out software,” a G2 user says.

Capterra rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (380+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on Capterra:

• “Atera’s monitoring is great when handling 100+ companies, because I can prioritize according to the alerts I receive,” a Capterra user says.

• “Atera’s dashboard is intuitive and provides insights into the systems we manage, making remote access and troubleshooting tasks easy for us,” a Capterra user says.

Atera pricing plans

Atera uses transparent and scalable pay-per-technician pricing, where you pay for the number of technicians using the platform instead of the number of endpoints managed. Enterprise customers get dedicated user onboarding, and 24/7 customer support is available for all users.

The pricing plans are as follows:

Atera pricing plans for IT departments: 

• Professional: $149 per month, per technician
• Expert: $189 per month, per technician
• Master: $219 per month, per technician
• Enterprise: Custom quotation; contact sales to get pricing

Atera pricing plans for MSPs:

• Pro: $129 per month, per technician
• Growth: $179 per month, per technician
• Power: $209 per month, per technician
• Superpower (Enterprise): Custom quotation; contact sales to get pricing

Choose the best security solution for your organization

As you look for a security solution for your organization, you’ll quickly realize XDR is not the only option. There are also EDR, MDR, SIEM, and other security-focused tools.

There are also options like Atera, which offer all-in-one RMM software with strong security capabilities. Instead of having to invest in redundant software for IT management, Atera integrates all the key tools into one platform.

With the right RMM, patch management, helpdesk, and countless XDR integrations, Atera lets you manage your entire security strategy in one convenient place.

Interested in learning more? You can easily contact our sales team to discuss your needs further or sign up for Atera’s 30-day free trial to try the features yourself.