# Palo Alto: how AI models rank it, September 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition. Named in 20 judge labels across 6 categories by 9 of 12 models. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/vendors/palo-alto/

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Next-generation firewalls | 0% | 22 | 0% | 7 |
| Extended detection and response | 0% | 61 | 67% | 6 |
| Zero trust network access | 0% | 69 | 67% | 3 |
| Endpoint protection | 0% | 64 | 50% | 2 |
| Attack surface management | 0% | 80 | 0% | 1 |
| SOAR platforms | 0% | 40 | 0% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "look elsewhere (Palo Alto, Check Point, or Juniper have better security track records in the near-term)" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, Firewalls)

## And against it

- "Enterprise-heavy like Zscaler/Palo Alto? Avoid—custom pricing often $15+/user, no free tiers." (Grok 4.1 Fast, ZTNA)
- "buying a native XDR platform (such as those from CrowdStrike, Palo Alto, Microsoft, ...) and then trying to feed it third-party logs through generic connectors" (Mistral Small, XDR)
- "Full enterprise suites (like Palo Alto or Zscaler) are often prohibitively expensive and complex for smaller organizations." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, ZTNA)
- "Palo Alto and CrowdStrike are strongest in their own ecosystems; outside those contexts, fit can be much weaker." (Perplexity Sonar, XDR)

## Record

- Method: https://it-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://it-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as IT AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, it-ai-index.com.