Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Anomali vs Microsoft Defender XDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 1, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Anomali
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
27th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (34th), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (18th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (22nd), Threat Intelligence Platforms (7th)
Microsoft Defender XDR
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
101
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category, the mindshare of Anomali is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 6.9%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
 

Featured Reviews

SP
Effective threat modeling and intelligence prioritization streamline threat hunting
An area for improvement is the intelligence sharing within the Anomali community. The tagging system can be inconsistent, as any company can use any tags for their reporting. Combining all aliases into a coherent solution would be beneficial, as we had to review each individual source ourselves. This would improve intelligence collection across Anomali.
Gabor Nyerd - PeerSpot reviewer
Includes four services and four products, which can help organizations a lot
We found that sometimes integrations work, but testing them can take some time. Sometimes, configurations take much longer than expected. We have a configuration in place that needs to be synchronized with another server. However, the servers are four hours apart, so this can cause delays. In general, I believe that the time it takes to configure and test a service should be shorter. Sometimes, it can take a couple of hours to test a single configuration setting. Other times, it is only ten or fifteen minutes, which is normal. However, sometimes, even immediate actions can be triggered by configuration changes, and some settings can take up to eight hours to complete. I believe that this time can be improved. Microsoft is making a lot of improvements to its services in a short period of time. This is a good thing, as it means that the services are constantly being updated and improved. However, it can be challenging for customers to keep up with the changes. For example, a customer may read about an update, understand it, and share it with their colleagues and boss. However, it may take days or weeks to test the update and get the necessary approvals. This can be especially challenging for large customers with many users or machines. In some cases, Microsoft may change a service before the customer has had a chance to implement the previous update. This can be frustrating for customers, as it means that they have to constantly learn new things and adjust their workflows. On the one hand, it is important for Microsoft to keep updating and improving its services. This helps to ensure that the services are meeting the customers' needs and that they are staying ahead of the competition. Microsoft should also be mindful of the challenges that these changes can create for customers. One way to address this challenge is to provide customers with more time to implement changes. Microsoft could also provide more information about upcoming changes so that customers can plan ahead. Ultimately, Microsoft needs to strike a balance between keeping its services up-to-date and providing customers with a smooth transition to new features.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable aspect of Anomali is the threat modeling capability."
"The feature I have found most valuable is credential monitoring. This feature is easy and quick."
"I have found Cyber threat intelligence (CTI) very useful and concise. The solution is easy to use."
"Defender XDR has a feature called the timeline that lets you track all activities. It helps a lot with investigations."
"The visibility into threats is also very impressive because Microsoft helps you predict things and provides analytics to help you really improve your security. And all of this technology works across the domain, so it is pretty helpful in terms of threat analytics."
"The incident threat response and its ability to facilitate effective remediation against threats are the standout features."
"Microsoft Defender XDR is a complete package of different Defender solutions, including Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Office 365, Defender for Cloud, and Sentinel SIEM, among others."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that Microsoft Defender XDR is easy to integrate with other Microsoft platforms or products."
"Based on what I've seen with Microsoft Defender XDR and the large amount of threat data Microsoft has access to, I'm confident I would trust Microsoft Security to handle the majority of all our threats from any threat actor who's essentially putting our company at risk."
"I like the easy integration and advanced possibilities. We can implement it at customer sites in a few clicks, but we can also dive deep and drill down to extended features. There's a very good starting point to get into this product and all the features from Defender."
"The most valuable feature is probably the aggregation and correlation of the different telemetry points with Defender for Identity, Defender for Endpoint, and Defender for Cloud Apps. All of these various things are part of that portal. We've wanted that single pane of glass for years."
 

Cons

"A lot of tools can give you many features, such as CTI intelligence and a tax service reduction. However, many people are combining different tools together to have more capabilities. It is up to the consumer whether they want to have multiple tools or have one tool that serves the purpose. Anomali Enterprise could improve by combining all the other tools' features into one solution."
"An area for improvement is the intelligence sharing within the Anomali community. The tagging system can be inconsistent, as any company can use any tags for their reporting."
"Less code in integration would be nice when building blocks."
"The price should be adjustable by region."
"Improving scalability, especially for very large tenants, could be beneficial for Microsoft Defender XDR."
"Microsoft tends to provide too many features, which makes the solution prone to bugs."
"Microsoft Defender is slow to adapt to evolving threats."
"The documentation on their website is somewhat outdated and doesn't show properly. I wanted to try a query in Microsoft Defender 365. When I opened the related documentation from the security blog on the Microsoft website, the figures were not showing. It was difficult to understand the article without having the figures. The figures were there in the article, but they were not getting loaded, which made the article obsolete."
"The support could be more knowledgable to improve their offering."
"At times, there may be delays in the execution of certain actions and their effects."
"The initial time spent setting up and configuring Defender XDR is a bit longer than the other solutions. If everything were on one portal, the platforms for managing policies or alerts would be simpler. We must automate and manage policies on Intune rather than the same portal."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When comparing the price of Anomali Enterprise to other solutions it is in the medium to high range. However, I am satisfied with the price."
"Microsoft Defender falls within a mid-tier price range compared to other security solutions."
"365 Defender is billed per account. I don't know the exact price, but my supervisor told me that Microsoft Defender is cheaper than the alternatives. It's bundled, so you get all the features in one place."
"We have a lot of problems in Latin America regarding the price of Microsoft 365 Defender, because the relationship between dollars and the money of the different countries, it's is a lot. Many customers that have small businesses say that they would like the solution but it is too expensive. However, large companies do not find the cost an issue."
"Microsoft Defender XDR's licensing is complicated."
"Microsoft is not competitive with the pricing of the solution. The competitors are able to offer lower discounts. The price of the solution is higher."
"The licensing fee for Microsoft 365 Defender is fair."
"Understanding the subscription model has been a bit challenging, as every feature or requirement comes with an additional cost."
"With the little idea I have about the costs, I can say that XDR tools tend to be a bit expensive. If you are using Microsoft Defender XDR, then you need to go for a subscription-based pricing model."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions are best for your needs.
850,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about Microsoft 365 Defender?
Microsoft Defender XDR provides strong identity protection with comprehensive insights into risky user behavior and potential indicators of compromise.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft 365 Defender?
Licensing is somewhat confusing, particularly when presenting our pitch decks to stakeholders and leveraging key features in premium SKUs, but we managed with some assistance from Microsoft.
What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?
There is nothing I can think of at the moment that needs improvement. I am a contractor and finishing up soon, so I haven't encountered any issues requiring enhancements.
 

Also Known As

Match, Lens, ThreatStream, STAXX, Anomali Security Analytics
Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bank of England, First Energy, UBISOFT, Bank of Hope, Blackhawk Network
Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Find out what your peers are saying about Anomali vs. Microsoft Defender XDR and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.