Azure Firewall Manager vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management comparison

Azure Firewall Manager and Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management are both solutions in the Microsoft Security Suite category. Azure Firewall Manager is ranked #28 with an average rating of 9.3, while Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is ranked #32 with an average rating of 7.5. Azure Firewall Manager holds a 0.6% mindshare in Microsoft Security Suite, compared to Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Azure Firewall Manager users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management users who would recommend it.

Azure Firewall Manager

Read 9 Azure Firewall Manager reviews

788 Views
307 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender External...

Read 2 Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management reviews

942 Views
151 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Azure Firewall Manager

Microsoft Defender External...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Azure Firewall Manager and Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Microsoft Security Suite solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Azure Firewall Manager vs. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall Manager vs. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management

September 2025

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Helped 869,513 peers since 2012

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

Azure Firewall Manager

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

28th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

4.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Firewall Security Management (10th)

Microsoft Defender External...

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

32nd

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Attack Surface Management (ASM) (12th)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Azure Firewall Manager is 0.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is 0.4%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Azure Firewall Manager	0.6%
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management	0.4%
Other	99.0%

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

Sikkander Batcha

DevOps Engineer at CloudIQ

Has managed traffic effectively but lacks visibility and advanced control features

Azure Firewall is typically behind other vendor firewalls because we don't see what kind of traffic is traveling through it. That is one drawback. The main drawback is that we need log support from Azure Firewall, which can be quite costly. There is no login feature in Azure Firewall because only the IAM feature is available in the Azure site; we manage it only through the Azure portal, not through any other portal. Other vendors, such as Palo Alto, provide GUI or CLI interfaces to manage their firewalls, whereas we only manage Azure Firewall through the Azure portal. In the future, I would like to see additional features in Azure Firewall Manager to make it more competitive, such as technologies like App-ID and User-ID that Palo Alto has. Azure Firewall currently only allows traffic based on layer four and sometimes layer seven, so they need to improve in those areas compared to other vendors.

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AndyChan3

General manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

Enhanced visibility and exposes vulnerabilities but needs more integration

I am currently in the pilot stage of implementing Microsoft External Attack Surface Management (EASM). My organization is transitioning to a comprehensive track of Microsoft solutions, and we will move to full-scale production in another year, maybe Microsoft External Attack Surface Management…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We are utilizing Azure Entra ID for group labeling, so Active Directory, or now it is Entra ID, securing our application for everyone who accesses it, and Azure Firewall Manager is definitely securing our projects and all its features are fine."

"The most valuable feature of Azure Firewall Manager is the testing and configuration."

"The solution has improved our organization with its firewall."

"The solution is very easy to set up."

"The tool's support is good."

"The best feature of Azure Firewall Manager is that it is easy to maintain and configure."

"It is easy to install and does not require any plugins for your browser."

"From a traffic management perspective, it's a good firewall because it's automatically scalable based on the traffic availability."

More Azure Firewall Manager pros

"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."

"It seems to be better at protecting from cyberattacks."

"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."

Cons

"We could do only one-way NAT-ing, where the traffic comes from outside to internal, to Azure, which is fine. However, when we actually do NAT-ed traffic to hit the firewall, that way is not working."

"For Azure Firewall Manager, the learning curve for new people is a bit challenging, but the integration should be more straightforward for configuring a centralized system."

"The tool's security features need to improve. It needs also to include a monitoring system for logs. It is also complicated to find a query on the Azure firewall."

"The configuration and settings require substantial time for learning, particularly for new users. Improvements in ease of configuration would benefit users significantly."

"The solution can improve the integration with open-source tools."

"Azure charges for many aspects including scaling, automated scaling deployment, and traffic management, which leads to higher costs."

"The price is okay. This said, the solution is certainly expensive in comparison with other cloud services."

More Azure Firewall Manager cons

"The integration is not as seamless compared to competitors like Palo Alto."

"Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement."

"With Microsoft, support is always crazy, it's not easy to get support."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is reasonable but it is reasonable for the features."

"The solution is certainly expensive in comparison with other cloud services."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	2

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Firewall Manager?

The most valuable feature of Azure Firewall Manager is the testing and configuration.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Firewall Manager?

The pricing for Azure Firewall Manager seems okay compared to its good features. Although extra expenses are incurred for additional services, these are not directly related to the firewall, and th...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Firewall Manager?

Azure Firewall Manager is good most of the time, but it could be improved regarding cost. The cost is a significant concern because we are in a region where the dollar is not our default currency, ...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?

I rate the pricing of the solution as eight out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?

Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement. Introduction of more AI automation into the products would also be beneficial. The integration is not as seamless co...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?

See all answers

Comparisons

Azure Firewall vs Azure Firewall Manager

Compared 29% of the time

FortiGate Cloud-Native Firewall (FortiGate CNF) vs Azure Firewall Manager

Compared 27% of the time

AlgoSec vs Azure Firewall Manager

Compared 14% of the time

Palo Alto Networks Panorama vs Azure Firewall Manager

Compared 13% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate Cloud vs Azure Firewall Manager

Compared 9% of the time

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Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management

Compared 18% of the time

Bitsight vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management

Compared 12% of the time

Darktrace vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management

Compared 11% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management

Compared 11% of the time

Tenable Attack Surface Management vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management

Compared 11% of the time

More Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall Manager

October 2025

Download Azure Firewall Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

Attack Surface Management (ASM)

September 2025

Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management report

Download Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management product report

Overview

Azure Firewall Manager is a security management service that provides central security policy and route management for cloud-based security perimeters.

To learn more about our solution, ask questions, and share feedback, join our Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Community.

Microsoft

In this era of hybrid work, shadow IT creates an increasingly serious security risk. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management helps cloud security teams see unknown and unmanaged resources outside the firewall.

Microsoft

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall Manager vs. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management

September 2025

Free Report: Azure Firewall Manager vs. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management

Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Firewall Manager vs. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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