Azure Firewall Manager vs Microsoft Defender for Business comparison

Azure Firewall Manager and Microsoft Defender for Business are both solutions in the Microsoft Security Suite category. Azure Firewall Manager is ranked #26 with an average rating of 9.3, while Microsoft Defender for Business is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.5. Azure Firewall Manager holds a 0.8% mindshare in Microsoft Security Suite, compared to Microsoft Defender for Business’s 3.5% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Azure Firewall Manager users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of Microsoft Defender for Business users who would recommend it.

Azure Firewall Manager

Read 9 Azure Firewall Manager reviews

852 Views
349 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender for Busi...

Read 20 Microsoft Defender for Business reviews

4,629 Views
1,250 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

Azure Firewall Manager

Microsoft Defender for Busi...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Azure Firewall Manager and Microsoft Defender for Business 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 for Business Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall Manager vs. Microsoft Defender for Business

December 2025

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Helped 881,114 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

26th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

4.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Firewall Security Management (10th)

Microsoft Defender for Busi...

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

16th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (18th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Azure Firewall Manager is 0.8%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Business is 3.5%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Business	3.5%
Azure Firewall Manager	0.8%
Other	95.7%

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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Takayuki-Umehara

Public Cloud Engineer at Prudential

Product deployment protects assets but needs improvement in system support

I am doing maintenance for Microsoft Defender for Business, and I'm currently working with it. We don't need to use the latest version of Microsoft Defender for Business. We still use the latest virus definition file that Microsoft Defender for Business has automatically updated. We implement a basic update mechanism. Our compliance division manages how many servers and PCs we have and whether those servers have antivirus solutions. I am not certain about how Microsoft Defender for Business helps with AI-driven security strategies. I just use it normally and don't know if it uses AI technology. I rate Microsoft Defender for Business a six out of ten.

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

"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."

"The tool's support is good."

"Azure Firewall Manager centralizes network security management with a hub and spoke architecture."

"The solution is very easy to set up."

"Azure Firewall Manager centralizes network security management with a hub and spoke architecture."

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

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

More Azure Firewall Manager pros

"Microsoft Defender for Business is good for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers solid security flexibility and integration with tools like Microsoft Lighthouse and some other software. It takes some of the features of Defender for Endpoint EDR and provides those services for small and medium-sized business environments."

"The best features of Microsoft Defender for Business include it coming as an XDR solution which provides automated investigations, remediations, and endpoint detection and response."

"Using Microsoft Defender for Business is beneficial for my company."

"It is scalable."

"Defender's main strength is its integration with Microsoft Sentinel, offering valuable insights."

"Microsoft Defender for Business stands out due to its ease of use, particularly due to the fact that many of my customers already use Microsoft and Azure."

"The solution is effective, continuously improving, and highly regarded, especially with Microsoft's leadership in the industry."

"Defender's main strength is its integration with Microsoft Sentinel, offering valuable insights."

More Microsoft Defender for Business pros

Cons

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

"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."

"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."

"The configuration and settings require substantial time for learning, particularly for new users."

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

"The cost is a significant concern because we are in a region where the dollar is not our default currency, and converting to dollars makes it very expensive."

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

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

More Azure Firewall Manager cons

"Defender's reporting is rather scattered, and its URL filtering mechanism doesn't really work."

"The threat detection capabilities require significant customization for multistage threat detection."

"I have an open case for close to two months with no responses or updates, except for an email response, and I've made four or five phone calls regarding the Microsoft Interconnect for AD and cloud tenant."

"The solution's AI is notorious for false positives, and the time you have to spend training it is ridiculous."

"The security could always be improved."

"I am not satisfied with Microsoft's technical support. There are challenges with the knowledge and experience of the support staff, frequent redirection between departments, and slow response times."

"Pricing could be lowered as it is expensive and not suitable for low-budget organizations."

"The pricing of Microsoft Defender for Business has a long way to go since people are still preferring solutions such as CrowdStrike and Palo Alto."

More Microsoft Defender for Business cons

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."

"The tool's cost has been a little high, but I do not think it was terrible."

"Since we're a nonprofit, we get pretty good discounts on the tool."

"It has to get more competitive because we are starting to see some of the competitors providing better pricing, and some of it, of course, is to gain market share. The Defender product pricing is probably a little higher than the competitors."

"The tool is cheap, while some other solutions are more expensive. I remember the tool cost about five euros for a workstation or for a user on a monthly basis."

"Defender for Business is included by default with an Office 365 premium subscription."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

18%

Educational Organization

Retailer

Computer Software Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	4

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 is expensive. In our project, we have used both Palo Alto Firewall and Azure Firewall. Azure charges for many aspects including scaling, automated scaling dep...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Azure Firewall Manager?

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Business?

Our thoughts on the pricing for Microsoft Defender for Business are that we wish it could be better. If the pricing was a little better, we would definitely increase what we currently have.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Business?

I see room for improvement in Microsoft Defender for Business, particularly regarding the consolidation of all security solutions in one place and the integration of AI and data security into the s...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Defender for Business?

I would rate this product an eight out of ten.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Azure Firewall vs Azure Firewall Manager

Compared 16% of the time

AlgoSec vs Azure Firewall Manager

Compared 14% of the time

Palo Alto Networks Panorama vs Azure Firewall Manager

Compared 11% of the time

FireMon Security Manager vs Azure Firewall Manager

Compared 9% of the time

More Azure Firewall Manager Competitors

HP Wolf Security vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 15% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 12% of the time

Trend Micro Worry-Free Services Suites vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Defender XDR vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 4% of the time

ESET Endpoint Protection Platform vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Business Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall Manager

January 2026

Download Azure Firewall Manager product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Business

January 2026

Download Microsoft Defender for Business 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

Microsoft Defender for Business is a new endpoint security solution that was designed especially for the small and medium-sized business (up to 300 employees). With this endpoint security solution, your company's devices are better protected from ransomware, malware, phishing, and other threats.

Microsoft

Buyer's Guide

Azure Firewall Manager vs. Microsoft Defender for Business

December 2025

Free Report: Azure Firewall Manager vs. Microsoft Defender for Business

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