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Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 19, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.4
Azure Kubernetes Service reduces costs with scaling, opinions differ on cost-effectiveness, management ease, and returns based on use cases.
Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Defender for Cloud boosts security and efficiency, integrates with Azure, reduces costs, prevents breaches, and offers proactive defense.
Defender proactively indexes and analyzes documents, identifying potential threats even when inactive, enhancing preventative security.
Endpoint management at a government with 10,001+ employees
Identifying potential vulnerabilities has helped us avoid costly data losses.
Manager at CBTS
Compared to not having Microsoft Defender for Cloud in place, we definitely saw an advantage by not having downtime due to a security threat.
Principal Microsoft Consultant at MicroAge
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.1
Azure Kubernetes Service customer support experiences vary, with mixed reviews on response time and issue resolution effectiveness.
Sentiment score
6.3
Microsoft Defender for Cloud support is responsive at higher levels, but experiences vary with mixed satisfaction due to delays.
They are very fast to respond and begin analysis to resolve problems.
IT Specialist | SRE | Cloud Public and Private at Parana Banco
Since security is critical, we prefer a quicker response time.
Manager at CBTS
The support team was very responsive to queries.
Programme Manager- Cyber Fusion- Group CISO at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
They understand their product, but much like us, they struggle with the finer details, especially with new features.
Endpoint management at a government with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) offers scalable, efficient auto-scaling for enterprises, but requires proper design and can be costly.
Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is scalable, integrating across environments effortlessly, suitable for all enterprise sizes with flexible performance.
AKS offers excellent scalability due to its adaptation from Kubernetes.
Senior Software Developer at Simpson Strong-Tie
As we have reduced our on-premises infrastructure, it is about how we can migrate workloads to the cloud to make it easier, and then having everything fully encompassed and secured within that area makes it much easier for us to scale as needed and grow.
Principal Microsoft Consultant at MicroAge
We are using infrastructure as a code, so we do not have any scalability issues with Microsoft Defender for Cloud implementation because our cloud automatically does it.
Senior Cloud Platform Engineer at Deutsche Börse
It has multiple licenses and features, covering infrastructures from a hundred to five hundred virtual machines, without any issues.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is a stable, reliable platform praised for self-healing, despite occasional minor issues.
Sentiment score
7.5
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is stable and reliable, with minimal issues mainly during updates, ensuring strong user satisfaction.
From my usage, I would rate its stability as eight to nine out of ten.
Senior Software Developer at Simpson Strong-Tie
It's very stable, and the support is satisfactory.
IT Specialist | SRE | Cloud Public and Private at Parana Banco
Defender's stability has been flawless for us.
Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is very stable.
Cloud architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Microsoft sometimes changes settings or configurations without transparency.
Senior Cloud Platform Engineer at Deutsche Börse
 

Room For Improvement

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) needs improved support, cost management, easier onboarding, better integration, and enhanced features for user satisfaction.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud users seek better automation, clarity, integration, AI features, and comprehensive analytics for improved security management.
The costs are rising rapidly, and we have not seen any cost reductions by moving to Azure.
Product Owner at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
It is costly compared to other solutions such as Canonical.
Senior System Specialist at General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA)
Microsoft, in general, could significantly improve its communication and support.
Endpoint management at a government with 10,001+ employees
It would be beneficial to streamline recommendations to avoid unnecessary alerts and to refine the severity of alerts based on specific environments or environmental attributes.
Works at Coca-Cola HBC
The artificial intelligence features could be expanded to allow the system to autonomously manage security issues without needing intervention from admins.
Cloud Consultant at i-Community AG
 

Setup Cost

Azure Kubernetes Service is costly yet valued for scalability and manageability, with flexible pricing but higher than some alternatives.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is scalable, offering free and paid versions with costs averaging $15 monthly per server.
Transitioning to Azure did not bring cost reductions; in fact, costs are rising rapidly.
Product Owner at ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
The solution is very expensive in my opinion.
IT Specialist | SRE | Cloud Public and Private at Parana Banco
The pricing for Azure Kubernetes Service seems to be around the average, which I would rate as a five out of ten.
Senior Software Developer at Simpson Strong-Tie
Security has essentially no cost when compared to the cost of a breach.
Director, Cloud and Modern Workplace at Informanix Technology Group
Every time we consider expanding usage, we carefully evaluate the necessity due to cost concerns.
Programme Manager- Cyber Fusion- Group CISO at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
We appreciate the licensing approach based on employee count rather than a big enterprise license.
Manager, Microsoft Technology Alliance at Silverfort
 

Valuable Features

Azure Kubernetes Service offers security, integration, automation, and robust CI/CD with features for scalability and application management efficiency.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud enhances security with AI-based threat detection, multi-cloud support, and a unified portal for comprehensive management.
The most valuable features of Azure Kubernetes Service are its integration with Kubernetes, offering similar features for a seamless experience.
Senior Software Developer at Simpson Strong-Tie
Since pricing is not a major concern, we chose the best fit for our application, which was specifically designed for this particular platform.
Senior System Specialist at General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA)
The integration with Azure Active Directory helped with the security of our applications.
IT Specialist | SRE | Cloud Public and Private at Parana Banco
The most valuable feature for me is the variety of APIs available.
Programme Manager- Cyber Fusion- Group CISO at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
This feature significantly aids in threat detection and enhances the user experience by streamlining security management.
Cloud Consultant at i-Community AG
The most valuable feature is the recommendations provided on how to improve security.
Cloud architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Ranking in Container Security
21st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Ranking in Container Security
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
87
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (6th), Container Management (7th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (1st), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (4th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (4th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (7th), Compliance Management (4th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Container Security category, the mindshare of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is 0.8%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud is 6.5%, down from 7.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud6.5%
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)0.8%
Other92.7%
Container Security
 

Featured Reviews

Daniel Wichinescki - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Specialist | SRE | Cloud Public and Private at Parana Banco
Has supported production deployments and simplified permission management though could reduce monitoring costs
For Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), we only used it to orchestrate the Kubernetes pods. We didn't use the other features. We only used the environment to start our application. I utilized the automatic scaling capabilities. The integration with Azure Active Directory helped with the security of our applications. I think Amazon EKS is better. EKS is the best because there are many features to use for scaling and to control the environments.
David Birhange - PeerSpot reviewer
Director, Cloud and Modern Workplace at Informanix Technology Group
Brings together cloud security insights through a unified view and supports agentless protection for virtual machines
Copilot and similar features are already being used, though not necessarily for Microsoft Defender for Cloud specifically. We are trying to get more experience before rolling out most of Microsoft Defender for Cloud's AI capabilities. This is definitely on our to-do list, and the priority is urgent as we seek to learn more about these capabilities. The GenAI threat protection from Microsoft Defender for Cloud has not been enabled yet. There are many unknowns with AI applications. AI agents will operate while you're not present, whether you are sleeping or awake, and it's unclear whether there would be any exfiltration of data or how data is being managed. Microsoft Purview is being used extensively, and there is significant development going on with DSPM that will be rolled out to address security concerns. Data labeling and proper demarcation for sensitivity of data before it is received are being actively pursued.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
23%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise22
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise49
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
The platform's high scalability is one of its biggest advantages.
What needs improvement with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
I am not sure about areas that could be improved.
What is your primary use case for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
I use the product for the environments in the company, specifically for the environments in production, QA, and development. I used it in the finance industry at a bank. Now I have moved to another...
How is Prisma Cloud vs Azure Security Center for security?
Azure Security Center is very easy to use, integrates well, and gives very good visibility on what is happening across your ecosystem. It also has great remote workforce capabilities and supports a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Microsoft Defender for Cloud was pretty straightforward. We did have a consultation with a third party to go over different tiers and produ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
Microsoft Defender for Cloud can be improved. An additional feature that should be included in the next release is Zero Trust, similar to ThreatLocker software.
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is trusted by companies such as ASOS, Vatenfall, SWC Technology Partners, and more.
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) vs. Microsoft Defender for Cloud and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.