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Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Qualys TotalCloud
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (11th), Container Security (11th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (7th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (8th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (1st), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (6th)
Check Point CloudGuard Clou...
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (10th)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (5th), Container Management (6th), Container Security (4th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (1st), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (3rd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (4th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (7th), Compliance Management (4th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (3rd)
 

Featured Reviews

RO
IT Security Expert at Alior Bank S.A.
Unified risk scoring has improved our cloud visibility and simplifies remediation priorities
Qualys TotalCloud provides unified vulnerability and threat assessment across both IAS and SaaS. This solution provides a single prioritized view of risk, which helps reduce the work I would have to do. We are no longer based on CVSS; we are based on Qualys risk scoring, which is based on CVSS plus internal findings made by Qualys, and then assigns its own score. The TruRisk insight feature has found a small number of assets with high vulnerability scores, though I am cautious since some information is classified. Qualys TotalCloud has positively impacted our bank's performance, and we have definitely seen benefits after implementing this solution.
Kishorekumar G - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Security Specialist at Novac Technology Solutions
Streamlined vulnerability management with efficient threat detection and compliance reporting
The best features that Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting offers include helpful integration for multiple cloud platforms, and it is used for audit compliance. We use features such as CIS Benchmark and cloud compliance, which Check Point CloudGuard provides by default. The integration, such as a read-only feature for reporting, is also very helpful, as it doesn't require any admin rights or changes. The remediation of vulnerabilities or findings or securing cloud configurations is also very helpful for us, allowing me to fix security flaws via Check Point CloudGuard itself. I find myself relying on the CIS Benchmark feature of Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting the most, as it is very helpful on a day-to-day basis to stay up to the current trend. Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting has positively impacted my organization by enabling us to keep fixing our cloud security postures, which is a day-to-day progress based on the open points. I have noticed specific outcomes with Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting, such as a much faster response time, making it easier to address vulnerabilities or security misconfigurations by using reports that help me pinpoint issues, leading to good outputs that keep improving. Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting made our work much easier as it serves as a centralized platform for all my cloud environment and provides workload protection such as malware protection for my entire cloud environment.
RW
Head Of IT at Cirrus Response
Cloud security has cut investigation time and now reveals threats faster but needs simpler oversight
When deploying AI applications, my key security concerns with Microsoft Defender for Cloud are data loss, leakage of data, and guardrails around the actual AI, and I am hoping that this is going to help me put those guardrails in place and identify data exfiltration. Microsoft Defender for Cloud has not helped me manage and secure multi-cloud environments, as we are 100 percent Microsoft and have not really got it in any other environment at all. I am not yet using the unified AI-powered security feature offered by Microsoft Defender for Cloud, but that is coming. I am not yet using the integrated XDR feature of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, but that is coming. I am not yet utilizing the GenAI threat protection features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud. That is also coming and a lot of that will come from learning it here. I have enabled the agentless scanning in my cloud environment with Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Assessing the impact on my workload protection without needing to install agents with Microsoft Defender for Cloud makes it a lot easier, but it also identifies a lot more, which puts more load on me sometimes. I would advise another organization considering Microsoft Defender for Cloud that it is the most logical route to follow if their whole ecosystem is Microsoft. It is easy to implement and it is very self-explanatory when doing it, making sense to just follow the steps as it is too simple, really. I would rate this review a 7.5 out of 10.

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 feature is extensibility."
"Qualys TotalCloud provides a single, prioritized view of risk, reducing the workload associated with consolidating multiple sources for risk prioritization."
"In my opinion, this is the best tool."
"I would definitely recommend it because it is easy to handle any cloud resources."
"Qualys TotalCloud's most valuable feature is its agent versatility."
"The platform's unified view of the organization proves particularly valuable for leadership team meetings."
"The most valuable feature of Qualys TotalCloud is the visibility it provides."
"I highly recommend Qualys TotalCloud to other users."
"Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting made our work much easier as it serves as a centralized platform for all my cloud environment and provides workload protection such as malware protection for my entire cloud environment."
"During testing, I consistently saw a 70 or 75% faster investigation and reduced analyst workload, which is a concrete way it can deliver our work."
"This solution helped me to improve and enhance our security posture."
"In summary, if you would like to work with a product that addresses security in the cloud, or in a multi-cloud environment then this is exactly the product."
"The strong point of Defender, especially when using Azure Arc to bring in on-premises systems, is that it doesn't matter where these systems are; they're just resources in the portal."
"It is very intuitive when it comes to policy administration, alerts and notifications, and ease of setting up roles at different hierarchies. It has also been good in terms of the network technology maps. It provides a good overview, but it also depends on the complexity of your network."
"The features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud that I like the most are the regulatory compliance capabilities; these features have benefited my organization by improving our overall security posture."
"The most valuable features of the solution are the insights, meaning the remediation suggestions, as well as the incident alerts."
"The most valuable features offer the latest threat detection and response capabilities."
"The product has given us more insight into potential avenues for attack paths."
"I would rate Microsoft Defender for Cloud a ten out of ten."
 

Cons

"Their support could be improved."
"I sometimes have difficulty detecting or uninstalling certain versions of applications, which I have to do manually."
"The patching process with Qualys Patch Management, which is part of TotalCloud, does not cover installing certain prerequisites on the servers or workstations. This shortcoming means we must rely on SCCM when any service stack updates or additional prerequisites are needed."
"The main area needing improvement is integration. Although the team is strengthening TotalCloud, integration can be enhanced with SIEM, SOAR, ITSM, and other sources."
"The support process is inefficient due to the excessive number of replies required when submitting tickets."
"I think Qualys TotalCloud needs to improve its handling of zero-day vulnerabilities and supply chain management because modern ransomware attacks not only target prime critical infrastructures but also the supply chain system."
"It is already perfect, but they can bring some newer dashboards and customization options for the dashboard. It would be great to be able to include on-prem assets on the dashboard."
"There is a lack of data segregation according to criticality or inventory."
"Malware protection for my entire cloud environment is an area where improvements are needed."
"The product can be improved by optimizing performance."
"In my testing, Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting's scalability is not easy; it is a very challenging experience for me."
"However, some Copilot features aren't available in the GCP environment. This is something we hope will be addressed in the future."
"The product was a bit complex to set up earlier, however, it is a bit streamlined now."
"One of the main challenges that we have been facing with Azure Security Center is the cost."
"There is a slight gap between the real-time monitoring and real-time alerts."
"There needs to be improvement in the security recommendations, particularly in attack path mapping. Sometimes, it misleads users about the real exposure of external-facing assets."
"I don't know what the issue is but when we do the agent deployment, sometimes it works, and sometimes it fails and we need to go inside the virtual machine and manually install the agent."
"Another thing that could be improved was that they could recommend processes on how to react to alerts, or recommend best practices based on how other organizations do things if they receive an alert about XYZ."
"One of the issues with the product is that it's not possible to write or edit any capability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Although Qualys TotalCloud is relatively expensive due to its unique automation features, its cost-effectiveness is rated an eight out of ten, with ten being the most costly."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers competitive pricing given its comprehensive suite of features, including integration, assessment, remediation, and detection capabilities, all within a single platform."
"As a middle management member, I do not have direct pricing knowledge, but based on the knowledge from our meetings, its pricing is competitive."
"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."
"The cost is high, but it meets our organizational needs."
"Qualys TotalCloud offers good pricing that is affordable and competitive with the market. Our partnership also provides us with additional benefits."
"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive, but it offers a premier solution with no headaches."
"While Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive and may soon be considered overpriced."
Information not available
"Defender's basic version is free, which is good. Many of our teams are evaluating the paid version against third-party products."
"The licensing cost per server is $15 per month."
"There is a helpful cost-reducing option that allows you to integrate production subscriptions with non-production subscriptions."
"The pricing is very difficult because every type of Defender for Cloud has its own metrics and pricing. If you have Cloud for Key Vault, the pricing is different than it is for storage. Every type has its own pricing list and rules."
"There are improvements that have to be made to the licensing. Currently, for servers, it has to be done by grouping the servers on a single subscription... We don't have an option whereby, if all those resources are in one subscription, we can have each of the individual servers subject to different planning."
"Pricing depends on your workload size, but it is very cheap. If you're talking about virtual machines, it is $5 or something for each machine, which is minimal. If you go for some agent-based solution for every virtual machine, then you need to pay the same thing or more than that. For an on-premises solution like this, we were paying around $30 to $50 based on size. With Defender, Microsoft doesn't bother about the size. You pay based on the number of machines. So, if you have 10 virtual machines, and 10 virtual machines are being monitored, you are paying based on that rather than the size of the virtual machine. Thus, you are paying for the number of units rather than paying for the size of your units."
"Microsoft's licensing and pricing are sometimes complicated. If someone is new to Microsoft's licensing, they might have difficulty with it."
"Understanding the costs of cloud services can be complicated at first. As with a lot of things in the cloud, it can be quite hard to understand the end cost, but it becomes clearer over time. Early on, the lack of transparency is a challenge. Microsoft does not tell you the cost when they launch something. It is clever marketing, and there is room for improvement there. There should be clarity from the start."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
No data available
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise29
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business31
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise49
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
Areas that need improvement in every solution include the remediation part. The remediation steps should be simple en...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
Our use case involves the assets that we have under cloud, the assets exposed to the internet, and the internal appli...
What needs improvement with Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting?
I would like to see more flexibility in creating custom and scheduled reports in Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelli...
What is your primary use case for Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting?
I will honestly say that we are just testing Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting in my compa...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting?
The payment pricing is a business matter I discuss directly with the key account manager, and it's not something rela...
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 acros...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing was that the license cost was the only consideration. Setup an...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
To improve Microsoft Defender for Cloud, I think pricing-wise, the license price is a little bit higher from an inges...
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
No data available
Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender
 

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Overview

 

Sample Customers

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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 Check Point CloudGuard Cloud Intelligence and Threat Hunting vs. Microsoft Defender for Cloud and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,894 professionals have used our research since 2012.