ConnectWise SIEM vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comparison

ConnectWise and Microsoft are both solutions in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category. ConnectWise is ranked #57 with an average rating of 6.0, while Microsoft is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.4. ConnectWise holds a 0.3% mindshare in EDR, compared to Microsoft’s 9.5% mindshare. Additionally, 66% of ConnectWise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

ConnectWise SIEM

Read 3 ConnectWise SIEM reviews

1,199 Views
432 Comparison Views

66% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender for Endp...

Read 198 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint reviews

34,057 Views
17,369 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

ConnectWise SIEM

Microsoft Defender for Endp...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 2024

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and ConnectWise SIEM are both robust cybersecurity solutions competing in the same category. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint has the upper hand in pricing and customer support, while ConnectWise SIEM is preferred for its advanced features, despite higher costs.

Features: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's valued features include threat detection, automated investigation, and quick response times. ConnectWise SIEM is praised for its extensive integrations, customizable alerts, and detailed reporting. While both products offer strong features, ConnectWise SIEM’s customization and integration options give it an edge.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint could improve its alert accuracy and integration abilities. Users recommend enhancing the learning curve and reducing complexity for ConnectWise SIEM. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint needs better integrations, while ConnectWise SIEM requires simplification to be more user-friendly.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is noted for its straightforward, quick deployment and responsive customer service. ConnectWise SIEM, while comprehensive, has a more complex deployment process and varied customer service experiences. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint stands out with easier deployment and better service.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is appreciated for reasonable setup costs and a solid ROI. In contrast, ConnectWise SIEM has higher setup costs but delivers enhanced ROI through its advanced features. Users see Microsoft Defender for Endpoint as cost-efficient, while ConnectWise SIEM’s high ROI justifies its expense for those needing complex features.

To learn more, read our detailed ConnectWise SIEM vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ConnectWise SIEM vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

September 2025

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Helped 873,085 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

ConnectWise SIEM

Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

57th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (51st), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (22nd), Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (27th)

Microsoft Defender for Endp...

Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

198

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (2nd), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (4th), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category, the mindshare of ConnectWise SIEM is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 9.5%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint	9.5%
ConnectWise SIEM	0.3%
Other	90.2%

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Featured Reviews

Giulio Valeri

Owner at SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS SRL

Efficiently monitoring and detecting suspicious activities

One valuable feature of ConnectWise Fortify is the ability to add other teams and receive notifications when customers make changes or remove multi-factor authentication in Microsoft or SAP environments. For instance, once we were connecting different parts in China, and we had to reserve resources for the blue source of the login of task no v. ConnectWise Fortify successfully mitigated the issue and monitored any suspicious activity in the Microsoft environment. Despite the inconvenience, the Microsoft environment is still active and susceptible to cyber threats. We do a lot of research and utilize ConnectWise Fortify to restart and restore the system. It's essential to have a solution like ConnectWise Fortify to protect against cyber threats.

Read full review

NaySan @ Suraj Verma

Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies

Has effectively blocked sophisticated attacks and malicious activities while providing excellent support

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is very good, but one suggestion is that in some products, we may need to configure security-related settings, whereas Microsoft Defender for Endpoint works completely differently, providing automatic recommendations and actions that we may need to perform ourselves. Regarding the pricing of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, during the last three years, we set up the product and sold it, but we faced difficulties because Microsoft pricing is always the same. For example, whether I purchase Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for one year or for the next three years, the pricing remains constant with no discounts available. In contrast, competing products offer reduced pricing for long-term commitments, which makes it difficult for us in that environment. Microsoft should consider this option to remain competitive, but otherwise, everything else is fine.

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

"The integration capabilities of ConnectWise SIEM are off the shelf, making it easy to buy and use; you just unpack it and use it."

"We have found the solution has great functionality and it is easy to use."

"One valuable feature of ConnectWise Fortify is the ability to add other teams and receive notifications when customers make changes or remove multi-factor authentication in Microsoft or SAP environments."

"Defender for Endpoint is a robust solution that works well out-of-the-box."

"It captures data through machine learning, which is built-in on the back-end. It also provides built-in analytics and a threat intelligence feature. It is a one-stop solution that doesn't require an antivirus because it comes prebuilt into Windows 10."

"It's free. There is no additional cost. It's part of Windows."

"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is beneficial because we are using Microsoft Windows and all the core solutions are made by Microsoft, such as the authentic platform, operating system, and antivirus protection. It is a heterogeneous environment. We had to use third-party solutions before and update everything separately. For example, the policy for antivirus. With Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, when Microsoft Windows receives updates it will update with it. This is one main advantage of this solution."

"The investigation aspect is the most useful. It's user friendly and has a good user interface."

"The scalability is good."

"Defender for Endpoint allows us automatic resolutions if a unit is compromised or if a user clicks a malicious link."

"Provides good security features and you can view it in the central console."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pros

Cons

"The manage portion of the solution is complicated and should be simplified by having different versions to meet the needs of different size companies."

"ConnectWise SIEM is primarily focused on notifications and is limited in that aspect, while Wazuh can automate the elimination process."

"ConnectWise Fortify could work on covering more areas, like phishing messages, which have become more complicated to detect."

"Its detection is not as quick. There should also be more frequent updates."

"Some of the integrations that Defender should include involve the use of the web app."

"On the Mac OS platform, there is no parity between Windows and Mac OS. The solution is very feature-rich and very well-integrated into Windows, and I guess baked into Windows 10 and Windows 11. Whereas, on the Mac OS platform, there is still some work there to give it a more feature-reach platform."

"There are likely some technical improvements or features that could be added, however, I cannot say, off the top of my head, what they would be."

"I think Microsoft needs to improve some of the security aspects of Defender. The email part, in particular, needs to be improved in terms of security effectiveness."

"This solution is not secure, which is why I have moved to Linux."

"The second major area for improvement involves enhanced capabilities for different operating systems or platforms. That is, even though we have coverage for different operating systems or platforms such as Linux, we don't get all of the controls and enhanced capabilities that are available with Windows devices."

"We encountered some misbehavior between Microsoft Office Suite and Defender. We had issues of old macros being blocked and some stuff going around the usage of Win32 APIs. There is some improvement between the Office products and Defender, and there is a bunch of stuff that you can configure in your antivirus solutions, but you have several baselines, such as security baselines for Edge, security baselines for Defender, and security baselines for MDM. You have configuration profiles as well. So, there a lot of parts where we can configure our antivirus solution, and we're getting conflicting configurations. This is the major part with which we're struggling in this solution. We are having calls and calls with Microsoft for getting rid of all configuration conflicts that we have. That's really the part that needs to be improved."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."

"Even if you are not registered as a not-for-profit, the offering that they have is definitely worth consideration. This is in the sense that the E5 stack just gives you so many benefits. You get your entire productivity suite through Microsoft 365 apps. You get all your security and identity protection. You get the Defender for Endpoint and Defender for Identity. You get the cloud access security broker as well. You get Azure Active Directory Premium P2, which gives you so many good things that you can configure and deploy. You don't have to configure them on day one, but you have access to so many different tools that will protect your data, security, endpoints, and identities that you could build out a security strategy 18 months long, and slowly work your way through it, based on what you have available to you through your license."

"Given our extensive Microsoft licensing, transitioning to Defender for Endpoint did not affect licensing costs."

"We have been using the free version."

"The license cost is around $35 per machine, which is not expensive compared to other products."

"The license for Microsoft Windows covers Microsoft Defender for Endpoint."

"If you don't purchase the advanced threat protection then there is no additional charge."

"There is no licensing fee."

"The price is fair for the features Microsoft delivers. If you want tailor-made features, you have to mix different licenses. It isn't straightforward."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

21%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

University

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	79
Midsize Enterprise	34
Large Enterprise	87

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with ConnectWise Fortify?

I haven't utilized the advanced threat intelligence capabilities with ConnectWise SIEM. Advanced threat intelligence is an option, but I haven't explored this feature yet. The advanced threat intel...

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What is your primary use case for ConnectWise Fortify?

I do not have experience with ConnectWise SIEM for RMM, as I mostly work on Wazuh, and I have a team that handles ConnectWise SIEM. I'm linking with them, serving as the bridge. I am solely working...

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What advice do you have for others considering ConnectWise Fortify?

The review can be made anonymous if just my name and not the company name is used. I would assess the real-time visibility for my organization as somewhat real-time, but it's not fully real-time. T...

See all answers

How is Cortex XDR compared with Microsoft Defender?

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface, applies behavioral-based endpoint protection and response, and includes risk-ba...

See all answers

Which offers better endpoint security - Symantec or Microsoft Defender?

We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior solution. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security s...

See all answers

How does Microsoft Defender for Endpoint compare with Crowdstrike Falcon?

The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never push your machine hardware to "test", you don't have the usual "scan now" feature ...

See all answers

Comparisons

CrowdStrike Falcon Complete MDR vs ConnectWise SIEM

Compared 25% of the time

Wazuh vs ConnectWise SIEM

Compared 24% of the time

Huntress Managed EDR vs ConnectWise SIEM

Compared 24% of the time

Sumo Logic Security vs ConnectWise SIEM

Compared 11% of the time

Cynet vs ConnectWise SIEM

Compared 9% of the time

More ConnectWise SIEM Competitors

HP Wolf Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 6% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 5% of the time

F-Secure Total vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 4% of the time

Symantec Endpoint Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 4% of the time

Trellix Endpoint Security Platform vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

October 2025

Download ConnectWise SIEM product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

October 2025

Download Microsoft Defender for Endpoint product report

Also Known As

ConnectWise Security Management, ConnectWise Fortify, Continuum Fortify, ConnectWise SIEM, ConnectWise SASE

Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

ConnectWise

Microsoft

Overview

IT solution providers are the first—and often only—line of defense for every kind of business in every part of the world. Whether managing mom-and-pop businesses or high-profile clients, providing preventive security measures is a must-have in today’s cybersecurity landscape. Security information and event management (SIEM) solutions offer an additional layer of security for your clients; however, most SIEM solutions are routinely difficult to manage, expensive to deploy, and require a significant amount of in-house cybersecurity expertise.

ConnectWise SIEM offers a powerful alternative to expand your security perspective to both prevention and detection. The solution includes comprehensive, flexible SIEM software that streamlines safety and security across your network without additional full-time employee costs or complicated implementations.

ConnectWise

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a comprehensive security solution that provides advanced threat protection for organizations. It offers real-time protection against various types of cyber threats, including malware, viruses, ransomware, and phishing attacks.

With its powerful machine-learning capabilities, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks before they can cause any harm. The solution also includes endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities, allowing organizations to quickly investigate and respond to security incidents. It provides detailed insights into the attack timeline, enabling security teams to understand the scope and impact of an incident.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint also offers proactive threat hunting, allowing organizations to proactively search for and identify potential threats within their network. It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft security solutions, such as Microsoft Defender XDR, to provide a unified and holistic security approach. With its centralized management console, organizations can easily deploy, configure, and monitor the security solution across their entire network.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a robust and scalable security solution that helps organizations protect their endpoints and data from evolving cyber threats.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Techvera, Syrex, Clark Integrated Technologies

Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health

Buyer's Guide

ConnectWise SIEM vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

September 2025

Free Report: ConnectWise SIEM vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

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