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CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Symantec Endpoint Security comparison

 

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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.2
CrowdStrike Falcon boosts productivity and ROI by reducing costs and improving security without impacting system performance.
Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers significant ROI with cost savings, seamless integration, and real-time protection against ransomware attacks.
Sentiment score
5.4
Symantec Endpoint Security increases financial satisfaction by reducing downtime and enhancing threat response, offering competitive pricing and automation.
CrowdStrike Falcon saves time and offers good value for money, especially for enterprise companies, because it can stop breaches.
IT consultant at Asuransi Ramayana
It's very easy to deploy without many IT admins, saving time.
IT Manager at Jord International Pty Ltd
Without detection and protection measures, organizations would face substantial payments and reputational damage, including the necessity to inform customers about data breaches, potentially leading to loss of business.
Consultant at ACT4SERVICES
We have seen a return on investment when using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, as it saves labor by reducing the need for staff to focus on it.
IT CONSULTANT at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
The biggest return on investment for me when using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is the time saving.
Lead security engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Symantec Endpoint Security filled gaps in our toolset, particularly with the ability to control network firewall on hosts remotely, which was greatly appreciated.
OT Technologist at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
CrowdStrike Falcon customer service is efficient and helpful, though some users report delays or expertise gaps in support.
Sentiment score
6.4
Many users find Microsoft Defender for Endpoint reliable, but support experiences vary, with premium support offering quicker assistance.
Sentiment score
6.0
Symantec Endpoint Security customer service is highly rated, but post-acquisition support quality fluctuates with some language and delay issues.
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate the technical support as a 10 because they resolve many issues for us.
CyberSecurity Architects at VaporVM
The CrowdStrike team is very efficient; I would rate them ten out of ten.
Security Analyst at NTT Ltd
They could improve by initiating calls for high-priority cases instead of just opening tickets.
Information Security Specialist at Arab Open University
The Microsoft agent, who did not actually work for Microsoft, is one of the vendors that Microsoft uses for support, said, 'Just to set expectations, my lunch break is in an hour and I am going to go away then.'
Security Analyst III at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
The level-one support seems disconnected from subject matter experts.
Office 365 Subject Expert at a government with 10,001+ employees
I rate Microsoft support 10 out of 10.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
In some cases, it rates as high as ten out of ten, while in others, it can be as low as eight.
Head of Information System at EEC
There is no support in the German language, which is a problem for many public tenders.
Cyber Security Pre-Sales at SoftwareONE
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
CrowdStrike Falcon offers seamless, scalable security solutions for businesses of all sizes, integrating easily with minimal administrative effort.
Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is scalable and integrates well with Microsoft’s ecosystem, despite needing improvements for handling massive data.
Sentiment score
6.9
Symantec Endpoint Security is scalable, efficient for large deployments, and adaptable, with minor integration and support challenges noted.
It has adequate coverage and is easy to deploy.
Senior Principal Information Security Analyst at Veritas Technologies LLC
In terms of scalability, I find CrowdStrike to be stable, and I have not encountered any limitations with it.
CyberSecurity Architects at VaporVM
There's no scalability limitation from CrowdStrike itself, as it just requires agent deployment.
Large account Manager at Softcell Technologies Limited
We managed to scale it out in a short amount of time, with two months of planning and three months of implementation on 10,000 computers.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is scalable enough to handle various devices across environments, whether they are laptops, Android devices, or operating in hybrid environments.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
Compatibility is its main feature.
IT CONSULTANT at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
Symantec Endpoint Security is quite scalable, and it is very important for large clients.
Cyber Security Pre-Sales at SoftwareONE
The scalability of the servers is good, as it requires computational powers.
Senior Security Delivery Analyst at Accenture
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
CrowdStrike Falcon is highly stable and reliable, with minor glitches, appreciated for its cloud-based architecture and proactive support.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is praised for its reliability and stability, with minor concerns about resource intensity and performance.
Sentiment score
7.6
Symantec Endpoint Security is praised for stability and reliability, despite occasional crashes and compatibility issues during updates.
I have never seen instability in the CrowdStrike tool.
Security Analyst at NTT Ltd
We are following N-1 versions across our environment, which is stable.
Senior Principal Information Security Analyst at Veritas Technologies LLC
The biggest issue occurred when every computer worldwide experienced a blue screen.
Information Security Specialist at Arab Open University
I haven't seen any outages with Microsoft.
IT Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
I rate Defender 10 out of 10 for stability.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Defender for Endpoint is extremely stable.
Systems engineers at Delta Dental of Colorado
I have encountered issues where I had to uninstall and reinstall the product on end users' computers to view the logs again.
OT Technologist at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
Previously, we used to have multiple servers such as GUP servers and numerous servers for pushing updates, but we reduced it and transitioned almost 30,000 devices to CrowdStrike, which was easy to manage.
Senior Security Delivery Analyst at Accenture
 

Room For Improvement

CrowdStrike Falcon needs improved integration, reporting, and user experience, with better support, pricing, customization, and API features.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint faces interface complexity, slow detection, high CPU usage, integration issues, and seeks improvements in multiple areas.
Symantec Endpoint Security suffers from high resource usage, management complexity, outdated interface, and ineffective virus detection and support.
Simplifying the querying process, such as using double quote queries or directly obtaining logs based on IP addresses or usernames, would be beneficial.
Security Analyst at NTT Ltd
Another concern is CrowdStrike's GUI. It changes annually, making it hard to work and find options.
Senior Principal Information Security Analyst at Veritas Technologies LLC
Threat prevention should be their first priority.
Group Manager at HCLSoftware
Repeated interactions are necessary due to Level One's lack of tools and knowledge, hindering efficient problem-solving and negatively impacting our experience with Microsoft support.
Office 365 Subject Expert at a government with 10,001+ employees
In contrast, competing products offer reduced pricing for long-term commitments, which makes it difficult for us in that environment.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
We use Microsoft partners to help govern the platform, and as part of an alliance, we want to gather data from each tenant and combine them for a complete view.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Device management is not very good and I am not enabling it in my organization due to security reasons.
System Administrator at Aljazera Market co
I would like to see improvements in the scanning part of the solution, specifically to enhance the CPU and hard disk usage during scanning and updates to prevent disruption during work hours.
Head of Information System at EEC
It is cumbersome to use, particularly in handling firewall management.
OT Technologist at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
 

Setup Cost

CrowdStrike Falcon is a premium, competitively priced solution with variable pricing, often negotiated, offering free trials for easy evaluation.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers flexible pricing, making it competitive and cost-effective compared to standalone security products.
Symantec Endpoint Security's pricing is diverse, being both negotiable and adaptable for different budgets and organizations' needs.
It is expensive compared to SentinelOne, but as the market leader, it is worth it.
Senior Principal Information Security Analyst at Veritas Technologies LLC
The licensing cost and setup costs are affordable.
Computer Engineer at OIC, Alshirawi
The solution is a bit expensive.
Information Security Specialist at Arab Open University
That has been the trend we have seen with Microsoft lately—it is just getting more and more expensive.
Assistant Director, Hybrid Infrastructure & Operations at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
Given our extensive Microsoft licensing, transitioning to Defender for Endpoint did not affect licensing costs.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
It costs $15 per VM for the P2 plan, which is seen as affordable for customers.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
It seems to be half the cost or more affordable than other solutions.
OT Technologist at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
The pricing is very low compared to other companies like SentinelOne and others.
System Administrator at Aljazera Market co
I rate the pricing, setup cost, and licensing around nine out of ten.
Head of Information System at EEC
 

Valuable Features

CrowdStrike Falcon offers AI-driven threat detection and lightweight agent for efficient, real-time endpoint security with seamless integration.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint excels with seamless integration, advanced threat intelligence, AI-driven protection, and continuous cloud-based security management.
Symantec Endpoint Security provides integrated, user-friendly protection for multiple platforms with advanced malware detection and comprehensive endpoint management.
I can investigate by accessing the customer's host based on the RTR environment and utilize host search to know details for the past seven days, including logins, processes, file installations, malicious processes, and network connections.
Security Analyst at NTT Ltd
The real-time analytics aspect of CrowdStrike performs well because we get all logs in real-time, with no delay, allowing us to take action immediately.
CyberSecurity Architects at VaporVM
Being an EDR solution, it helps us identify attacks in real-time.
Information Security Specialist at Arab Open University
Defender for Endpoint's coverage across different platforms in our environment is pretty good. We have devices running Linux, Mac OS, Windows, iOS, and Android. It covers all of them.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides a unified management interface allowing customers to manage their on-premises and hybrid infrastructures from a single pane.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
One of the best features of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is its database for identifying zero-day attacks or malware attacks.
Consultant at ACT4SERVICES
Symantec Endpoint Security offers great features such as reporting capabilities with a customized dashboard that pulls in EDR timelines, threat maps, and compliance metrics into one view.
Senior Associate at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Symantec Endpoint Security offers many valuable features, such as file explosion, application learning, DLP, injection detection, and EDR solutions for traffic control.
System Administrator at Aljazera Market co
The incident response capabilities allow me to resolve authentication and support issues promptly, ensuring the system operates without downtime.
Head of Information System at EEC
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of CrowdStrike Falcon is 7.0%, down from 11.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 8.1%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Endpoint Security is 3.4%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
CrowdStrike Falcon7.0%
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint8.1%
Symantec Endpoint Security3.4%
Other81.5%
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

Waleed Omar - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Specialist at Arab Open University
Provides effective real-time threat detection with potential for cost optimization
Some features such as device control, firewall management, and file analysis are standalone products that we need to purchase separately. If these features came out of the box within the product, it would be much more beneficial for us. Other providers such as SentinelOne include these features in their base product. We attended a CrowdStrike Falcon event where they discussed some shallow AI features, but we cannot see these in our panel yet. We work with different solutions such as Darktrace and SocRadar, where AI features are automatically displayed in our dashboards after release. However, for CrowdStrike Falcon, we cannot see these features.
Robert Arbuckle - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Analyst III at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Automatically isolates threats and integrates with logging to reduce response time
Overall, I would evaluate the Microsoft support level that I receive at probably about a seven, but that depends on the day. It has been spotty. We have had issues where the urgency level of the Microsoft support is not as high as ours, especially during a data breach or potential data breach situation. We have had issues with some of the offshore support being lackluster. One specific thing that comes to mind is we were on a support call with our CISO on the call, and the Microsoft agent, who did not actually work for Microsoft, is one of the vendors that Microsoft uses for support, said, "Just to set expectations, my lunch break is in an hour and I am going to go away then." For us, it was already ten o'clock at night and we had been working on this for a couple of hours, trying to get a security engineer on with us. For him to tell us that he was going to go away and have lunch, it was, "Okay, but go find somebody else if you need to." It was just the lackluster approach, and it seemed like he did not really care. We seem to get a lot of this when we get non-Microsoft support. I can identify areas for improvement with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, as it is kind of a convoluted mess to try to take care of false positives. Especially when they have been identified as false positives but they keep going off over and over again. It is great for my pocketbook because it generates a lot of on-call action, but I would really prefer more sleep at two o'clock in the morning than dealing with false positives. I would say that the unified portal for managing Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is suitable for both teams as they are all in there. It would be great if they would stop moving things around and renaming things, which makes sense. The new XDR portal is pretty nice. Being able to have it central again inside of the regular Security Center without having to open up two windows is helpful. Overall, I think it is pretty good. There is always going to be something that could be improved, such as alerting and the ability to modify alerts would be a little bit helpful to have. Being able to add more data into the alerts and turn off alerts that are not as useful would be beneficial. It is hard to say what the quantitative impact the security exposure management feature has had on our company's security, because a lot of it is kind of subjective. I think we are sitting at around a fifty percent score still, and a lot of it is just kind of unusual circumstances that we cannot really implement without breaking the organization.
Kumbesh Rajagopal - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Security Delivery Analyst at Accenture
Management becomes easier with minimal complications, but improvement in support tools needed
Regarding areas of improvement for Symantec Endpoint Security, there are many changes, and the support portal tool is complicated compared to other tools. When trying to get service from Symantec, the process is complex. I'm not sure whether it's because of my project or something else. Though it is easy to manage, easy to get, easy to install, and works efficiently for managing policies, we faced a significant disadvantage. We wanted to add multiple hashes because of numerous new alerts coming, but we could only add them one by one, which is a considerable disadvantage in Symantec.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business46
Midsize Enterprise34
Large Enterprise62
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business80
Midsize Enterprise40
Large Enterprise92
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business69
Midsize Enterprise32
Large Enterprise63
 

Questions from the Community

Comparing CrowdStrike Falcon to Cortex XDR (Palo Alto)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. CrowdStrike Falcon Both Cortex XDR and Crowd Strike Falcon offer cloud-based solutions th...
How does Crowdstrike Falcon compare with Darktrace?
Both of these products perform similarly and have many outstanding attributes. CrowdStrike Falcon offers an amazing u...
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 pu...
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,...
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 sol...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint?
I'm not too familiar with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; it wasn't some...
Which is better - Cortex XDR or Symantec End-User Endpoint Security?
Aqua Security is easy to use and very manageable. Its main focus is on Kubernetes and Docker. Security is a very valu...
What do you like most about Symantec End-User Endpoint Security?
Symantec have everything – documentation, videos, data sheets.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec End-User Endpoint Security?
Symantec Endpoint Security's pricing is better than most offerings based on my research. It seems to be half the cost...
 

Also Known As

CrowdStrike Falcon XDR, CrowdStrike Falcon Threat Intelligence, CrowdStrike Identity Protection, CrowdStrike Falcon Surface, CrowdStrike Falcon Platform
Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
Symantec EPP, Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP)
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Audio Visual Dynamics, Red Deer Advocate, Asia Pacific Telecom Co. Ltd., Kibbutz Ein Gedi, and AMETEK, Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about CrowdStrike, Microsoft, SentinelOne and others in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP). Updated: December 2025.
879,986 professionals have used our research since 2012.