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ESET EDR/XDR vs Microsoft Defender XDR 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

ESET EDR/XDR
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
58th
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
37th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Authentication Systems (42nd)
Microsoft Defender XDR
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
5th
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
101
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category, the mindshare of ESET EDR/XDR is 1.2%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 6.2%, down from 8.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
 

Featured Reviews

PB
Achieves robust data protection and reliable security with the help of advanced automation features
We promote customers to purchase our ESET EDR_XDR and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions. In our office, with about one hundred and fifty people, we use ESET EDR_XDR personally to protect data from unauthorized threats and gain early awareness to protect against cyber attacks The cost and basic…
Gabor Nyerd - PeerSpot reviewer
Includes four services and four products, which can help organizations a lot
We found that sometimes integrations work, but testing them can take some time. Sometimes, configurations take much longer than expected. We have a configuration in place that needs to be synchronized with another server. However, the servers are four hours apart, so this can cause delays. In general, I believe that the time it takes to configure and test a service should be shorter. Sometimes, it can take a couple of hours to test a single configuration setting. Other times, it is only ten or fifteen minutes, which is normal. However, sometimes, even immediate actions can be triggered by configuration changes, and some settings can take up to eight hours to complete. I believe that this time can be improved. Microsoft is making a lot of improvements to its services in a short period of time. This is a good thing, as it means that the services are constantly being updated and improved. However, it can be challenging for customers to keep up with the changes. For example, a customer may read about an update, understand it, and share it with their colleagues and boss. However, it may take days or weeks to test the update and get the necessary approvals. This can be especially challenging for large customers with many users or machines. In some cases, Microsoft may change a service before the customer has had a chance to implement the previous update. This can be frustrating for customers, as it means that they have to constantly learn new things and adjust their workflows. On the one hand, it is important for Microsoft to keep updating and improving its services. This helps to ensure that the services are meeting the customers' needs and that they are staying ahead of the competition. Microsoft should also be mindful of the challenges that these changes can create for customers. One way to address this challenge is to provide customers with more time to implement changes. Microsoft could also provide more information about upcoming changes so that customers can plan ahead. Ultimately, Microsoft needs to strike a balance between keeping its services up-to-date and providing customers with a smooth transition to new features.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is easy to use."
"The initial setup of ESET EDR_XDR is very simple, easy to deploy, and manage."
"A crucial aspect for our team is the inclusion of identity and access management tools from the vendor."
"It's a great threat intelligence source for us, providing alerts for things it detects on the network and on the machines. We've used it often when there is a potential incident to see what was done on a computer. That works quite nicely because you can see everything that the user has done..."
"The most valuable aspect is undoubtedly the exploration capability"
"The most valuable features are machine learning, AI, and auto-remediation of none malicious alerts."
"All of the security components are valuable including, antiphishing, antispam, and stage three antivirus."
"I like that it's stable. It's been stable for a long time, and Microsoft Defender has done a good job there."
"I like that it's fully integrated with Windows, Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, and Outlook. It is better than other antivirus solutions because it's fully integrated with all Microsoft products. It's easy to integrate them and onboard all Windows devices from SCCM."
"The most valuable feature is the network security."
 

Cons

"The solution could improve how it scours each website."
"ESET EDR_XDR needs to conduct more research and development and innovations in early detection of attacks."
"Troubleshooting in Microsoft 365 Defender can be inefficient."
"The price should be adjustable by region."
"The user interface of Microsoft 365 Defender could improve. They could make it simpler."
"The interface could be improved. For example, if you want to do a phishing simulation for your employees, it can take a while to figure out what to do. The interface is a bit messy and could be updated. It isn't too bad, but doing some things can be a long process."
"The message trace feature for investigating mail flow issues should add more detailed information to the summary report... if they could extend the summary report a little bit, make it more descriptive, ordinary administrators could understand what happened and that the emails failed at this or that point. That way they would know the location to go to try to correct it and to prevent it from occurring again."
"The licensing process needs improvement and clarification, as it is currently difficult to understand which features are licensed to which users."
"It would be beneficial to reduce the number of clicks required to navigate between blades, as the current navigation and breadcrumb system can be a bit confusing."
"The only problem I find is that the use cases are built-in. There is no template available that you can modify according to your organization's standards. What they give is very generic, the market standard, but that might not be applicable to every organization."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the solution’s pricing a six or seven out of ten.."
"Its licensing and pricing are handled by someone else. My role is limited to incidents or issues with the portal, but you get what you pay for. It is worth the cost."
"There are no issues with pricing, but sometimes, the clarity in licensing is a concern."
"Purchasing Microsoft Defender XDR as part of a Microsoft 365 bundle can be cost-effective, but acquiring it as a standalone product may be more expensive."
"Microsoft 365 Defender offers competitive pricing."
"Microsoft should provide lower-level licensing options. They should do it in such a way that even an individual could purchase a license, and it should be entirely flexible."
"Defender XDR is included in the E5 license, but it's a bit too expensive."
"Licensing is somewhat confusing, particularly when presenting our pitch decks to stakeholders and leveraging key features in premium SKUs, but we managed with some assistance from Microsoft."
"It has consistently offered highly appealing academic pricing, with distinct rates for higher education and general educational purposes."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
18%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with ESET EDR/XDR?
ESET EDR_XDR needs to conduct more research and development and innovations in early detection of attacks. Improvements in preventive maintenance and early detection of cyber attacks are necessary ...
What do you like most about Microsoft 365 Defender?
Microsoft Defender XDR provides strong identity protection with comprehensive insights into risky user behavior and potential indicators of compromise.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft 365 Defender?
The pricing for Microsoft Sentinel operates on a pay-as-you-go model based on data ingestion. I recall that Defender XDR pricing is based on the number of endpoints.
What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?
For Microsoft Defender XDR ( /categories/extended-detection-and-response-xdr ), there is currently no ability to reset passwords for on-premises accounts, which is a key challenge. Incident managem...
 

Also Known As

ESET Secure Authentication
Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitsubishi Motors, Canon
Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Find out what your peers are saying about ESET EDR/XDR vs. Microsoft Defender XDR and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
864,155 professionals have used our research since 2012.