We performed a comparison between ESET Endpoint Security and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: ESET Endpoint Security ultimately won out in this comparison. Our reviewers agree that ESET Endpoint Security is easy to install and easy to use. In addition, it has excellent customer support.
"The features that I have found most valuable are the ability to customize it and to reduce its size. It lets you run in a very small window in terms of memory and resources on legacy cash registers."
"Fortinet FortiEDR's firewalling, rule creation, monitoring, and inspection profiles are great."
"The setup is pretty simple."
"I like FortiClient EMS. FortiEDR has a lot of great features like lockdown mode, remote wipes, and encryption. I can set malware outbreak policies and controls for detecting abnormalities. You can also simulate phishing attacks."
"The main thing is that I feel safe. Because the processes that have been used to get a handle on the attackers are much better than other competitors"
"Fortinet has helped free up around 20 percent of our staff's time to help us out."
"Fortinet FortiEDR's scalability is quite good, and you can add licenses to the solution."
"The solution was relatively easy to deploy."
"The tool offers great detection. You need time only to setup the environment. After that, it is just plug-and-play to get the solution up and running. We can also control the PC remotely from the cloud and get all the information in one place."
"The tool protects everything."
"I like everything about ESET Endpoint Security, and as an installer, it's very easy to install the solution, but the most important feature is that it helps defend against any virus. When the virus comes, ESET Endpoint Security stops it."
"Ransomware protection is embedded in the solution."
"The solution is very lightweight and does not consume that much processor in terms of CPU utilization. The centralized management system is very good."
"It rarely gets in the way, and we don't even notice it scanning."
"The most valuable feature of ESET Endpoint Security is that it is light on resources. It has a very low impact on the system. It uses low memory and the setup size is very low."
"The features seem to be alright."
"The most valuable feature is that it comes with the package, so there is no additional installation of third-party software. It's also easy to use."
"Coming from an organization where the EDR wasn't strong, it has always been a case of basically searching through the information you already have and looking for something. It was basically trying to find the needle in a haystack. What the Defender platform does is that it reduces the size of the haystack, and it'll say that the needle is over here. Minutes matter, and it certainly zeros you in on the events that are concerning. It also simplifies the effort of trying to get some kind of correlation of behaviors or actions you see in the environment and confirming if something is benign or a threat."
"Defender is stable, I haven't had any problems with viruses when using it, and it's easy to update."
"One feature I like the most is vulnerability management, which shows any vulnerable software or OS present in my environment. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides a complete overview and also recommends the steps to mitigate the vulnerabilities or threats. Most of the other antivirus or EDR solutions generally don't provide vulnerability management. It is an add-on that Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides."
"The solution has good performance, I have not seen a problem."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is that it is embedded into the Windows system. Additionally, the performance is good and simple to maintain."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is its ability to bring together all the data, providing more information than just antivirus hits."
"The comprehensiveness of Microsoft threat-protection products is great... Today, Microsoft Sentinel by itself is a leading Gartner SIEM tool. It has advantages over competitors because of the ability to integrate with Microsoft solutions and automate continuous monitoring of Microsoft AD and Office 365 data."
"We'd like to see more one-to-one product presentations for the distribution channels."
"ZTNA can improve latency."
"We find the solution to be a bit expensive."
"Cannot be used on mobile devices with a secure connection."
"The solution should address emerging threats like SQL injection."
"The only minor concern is occasional interference with desired programs."
"FortiEDR can be improved by providing more detailed reporting."
"The solution is not stable."
"ESET's updates are mostly manual. That's my biggest concern. I'd like it to be more automatic. I've had to download the new version and run it manually to install it. I've got several workstations like that right now."
"The product should provide a one-click option to renew the licenses."
"Dual management for the customer, who needs to access the local on-premise console from a remote cloud-based console."
"The detection could be better in ESET Endpoint Security. Sometimes it takes time to detect threats and might be because it's not holding all the memory. There are some features that have to mature. More features might be available in the higher-end product."
"It's hard to get support for ESET in Hong Kong and China. There's a number to call that goes nowhere. You can upgrade to the premium service, but there are a few restrictions."
"I've had a few other instances where the program stops running, and then you have to restore and reset it."
"While the pricing is good, they could always lower it a bit."
"The initial setup of ESET Endpoint Security can be complicated when you get involved with encryption."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint does not offer default templates for alerts, requiring us to configure everything ourselves to avoid numerous false positives."
"Microsoft support could be more knowledgeable."
"The integration and effectiveness of email security could be better. It's already built-in to the solution and checks emails, scans the links they contain etc."
"Defender could be more secure and stable."
"Threat intelligence has the potential for improvement, particularly by integrating more sources."
"The dashboard customization could be improved."
"The solution could always be more secure."
"I'm not too sure of its current capabilities, but I'm pretty sure they are doing a good job on Windows and Mac. However, I'm not sure whether they covered Linux. If I remember correctly, Microsoft Defender didn't have anything proper on Linux back then, but if they have improved it from that aspect, it would already be ticking all the boxes."
More ESET Endpoint Protection Platform Pricing and Cost Advice →
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ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is ranked 8th in EPP (Endpoint Protection for Business) with 56 reviews while Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is ranked 1st in EPP (Endpoint Protection for Business) with 96 reviews. ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is rated 8.4, while Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of ESET Endpoint Protection Platform writes "Easy to set up with good security and rapidly improving capabilities". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint writes "You can access all your security data and telemetry from a single pane of glass". ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is most compared with SentinelOne Singularity Complete, CrowdStrike Falcon, Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business, Intercept X Endpoint and Bitdefender GravityZone Enterprise Security, whereas Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is most compared with Intercept X Endpoint, Symantec Endpoint Security, CrowdStrike Falcon and SentinelOne Singularity Complete. See our ESET Endpoint Protection Platform vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint report.
See our list of best EPP (Endpoint Protection for Business) vendors, best ATP (Advanced Threat Protection) vendors, and best Anti-Malware Tools vendors.
We monitor all EPP (Endpoint Protection for Business) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.