No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

ESET Endpoint Protection Platform vs Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

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
6.4
Users report mixed ROI experiences with ESET, appreciating its efficiency, cost savings, enhanced security, and streamlined patch management.
Sentiment score
4.9
Determining ROI for Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is challenging due to service bundling and mixed-use of other products.
Regarding cost savings, ESET Endpoint Protection Platform definitely saves money because if my system or organization is hacked or ransomed, the potential financial loss would be far greater than the cost of the solution.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
I saw the return on investment with ESET Endpoint Protection Platform within months.
Managing Director at Port-IT BV
Organizations typically do not rely solely on Microsoft products to avoid putting all eggs in one basket, which presents a challenge for maximizing ROI.
Cloud Security Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
As a Microsoft partner, we receive significant discounts, making the solution affordable for us.
COO at Floating-Dot Technology LTD
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
ESET Endpoint Protection receives positive feedback for support, though availability issues exist, especially in certain regions.
Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Defender's support is praised for expertise but criticized for communication delays and varying service quality.
They have great technical support.
Owner at Online IT
I typically receive support from the distributor, and the customer support team is also responsive and helpful.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
Normally, I cannot give a ten for support of all brands, as it is not always possible to get full support from companies.
Retired at BEMSIS INFORMATICS LTD.
They are sometimes responsive, however, often issues cannot be reproduced on their end, making it challenging.
Security Specialist at Prudential Systems Japan
The support we receive from Microsoft is declining, and for example, after taking advanced support, we have not received satisfactory answers.
Microsoft Solutions Manager at Self-Employed
They are familiar with Microsoft products but are not direct Microsoft staff, which is an area needing improvement.
Cloud Security Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is scalable, versatile for various environments, and praised for ease of use and minimal hardware needs.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Defender excels in scalability and integration but faces documentation and on-premise infrastructure challenges across industries.
In terms of scalability, I can rate it eight or nine out of ten.
Retired at BEMSIS INFORMATICS LTD.
Their support is phenomenal, offering quick assistance.
Managing Director at Port-IT BV
Minimal system performance impact is very important when choosing endpoint protection solutions, and I believe ESET uses minimum hardware of the PC.
Owner at Online IT
The integration is straightforward for those who understand it, though documentation needs improvement.
Cloud Security Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
It is scalable; I evaluated the product and decided to use Defender on over 700 of our company servers.
Security Specialist at Prudential Systems Japan
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
ESET Endpoint Protection is highly stable and reliable, with minimal issues, consistently receiving high ratings for performance.
Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is highly stable and reliable, with minimal downtime, despite minor resource-related and compatibility issues.
In terms of stability, I can rate it at nine out of ten.
Retired at BEMSIS INFORMATICS LTD.
Our experience with ESET Endpoint Protection Platform's centralized management console is mostly fine for managing security policies across endpoints.
Owner at Online IT
There are compatibility issues occasionally arising with false positives when other security tools are not whitelisted in Microsoft Defender.
information Security and IT Manager at Discover Dollar Technologies Pvt Ltd.
It is very resource-intensive, consuming a lot of memory and CPU.
Security Specialist at Prudential Systems Japan
If Microsoft experiences downtime, this solution goes down as it is a SaaS-based solution where we have no control.
Cloud Security Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
 

Room For Improvement

ESET Endpoint Protection Platform struggles with updates, complex interface, integration, and needs enhanced features and support improvements.
Microsoft Defender needs better false positive reduction, integration, cost management, risk scoring, and documentation for small enterprises.
A lightweight version of ESET might be beneficial as many of our clients have older CPUs and RAM.
Retired at BEMSIS INFORMATICS LTD.
When we were using CrowdStrike, it used to detect and block pirated software, but ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is not doing that.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
Extensive APIs to easily integrate our own systems with the platform for user configuration via their company portal.
Managing Director at Port-IT BV
This scoring should be for specific industries as well. If I belong to the healthcare industry using Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, it should provide me with a risk score and show how I fare against the risk score of my industry.
DGM. Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
A vulnerability I patch within 15 minutes takes 24 additional hours for an update.
information Security and IT Manager at Discover Dollar Technologies Pvt Ltd.
The product is not stable; it often uses excessive memory and CPU, which makes it slow.
Security Specialist at Prudential Systems Japan
 

Setup Cost

ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is considered cost-effective by enterprise buyers, with competitive pricing and flexible licensing options.
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management provides economical tiered pricing with P1 and P2 options, often included in existing bundles.
The pricing of ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is a bit high compared to other competitors.
Retired at BEMSIS INFORMATICS LTD.
The price is very reasonable compared to the features provided.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
I would rate ESET Endpoint Protection Platform a five for pricing on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is cheap and 10 is expensive.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
Overall, every organization wishes for cheaper options, but we look at the security side as well, so we are good for now.
Senior Cloud Security Consultant at MetLife
For non-partners, however, the cost could be seen as higher, between seven to ten.
COO at Floating-Dot Technology LTD
The pricing is reasonable, and it's included in the whole Microsoft E5 bundle, so it's all-inclusive.
Corporate Planner at MISC Berhad
 

Valuable Features

ESET Endpoint Protection offers lightweight antivirus, robust protection, ease of use, and affordability, ensuring efficient and scalable security.
Microsoft Defender excels in compliance, real-time assessments, risk prioritization, integration, asset discovery, and continuous monitoring for enhanced security management.
ESET Endpoint Protection Platform provides ransomware prevention, which prevents attackers from encrypting my files and demanding ransom payments.
Project Engineer at IT Solution
The best feature of ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is that I get all the details about which user is using it, how much time they spend on websites, and all related information.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
Machine learning, especially through live detection, detects threats that are blocked based on reputation or sandbox detection.
Managing Director at Port-IT BV
The main advantage of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is that it can locate and prevent most threats even when the endpoints are not connected to the corporate network, as long as the internet is available.
DGM. Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
The feature for customizing to region-specific and domain-specific requirements in healthcare is particularly beneficial.
Cloud Security Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
The most valuable aspect is the kind of assessment results I get, and the recommendations provided in Microsoft products really help in taking care of the resources.
Senior Cloud Security Consultant at MetLife
 

Categories and Ranking

ESET Endpoint Protection Pl...
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
18th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
104
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (14th), Anti-Malware Tools (8th)
Microsoft Defender Vulnerab...
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
17th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (12th), Microsoft Security Suite (19th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is 1.8%, down from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is 2.2%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management2.2%
ESET Endpoint Protection Platform1.8%
Other96.0%
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

MS
Owner at Online IT
Cloud-based protection has simplified daily client support and keeps threats under control
The problems that we are facing with policy adoption include slow adoption, as it takes more than five minutes to adopt policy on client computers. ESET Network Attack Protection sometimes helps in reducing network-level intrusions, but sometimes it prevents local devices on the network, which are well-known and good devices, from being recognized, treating them as a threat. So it requires more administration than usual. ESET could implement a good solution for remote support in ESET Endpoint Protection Platform for improvement in the future. Since you have the cloud console, ESET could have something similar to AnyDesk or TeamViewer, but from ESET.
OB
Microsoft Solutions Manager at Self-Employed
Ensures strong threat and vulnerability management with continuous risk assessment
The major priority is identity, which is crucial; we have lots of companies in manufacturing, energy, or various sectors, and it varies from one to another. I assess Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management as very effective in continuously assessing vulnerabilities without requiring scans. We use automatic investigation and remediation features, safe attachments, safe links, and real-time reports, which are also very effective. For Active Directory, Defender has threat intelligence, and we are using that. The risk-based prioritization within Vulnerability Management affects my ability to manage vulnerabilities, particularly in relation to the Zero Trust Model utilized by our customers. The end-users often do as they please in their systems.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) solutions are best for your needs.
885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
14%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business69
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise21
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ESET LiveGuard Advanced?
The pricing, setup cost, and licensing of ESET Endpoint Protection Platform are good with no issues. The price is very reasonable compared to the features provided.
What needs improvement with ESET LiveGuard Advanced?
ESET Endpoint Protection Platform could be improved by offering integrations and user-friendly dashboards that could enhance the overall experience and reliability. ESST Endpoint Protection Platfor...
What is your primary use case for ESET LiveGuard Advanced?
My main use case for ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is preventing malware and preventing outside attackers. When attackers target my system, ESET catches and scans the threat with its signature ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?
When I create rules, it gave me problems and I did not know where the problem was located. A small pop-up notification indicating how a rule should be configured would be helpful, rather than the p...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?
I do not use Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management at work. However, I am currently not working, but I do use Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management on my personal computer.
 

Also Known As

Smart Security, ESET PROTECT Advanced, ESET LiveGuard Advanced, ESET PROTECT Platform
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ERSTE Group Bank, Miller Solutions, Wesleyan University, The Hospital Center of Luxembourg, Deer Valley USD, SPAR, Industrial Federal Credit Union, Honda, City Hall of Palmela, Hays CISD, Lester B Pearson School Board
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about ESET Endpoint Protection Platform vs. Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.