Huntress Managed EDR vs Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting comparison

Huntress Managed EDR vs. Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting

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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

Huntress Managed EDR

Ranking in Managed Detection and Response (MDR)

1st

Average Rating

9.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (6th)

Microsoft Defender Experts ...

Ranking in Managed Detection and Response (MDR)

19th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Managed Detection and Response (MDR) category, the mindshare of Huntress Managed EDR is 4.5%, down from 10.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is 1.4%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Huntress Managed EDR	4.5%
Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting	1.4%
Other	94.1%

Managed Detection and Response (MDR)

Featured Reviews

Abhishek Saini

Professional Services Engineer at Next7 IT

Managed detection has transformed incident response and now delivers faster, focused protection

Overall, my experience with Huntress Managed EDR has been very positive. If I were to suggest improvements, I would like to see more advanced customization and reporting capabilities, particularly for MSPs managing multiple clients. For example, additional dashboard customization, more granular alert filtering options, and enhanced executive level reporting would help teams present security insights more effectively to their clients. Deeper integrations with a broader range of third party security and IT management platforms could also streamline workflows and reduce the need to switch between multiple tools. Another area of improvement would be expanding automation options for common remediation tasks, allowing security teams to respond even more quickly to certain types of threats while maintaining appropriate control. These are more enhancements than shortcomings, as Huntress Managed EDR already provides strong threat detection, excellent SOC support, and an easy-to-manage platform that delivers significant value in day-to-day operations. A few additional enhancements would make the platform even stronger, especially for MSPs managing a large number of endpoints and clients. From a user interface perspective, I would like to see more customizable dashboards that allow engineers to tailor views based on the client's priorities, threat levels, or operational metrics. Another useful feature would be additional automation and authorization options for common response actions such as isolating devices, initiating remediation workflows, or integrating with ticketing systems and SIEM platforms. Overall, these would be valuable additions, but they do not take away from the core strength of Huntress Managed EDR.

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Mondher-Smii

Cybersecurity Manager at Insomea

Has supported clients in managing incidents through clear pricing and hybrid deployment options

What really stands out about Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is that it's easy to use. The cost is clear, and the pricing is transparent. The onboarding of the product on the customer's environment is straightforward. We can use it in a hybrid environment, in the cloud, or on-premise environment. This is the main advantage regarding this product. If it's configured correctly, everything will be good, resilient, and secure, which supports threat mitigation efforts depending on the configuration on the tenant and the parameters on Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting. Threat intelligence updates have some impact on our overall security posture. They give us external eyes regarding threat actors, which is good. It's very helpful to enrich the SIEM, which is Microsoft Sentinel. It's a good feature that we can include threat intel on the product.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Huntress Managed EDR is very easy to use. It's geared towards your Windows user who wants convenience. You just need an EXE file to get started. It's set up for convenience to make it easy for you to have security, as opposed to some of the complexities behind the scenes that you don't see."

"It is incredibly efficient for our engineering team because Huntress provides all the information needed to fix issues, not just flag them."

"It is clear, simple, and easy to use. There are things that I can automate in terms of escalation, but if I want to go into the settings and play with it, I can. They provide detailed remediation steps, explaining why an issue is a problem and what steps to take."

"Using Huntress Managed EDR has helped reduce the need for expensive security tools or to hire expensive security analysts, which is very important as we can use the money that we saved on those in improving equipment."

"What I like the most about Huntress Managed EDR is their lockdowns on malware; just last night I remediated a system that could have gone really sideways, their SOC called me and texted me and within 45 seconds we had a lockdown and remediation in progress, so all around they are just phenomenal."

"Foothold detection is a valuable feature, acting as a valuable second set of eyes for both us and our clients."

"Using Huntress Managed EDR has helped reduce the need for expensive security tools or to hire expensive security analysts, and it is important because we save money."

"The most valuable aspect of Huntress is its ability to isolate legacy systems from the network, preventing the spread of threats."

More Huntress Managed EDR pros

"The solution helps to detect some suspicious items for us and our clients."

"What really stands out about Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is that it's easy to use, the cost is clear, and the pricing is transparent, with straightforward onboarding in hybrid, cloud, or on-premise environments."

"Easy to use is what my customers say is the biggest benefit of Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting for them."

"The best feature of this solution is that it is an integrated and comprehensive solution for the entire Microsoft ecosystem."

"Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting helps my customers detect or prevent emerging threats that are not yet published but Microsoft has visibility into."

Cons

"It would be nice if Huntress Managed EDR started adding additional features that some of the other competitors have, but obviously, to keep it lightweight, they cannot pack too much into it."

"If I had to suggest an improvement, I would like to see a customizable dashboard and reporting along with additional integrations with third-party SIEM or SOAR platforms."

"I also would love for them to make their new SIEM tool reports much more robust. They are currently way too simplified, and we need to have something better to send to our compliance clients."

"Improvements for Huntress Managed EDR really come down to the user interface online, which is less polished than I would like."

"I'd like Huntress to implement a component that can analyze network traffic for specific sites."

"Installing Huntress on a Mac presents a challenge for end users due to the operating system's security features, which require administrator privileges for installation."

"One issue is the managed antivirus. Huntress takes control of the antivirus built into Windows Defender, but it doesn't if, for some reason, Defender isn't working properly and doesn't attempt to fix it. We have to fix it with some scripts so that Defender reports correctly to Huntress. It would be nice if they took that action on our behalf. If they saw a problem with Defender, they should roll out a fix."

"To enhance the platform, I suggest adding a feature to forward Huntress's recommended response directly to the client, ensuring their clear understanding of the gathered information."

More Huntress Managed EDR cons

"The price of the solution is costly, which I find significant."

"There is a lot of change in a small period. This might not be helpful for IT administrators and users."

"We tried the proactive threat hunting feature, but it was not a good experience with Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting. It created more trouble than expected with false positives and non-expected answers."

"The solution’s user interface could be improved."

"As a partner, Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting could be improved by getting earlier threat detection signals so we could proactively research on our own end and help support a campaign to raise awareness as well as proactive response."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While other options have emerged since Huntress' arrival, I believe it still offers the best value for the features and services it provides."

"I rate the product's price a five or six on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive since it is a fairly priced product."

"It is simple. It is reasonable. They raised my prices this year. We never like price increases, but they continue to add value, so we just keep adding agents as we grow and as our clients grow."

"The pricing is competitive, in line with Huntress's offerings, and aligns well with our business model."

"It is very fair. I started at $2.50 and now I am at $3.50. When I signed up, I thought it was too cheap. It now reflects the price. It is very fair. I do not think you can find anything better."

"Huntress is an easy sell to clients because it does all the heavy lifting. Sometimes, they will buck a little at the price because they want a free antivirus or EDR. We tell them that we use Huntress on all our machines. That is our standard process for all the machines we roll out. When we give that advice, people are pretty willing to say okay."

"I believe Huntress Managed EDR is fairly priced. The value I get from it in terms of peace of mind justifies the expense. You can justify it as a business expense."

"The Huntress pricing is an excellent value for what the product provides."

More Huntress Managed EDR pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

22%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	63
Midsize Enterprise	6

No data available

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Huntress?

Overall, I will say it has been a reliable solution. I have not encountered any major issues. If I had to suggest an improvement, I would like to see a customizable dashboard and reporting along wi...

What is your primary use case for Huntress?

I have been using Huntress Managed EDR for approximately one year. I primarily use Huntress Managed EDR for threat detection and response, including continuous monitoring of endpoints for malicious...

What advice do you have for others considering Huntress?

I will say it is very easy to work with because it is very user-friendly. I would not call it basic; the overview is friendly for analysis and helps in observing any difficulties. I will say it is ...

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting?

As a partner, Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting could be improved by getting earlier threat detection signals so we could proactively research on our own end and help support a campaign to rai...

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting?

As a working security partner, my main use case for Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is that many of our customers also have Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting and really find a lot of va...

What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting?

As a partner, there can be some concern that Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is taking away some of our business because they're providing a solution that we also provide. However, the team ...

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Product Reports

Huntress Managed EDR

Download Huntress Managed EDR product report

Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting

Download Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting product report

Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting report

Overview

Huntress Managed EDR provides round-the-clock threat detection, incident response, and remediation services. It offers a cost-effective security solution tailored for small to medium businesses, integrating seamlessly with Microsoft Defender to bolster cybersecurity without needing extensive security personnel.

Huntress Managed EDR specializes in comprehensive threat-hunting and proactive defense, designed to operate alongside existing antivirus tools like Microsoft Defender. It delivers continuous monitoring and advanced threat detection to protect endpoints from threats beyond traditional antivirus capabilities. The platform features a user-oriented interface enabling efficient endpoint management and security. While valued for its 24/7 security operations and threat response, Huntress faces certain challenges such as enhancing reporting capabilities, expanding integration with third-party systems, and advancing its XDR functionalities. Users seek improved API capabilities, streamlined report generation, and broader Macintosh support to elevate their experience with the tool.

What are the key features?

24/7 SOC: Continuous monitoring and rapid threat response by expert analysts.
Threat Hunting: Active detection of complex threats that bypass traditional AV.
Proactive Incident Response: Immediate action taken to mitigate potential threats.
Automatic Remediation: Hands-free threat resolution without manual intervention.
Integration with Microsoft Defender: Seamlessly work alongside existing antivirus solutions.

What benefits should users consider?

Cost Efficiency: Reduces the need for large in-house security teams.
User Friendliness: Allows easy operation and management of cybersecurity tools.
Enhanced Security Posture: Adds an extra layer of protection to existing defenses.
Adaptability: Supports various deployment models for flexible implementation.
Endpoint Protection: Provides robust defense against evasive cyber threats.

Industries leverage Huntress Managed EDR to enhance security frameworks and integrate with existing security measures, like Microsoft Defender. Its deployment spans financial, healthcare, and SMB sectors, where the need for robust endpoint protection and threat-hunting capabilities is paramount. Organizations benefit from its flexible deployment options, adapting Huntress to their specific cybersecurity strategies.

Huntress

Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting empowers businesses with advanced threat detection and incident response capabilities, leveraging proactive threat hunting and expert consultation to enhance cybersecurity posture across diverse environments.

Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting provides a comprehensive cybersecurity solution that integrates well with Microsoft tools, enabling organizations to detect, explain, and manage threats efficiently. It uses the MITRE framework for reporting, enhancing detection strategies and regulatory compliance efforts, offering increased protection against nation-state and financially motivated cyber threats. With tools like KQL query capability, direct access to security analysts via the Ask an Expert button, and automation features, it enhances threat intel updates and saves significant man-hours for security teams.

What key features set Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting apart?

KQL Query Capability: Provides powerful data querying to identify potential threats.
Proactive Threat Hunting: Enables security teams to detect threats before they cause harm.
Ask an Expert Button: Allows direct chat with security analysts for expert insight.
Improved Detection Rates: Utilizes advanced algorithms to enhance threat detection accuracy.
Integration with MITRE Framework: Utilizes a robust framework for thorough threat identification.
Strategic Ecosystem Integration: Compatible with Microsoft tools for a cohesive cybersecurity strategy.

What benefits should organizations expect from using Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting?

Increased Threat Detection Precision: Provides reliable detection backed by Microsoft's extensive data.
Enhanced Operational Efficiency: Saves manpower through automation, allowing teams to focus on impactful tasks.
Regulatory Compliance Support: Assists in meeting compliance requirements through structured reporting.
Streamlined Incident Response: Reduces incident handling time with expert insights and integrated tools.

Industries employing Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting integrate it with Azure Sentinel and other cybersecurity tools to bolster threat response strategies. Entities benefit from advanced threat signals, enhancing protection against sophisticated cyber threats, particularly useful for sectors facing threats from nation-state and financially supported actors.

Microsoft

Huntress Managed EDR vs. Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting