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Huntress Managed EDR vs Microsoft Defender for Identity comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

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
7.4
Organizations experience up to 200% ROI from Huntress Managed EDR, reducing costs and enhancing security and operational efficiency.
Sentiment score
4.5
Microsoft Defender for Identity is cost-effective and efficient, offering incident prevention and resolution without complex hardware setups.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.6
Huntress Managed EDR's support team is responsive, knowledgeable, and effective, often exceeding expectations with proactive and friendly service.
Sentiment score
7.4
Opinions on Microsoft Defender for Identity support vary, highlighting responsiveness, but issues include delays, contact challenges, and false positives.
I felt it was important to raise awareness about this new technique where attackers use legitimate applications to gain remote access and control of computers.
They are thorough and ensure the problem is addressed without pushing responsibilities onto me unnecessarily.
For technical support, I would rate Huntress a ten out of ten, and in truth, they are better than that.
Generally, the support is more effective than other providers like Oracle.
The quality of support is very good, but troubleshooting can take time due to complex setups and the need to provide many logs.
Technical support from Microsoft rates an eight on a scale of 1 to 10 for response time.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Huntress Managed EDR is scalable, easy to deploy, and effective for businesses of all sizes with predictable costs.
Sentiment score
7.3
Microsoft Defender for Identity efficiently integrates and scales globally, supporting diverse organizational needs within Microsoft’s ecosystem effectively.
I know other techs with thousands deployed, so scalability isn't an issue.
Scaling Huntress is simple; I can manage up to a thousand devices without issue.
I can easily scale from one machine to thousands without any fuss.
In a Microsoft-centric organization, especially with Azure infrastructure and Office 365, Microsoft Defender for Identity is scalable.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Huntress Managed EDR is praised for stability, reliability, efficient performance, and low system impact, with minor compatibility issues.
Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Defender for Identity is highly reliable, with minimal incidents, seamless operation, and consistent ratings between seven and nine.
We have not experienced any issues with lagging, crashing, or downtime.
I never experienced issues, but once there was an instance with false positives with their Rio service, which was quickly resolved by customer service.
It barely takes up resources on the computer, and I have had no issues with lagging or crashing.
Microsoft Defender for Identity is quite robust and built on Azure hyperscale infrastructure, with a 99% availability.
We do not see any issues with the stability of Microsoft Defender for Identity.
Having recently started using it, reliability is affirmed, but manual investigation is often performed to verify if alerts identified by auto-remediation are accurate.
 

Room For Improvement

Huntress Managed EDR needs reporting and integration improvements, including better dashboards, API access, and enhanced user interface features.
Microsoft Defender for Identity users seek improved cloud integration, user-friendly features, better support, and streamlined processes for enhanced threat management.
A more transparent way for the support team at Huntress and our IT team to collaborate to make it faster and easier would be beneficial.
Since we support customers in different countries, expanding the language options for their training would be beneficial.
Their EDR is pretty mature in terms of what it does.
If Microsoft could develop a feature that indicates when impossible travel is caused by VPN connections, it would prevent unnecessary password resets and session disruptions, especially for VIP users in organizations.
One improvement I would recommend is the integration of an admin application within Teams, allowing easy access to attack information on a mobile platform.
Reducing false positives is something we've been working on with Microsoft.
 

Setup Cost

Huntress Managed EDR is valued for cost-effectiveness and competitive pricing, especially with feature enhancements, appealing to businesses.
Microsoft Defender for Identity is cost-effective with E5 licenses despite complex pricing and competitive against other security solutions.
The savings from utilizing the included Windows Defender offset the cost of Huntress Managed EDR, making it an affordable solution overall.
It is not too expensive or too cheap. It is just right.
It can get expensive for small to medium businesses if large license quantities are not purchased.
If they can reduce the costs, organizations will be happy, and it will compensate for using the Azure environment, which is more expensive on the infrastructure as a service side.
Ensuring a fair price according to market standards.
From an organization perspective, using E5 licenses is value for money, especially if Azure and Office 365 are already in use.
 

Valuable Features

Huntress Managed EDR offers 24/7 threat hunting, easy deployment, and replaces antivirus with comprehensive security for SMBs.
Microsoft Defender for Identity integrates with Azure to offer comprehensive threat detection, identity protection, and advanced real-time security insights.
What stands out most is their human element: when faced with an unknown threat, real people, not just automated processes, are investigating it, and they're people we trust.
They provide detailed remediation steps, explaining why an issue is a problem and what steps to take.
Previously, I could not modify it unless I had special Microsoft licensing, so it was beneficial to control Windows Defender through a central console to add policies and things like that.
We receive an advance report of risky users, allowing us to take preemptive action before an attack causes damage to organization details.
The most valuable feature is its hybrid artificial intelligence, which gathers forensic data to track and counteract security threats, much like the CSI series in effect.
The advanced threat protection is one of the strengths of Microsoft Defender for Identity, as it utilizes user and entity analytics and can detect indicative attacks.
 

Categories and Ranking

Huntress Managed EDR
Average Rating
9.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (7th), Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (2nd)
Microsoft Defender for Iden...
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (3rd), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Security Software solutions, they serve different purposes. Huntress Managed EDR is designed for Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and holds a mindshare of 9.5%, up 9.0% compared to last year.
Microsoft Defender for Identity, on the other hand, focuses on Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR), holds 14.6% mindshare, down 22.2% since last year.
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Huntress Managed EDR9.5%
CrowdStrike Falcon Complete MDR10.3%
Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response8.4%
Other71.8%
Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Identity14.6%
CrowdStrike Falcon15.6%
Microsoft Entra ID Protection11.2%
Other58.6%
Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)
 

Featured Reviews

Anto Baharian - PeerSpot reviewer
Never misses anything and has an attractive price point and a simple interface
One thing they could improve is evolving from an EDR to an MDR, like Blackpoint. This transition would enable automatic remediation of anything that looks dangerous, including within Microsoft 365. For instance, when one of my clients' Microsoft 365 account was breached, Blackpoint identified suspicious activity and disabled the account. It was in Dallas, and we are in California. Blackpoint knew something was wrong there, and they went in and disabled the account. Developing more automated remediation features would elevate them to an MDR level, but I understand that it might affect pricing. They are trying to keep it at a good price point because once they go to MDR, it is probably going to double the price. For now, I find the current features satisfactory, as they continue to add improvements. They have added security awareness training and then log collectors. They are adding pillars as they move along, and I assume they are going to have an option for MDR.
Peter Arabomen - PeerSpot reviewer
Has supported hybrid identity management while integrating well with cloud directory services
The only challenge I have with Microsoft Defender for Identity is the latency. I may not put that entirely on Microsoft, because latency could be network related. At times when trying to authenticate, the prompt is delayed. We tried implementing passwordless authentication, especially for on-premises workloads, but we haven't been able to achieve that. Passwordless authentication is part of the identity functionalities, particularly when it comes to enforcing passwordless for on-premises workloads. In terms of improvements, you can't create OUs on Azure AD. Regarding giving users privileges on what they can do across different OUs, I haven't seen that feature on Microsoft Defender for Identity. Microsoft Defender for Identity needs to be able to plug into third-party applications that are not Microsoft. For instance, with a human resource application used to manage users and leave requests, when staff leaves the organization, they are first exited from that application before AD. Integration between Azure AD and third-party applications would allow automatic syncing when removing staff. The initial setup of Microsoft Defender for Identity is not hard. However, setup is one thing, and getting value from the application end-to-end is another. It can be set up and running from the first day but not functioning optimally. Initially, when we did the setup, it wasn't optimal. Over time, with continuous improvement, which we're still doing, we've gotten to a comfortable level, but there's still room for improvement.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Huntress?
It is very easy to use. It is a great solution. They are one of the better vendors that I have ever worked with since I have been in the industry.
What needs improvement with Huntress?
There are some drawbacks in Huntress Managed EDR, particularly with the security awareness training aspect which is more manual than expected compared to something like KnowBe4. It could be improve...
What is your primary use case for Huntress?
We use Huntress Managed EDR as part of our tech offering for enhanced security, especially for small and medium businesses.
What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Identity?
Microsoft Defender for Identity provides excellent visibility into threats by leveraging real-time analytics and data intelligence.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Identity?
The only challenge I have with Microsoft Defender for Identity is the latency. I may not put that entirely on Microsoft, because latency could be network related. At times when trying to authentica...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Identity?
I've used Microsoft Defender for Identity primarily for provisioning users on Azure AD and Microsoft authentication. For hybrid scenarios, I integrate on-premises AD to Azure AD. We use AD Connect ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Azure Advanced Threat Protection, Azure ATP, MS Defender for Identity
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Microsoft Defender for Identity is trusted by companies such as St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and more.
Find out what your peers are saying about Huntress Managed EDR vs. Microsoft Defender for Identity and other solutions. Updated: November 2024.
869,202 professionals have used our research since 2012.