Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 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
3.0
Kaspersky offers effective, cost-worthy security with a 30% return, valued for protection against data loss and phishing.
Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers significant ROI with cost savings, seamless integration, and real-time protection against ransomware attacks.
I have observed value for money from Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum.
Senior IT Manager at HETCO
Without detection and protection measures, organizations would face substantial payments and reputational damage, including the necessity to inform customers about data breaches, potentially leading to loss of business.
Consultant at ACT4SERVICES
We have seen a return on investment when using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, as it saves labor by reducing the need for staff to focus on it.
IT CONSULTANT at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
The biggest return on investment for me when using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is the time saving.
Lead security engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.3
Kaspersky support is generally good with knowledgeable staff, but some users report delays and occasional imprecise answers.
Sentiment score
6.4
Many users find Microsoft Defender for Endpoint reliable, but support experiences vary, with premium support offering quicker assistance.
Compared to other solution providers, the responses are not very clear when we need support.
Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We usually solve issues ourselves due to our experience, as paid support is not used.
Network Engineer at Berhan Bank
For technical support, Kaspersky provides two kinds: purchased support for real-time assistance and normal support during working hours.
CEO at Haniya Technologies
The Microsoft agent, who did not actually work for Microsoft, is one of the vendors that Microsoft uses for support, said, 'Just to set expectations, my lunch break is in an hour and I am going to go away then.'
Security Analyst III at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
The level-one support seems disconnected from subject matter experts.
Office 365 Subject Expert at a government with 10,001+ employees
I rate Microsoft support 10 out of 10.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is scalable, supporting thousands of endpoints, though some integrations may be needed.
Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is scalable and integrates well with Microsoft’s ecosystem, despite needing improvements for handling massive data.
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum can expand from Endpoint Detection and Response to Extended Detection and Response and then threat intelligence solutions.
CEO at Haniya Technologies
It is very easy for me to scale.
Senior IT Executer at Mylerz Co.
Currently, I find it good and easily scalable.
Network Engineer at Berhan Bank
We managed to scale it out in a short amount of time, with two months of planning and three months of implementation on 10,000 computers.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is scalable enough to handle various devices across environments, whether they are laptops, Android devices, or operating in hybrid environments.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
Compatibility is its main feature.
IT CONSULTANT at a tech company with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is highly stable, scoring high in reliability with minor agent disconnection issues.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is praised for its reliability and stability, with minor concerns about resource intensity and performance.
The solution is highly stable, scoring more than nine in terms of protection.
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is stable.
Network Engineer at Berhan Bank
I would rate stability for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum as nine; it is pretty stable, a very good, stable product.
CEO at Haniya Technologies
I haven't seen any outages with Microsoft.
IT Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
I rate Defender 10 out of 10 for stability.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Defender for Endpoint is extremely stable.
Systems engineers at Delta Dental of Colorado
 

Room For Improvement

Kaspersky EDR Optimum requires better firewall integration, UI improvements, simplified setup, enhanced support, and unified tool management.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint faces interface complexity, slow detection, high CPU usage, integration issues, and seeks improvements in multiple areas.
To increase the benefits of the product, Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service from Kaspersky should be included.
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The uninstallation needs better handling, specifically with automatic license deletions.
Senior IT Manager at HETCO
SonicWall can integrate with other products such as Sophos, SentinelOne, and several others, but not with Kaspersky.
Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Repeated interactions are necessary due to Level One's lack of tools and knowledge, hindering efficient problem-solving and negatively impacting our experience with Microsoft support.
Office 365 Subject Expert at a government with 10,001+ employees
In contrast, competing products offer reduced pricing for long-term commitments, which makes it difficult for us in that environment.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
We use Microsoft partners to help govern the platform, and as part of an alliance, we want to gather data from each tenant and combine them for a complete view.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Kaspersky EDR Optimum is cost-effective, subscription-based, and offers good value, appealing to budget-conscious companies.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers flexible pricing, making it competitive and cost-effective compared to standalone security products.
Kaspersky is very cheap compared to solutions like CrowdStrike or other vendors.
Senior IT Executer at Mylerz Co.
The value from Kaspersky is very good, especially since we recently got a special deal.
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is reasonably priced for the market.
Senior IT Manager at HETCO
That has been the trend we have seen with Microsoft lately—it is just getting more and more expensive.
Assistant Director, Hybrid Infrastructure & Operations at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
Given our extensive Microsoft licensing, transitioning to Defender for Endpoint did not affect licensing costs.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
It costs $15 per VM for the P2 plan, which is seen as affordable for customers.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
 

Valuable Features

Kaspersky EDR Optimum provides real-time threat response, user-friendly interface, robust security features, and seamless integration for enterprise protection.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint excels with seamless integration, advanced threat intelligence, AI-driven protection, and continuous cloud-based security management.
It fulfills security and protection requirements against newly discovered malware, especially ransomware attacks.
Chief Information Technology Officer at a engineering company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Threat Response Automation in Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is quite effective for enhancing security.
Senior IT Manager at HETCO
In the past month, we encountered an unknown type of malware, but the behavior was sufficient for Kaspersky to isolate the network based on this behavior, which proved very efficient.
Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Defender for Endpoint's coverage across different platforms in our environment is pretty good. We have devices running Linux, Mac OS, Windows, iOS, and Android. It covers all of them.
Team manager of it department at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides a unified management interface allowing customers to manage their on-premises and hybrid infrastructures from a single pane.
Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra
One of the best features of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is its database for identifying zero-day attacks or malware attacks.
Consultant at ACT4SERVICES
 

Categories and Ranking

Kaspersky Endpoint Detectio...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
29th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
210
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (3rd), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (2nd), Microsoft Security Suite (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is 0.9%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 8.2%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint8.2%
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum0.9%
Other90.9%
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

Nadeem Syed - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Haniya Technologies
Continuous protection has improved automated threat response and reporting for our endpoints
We did work with one of our clients who required mobile security solutions. In my opinion, Trend Micro, when we went through the POCs and other components, we did not find it very strong as far as mobile security is concerned. I think Kaspersky is much better than Trend Micro when it comes to mobile security solutions. From an outside perspective, Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum looks pretty strong and comprehensive. The main improvement would be if they could decrease the cost, as it would be great for clients since it is quite expensive now compared to when it used to be cheaper. The key competitor for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is Trend Micro. Trend Micro is the only competitor in the market right now. I would say both Trend Micro Endpoint Detection and Response and Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum are quite similar; I cannot say that one is better than the other. The difference is mainly in cost; Trend Micro has mostly moved all their products to the cloud, offering no on-premises products now, whereas Kaspersky is still in a transition phase providing both on-premises and cloud solutions. Many clients prefer on-premises as it is less expensive compared to cloud.
Robert Arbuckle - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Analyst III at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Automatically isolates threats and integrates with logging to reduce response time
Overall, I would evaluate the Microsoft support level that I receive at probably about a seven, but that depends on the day. It has been spotty. We have had issues where the urgency level of the Microsoft support is not as high as ours, especially during a data breach or potential data breach situation. We have had issues with some of the offshore support being lackluster. One specific thing that comes to mind is we were on a support call with our CISO on the call, and the Microsoft agent, who did not actually work for Microsoft, is one of the vendors that Microsoft uses for support, said, "Just to set expectations, my lunch break is in an hour and I am going to go away then." For us, it was already ten o'clock at night and we had been working on this for a couple of hours, trying to get a security engineer on with us. For him to tell us that he was going to go away and have lunch, it was, "Okay, but go find somebody else if you need to." It was just the lackluster approach, and it seemed like he did not really care. We seem to get a lot of this when we get non-Microsoft support. I can identify areas for improvement with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, as it is kind of a convoluted mess to try to take care of false positives. Especially when they have been identified as false positives but they keep going off over and over again. It is great for my pocketbook because it generates a lot of on-call action, but I would really prefer more sleep at two o'clock in the morning than dealing with false positives. I would say that the unified portal for managing Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is suitable for both teams as they are all in there. It would be great if they would stop moving things around and renaming things, which makes sense. The new XDR portal is pretty nice. Being able to have it central again inside of the regular Security Center without having to open up two windows is helpful. Overall, I think it is pretty good. There is always going to be something that could be improved, such as alerting and the ability to modify alerts would be a little bit helpful to have. Being able to add more data into the alerts and turn off alerts that are not as useful would be beneficial. It is hard to say what the quantitative impact the security exposure management feature has had on our company's security, because a lot of it is kind of subjective. I think we are sitting at around a fifty percent score still, and a lot of it is just kind of unusual circumstances that we cannot really implement without breaking the organization.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) solutions are best for your needs.
879,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise6
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business80
Midsize Enterprise40
Large Enterprise92
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum?
Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum is reasonably priced for the market. I do not know the exact cost of the license per endpoint or annually.
What needs improvement with Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum?
The reporting system is good, but it can be quite tricky for customers to get the reports. Unfortunately, Kaspersky UI is something they need to work upon. It's not as simplistic or user-friendly a...
What is your primary use case for Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum?
The main use case is attractive for customers because the endpoint detection and response system helps with patch management and remote software. It has many ITSM feature sets, which has been an at...
How is Cortex XDR compared with Microsoft Defender?
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface, applies behavioral-based endpoint protection and response, and includes risk-ba...
Which offers better endpoint security - Symantec or Microsoft Defender?
We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior solution. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security s...
How does Microsoft Defender for Endpoint compare with Crowdstrike Falcon?
The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never push your machine hardware to "test", you don't have the usual "scan now" feature ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Find out what your peers are saying about Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response Optimum vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,422 professionals have used our research since 2012.