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Kaspersky Total Security 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
1.0
Kaspersky Total Security offers strong protection and can provide up to 250% ROI and 60% cost reduction for businesses.
Sentiment score
7.3
Organizations achieve financial gains and efficiency by using Microsoft Defender, eliminating third-party solutions, and enhancing security management.
Kaspersky Total Security provides a good return on investment by improving data security and reducing costs by sixty percent with its robust security features.
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.
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.
The biggest return on investment for me when using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is the time saving.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
4.5
Kaspersky Total Security offers effective technical support, with users generally satisfied and infrequently needing assistance due to software comfort.
Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft's Defender for Endpoint support is generally effective but experiences vary; premium options offer swift, knowledgeable assistance.
I rate them an eight out of ten for their support in deploying Total Security.
The level-one support seems disconnected from subject matter experts.
I rate Microsoft support 10 out of 10.
Due to our size, we don't have access to direct technical support, but the knowledge base, Microsoft Learn, and the articles available are really good.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Kaspersky Total Security is praised for scalability and adaptability, supporting large organizations effectively despite potential high pricing.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint efficiently scales with diverse enterprises, integrates seamlessly with Microsoft products, supporting growth effectively.
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.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is scalable enough to handle various devices across environments, whether they are laptops, Android devices, or operating in hybrid environments.
Compatibility is its main feature.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Kaspersky Total Security is stable and reliable, with rare issues like system freezes, rating 8-10 for stability.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is praised for stability, efficiency, and low resource impact, despite minor occasional bugs.
We have not experienced any issues with Kaspersky Total Security as we manage their entire IT infrastructure.
I haven't seen any outages with Microsoft.
I rate Defender 10 out of 10 for stability.
Defender for Endpoint is extremely stable.
 

Room For Improvement

Kaspersky Total Security requires improvements in encryption, stability, user-friendliness, resource demand, pricing, and security features for better overall performance.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint struggles with support, integration, UI, performance issues, and lacks essential features and platform support.
The system can be demanding on resources, making devices busy when running the client application.
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.
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.
Providing more detailed information on how Microsoft Defender for Endpoint detects vulnerabilities.
 

Setup Cost

Kaspersky Total Security offers competitive pricing perceived as moderate, with a five-user annual bundle starting at $30-$35.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers cost-effective, flexible pricing options integrated with Microsoft services, including discounts for education and volume.
The pricing for Kaspersky Total Security is quite affordable.
Given our extensive Microsoft licensing, transitioning to Defender for Endpoint did not affect licensing costs.
It costs $15 per VM for the P2 plan, which is seen as affordable for customers.
The pricing, setup, and licensing were very easy and simple.
 

Valuable Features

Kaspersky Total Security offers real-time threat detection, machine learning, and efficient protection without slowing systems, ensuring robust security.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers seamless integration, real-time protection, and automated response, ensuring robust security with minimal impact.
The solution offers endpoint protection by scanning and alerting to viruses in the organization without physical inspection, increasing efficiency by stopping unwanted applications running in the background.
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.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides a unified management interface allowing customers to manage their on-premises and hybrid infrastructures from a single pane.
One of the best features of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is its database for identifying zero-day attacks or malware attacks.
 

Categories and Ranking

Kaspersky Total Security
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
24th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
197
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (4th), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of Kaspersky Total Security is 1.0%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 10.2%, down from 13.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

Ashford Asante - PeerSpot reviewer
A tool with an easy initial setup phase that can be centrally managed by users
What needs to be improved is what my company sends to Kaspersky's team when we are working with it, and then they work on it, which is why we always have updates to take care of the bugs and all those things. You can't have one thing in the solution that needs to be improved. The solution is affordable. For the solution itself, while you are working with it, you come across stuff, that Kaspersky's network helps you deal with since you can send your stuff to Kaspersky's team, and they have access to certain reports, and based on the reports and what what are we doing, the solution is always worked on, so that it can be made the best and efficient application. On a daily basis, the tool is being improved, and I am okay with it. Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business Select is automated. The cloud application for Kaspersky is automated. For the solution needed for individual systems, Kaspersky provides you with a platform that provides internet security. With Kaspersky, you have a platform that allows you to access www.kaspersky.com and see the systems that you have worked on in the past. If you need to do anything with your individual machines indirectly, you can manage it through a centralized system. The solution's automation capabilities is an area where certain improvements are required.
John Rallo - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers excellent visibility into vulnerabilities and the attack surface itself
Attack surface reduction and limiting attack surface vectors are valuable features. It's helpful to isolate specific devices and get super granular with the features they offer. The visibility into the attack surface is good. It gets highly granular. I don't work on that side, but the people who do tell me they get more visibility.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Comms Service Provider
9%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Kaspersky Total Security?
I am satisfied with the solution's security features because we have been using it for years.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kaspersky Total Security?
The pricing for Kaspersky Total Security is quite affordable, rated at eight out of ten, and all necessary licensing fees are included.
What needs improvement with Kaspersky Total Security?
The system can be demanding on resources, making devices busy when running the client application. It would be beneficial if the resource usage could be reduced to lessen the burden on devices.
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 Total Security vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,164 professionals have used our research since 2012.