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MetaDefender vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
4.5
MetaDefender enhances security efficiency, reduces threats and costs, and offers significant ROI though costly for smaller environments.
Sentiment score
7.1
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 improves efficiency and security, reducing costs and breaches through automation and integrated features.
Having both cloud and on-premise solutions enables effective file sanitization and vulnerability detection while preventing attacks that save costs and protect reputation.
Partner Account Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
MetaDefender has positively impacted my organization by reducing the risk of file-based attacks, which has significantly improved our overall defense against phishing and malware delivery techniques.
Manager at Cyvogenix
I believe it is worth the money, as it brings time-saving, cost-saving, and efficiency improvements, especially in large environments.
Network Security Engineer at EMAK For Integrated solutions
Successful phishing incidents and credential compromise attempts dropped noticeably after enabling Safe Links, Safe Attachments, and impersonation protection, enabling the SOC and messaging teams to manage higher email threat volumes without increasing operational headcounts significantly.
Assistant Technical Manager at Softcell Technologies Limited
It has also decreased our time to detection and response by about 15 to 20 percent.
Technology support manager at Alfred State College
Overall, cost of owning and operating our system goes down.
Designation Chief Consultant at Avtow
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.3
MetaDefender's customer service is efficient, with quick response times and highly praised support, particularly from technicians like Vlad.
Sentiment score
5.7
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers varying support experiences, with quick resolutions for simple issues but delays for complex cases.
This can save time because many vendors, when they check something and ask for logs, need those logs from the beginning.
Cyber Security Architect at Diffiesec
Their customer service team, distribution team, and regional sales managers provide excellent aftercare and set us up for upselling across the entire MetaDefender portfolio.
Partner Account Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
I am happy with my interaction and communication with MetaDefender's team.
Infrastructure Securiy & Cyber Engineer at a transportation company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Over the past two years, there have been no critical problems.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
we opened tickets, and they typically resolve them quickly.
Chief Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
With a subscription for Microsoft Defender for Office 365, it is an eight. Without it, it is a six.
Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.8
MetaDefender scales well for enterprises, efficiently managing heavy traffic, despite uncertainty about its maximum limits and potential performance issues.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scales efficiently, adapting to various environments, providing robust security for organizations of all sizes.
You need to do some sizing before installation and understand exactly what you are seeking from the solution and how it fits your organization.
Infrastructure Securiy & Cyber Engineer at a transportation company with 5,001-10,000 employees
When you use one database for all instances, you can deploy ten different servers or ten different instances with a separate database for each one.
Cyber Security Architect at Diffiesec
We handle vast amounts of traffic from banking, defense, and critical national infrastructure.
Partner Account Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
We have never faced scalability problems, and Microsoft manages it effectively.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scales transparently for us, as we grew from 1,000 users to 3,000 users, and we didn't notice much difference.
Chief Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scales with the growing needs of my company well.
Senior Client Director and Advisory Service Leader at Crossfuze
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
MetaDefender is highly stable and reliable with rare issues, scoring 10/10 in performance across multiple data centers.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is praised for stability, efficient operation, high reliability, and intelligent threat detection despite minor bugs.
The stability of the system is very high.
Cyber Security Architect at Diffiesec
MetaDefender is 100% stable, making it one of the best cybersecurity solutions we offer.
Partner Account Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
I find it stable as it maintains good external stability with good availability and no major issues.
Network Security Engineer at EMAK For Integrated solutions
I would rate the stability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 as 10 over 10 because it's highly available, it works, and it does the job it is meant to do.
Cloud Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues because of Defender.
Technology Associate at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
The solution is stable, as we have been using it for the past two years.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
 

Room For Improvement

MetaDefender needs faster scanning, improved UI, better documentation, reduced false positives, easier setup, and more affordable pricing.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 needs improvements in threat detection, user interface, and clearer licensing with better support and integration.
MetaDefender should have a wizard or general policies that can be used for 80 percent of customers.
Cyber Security Architect at Diffiesec
Pricing is an important aspect in catering to customer budgets and is a must-have consideration for organizations.
Partner Account Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
Enhanced reporting and audit capabilities are not fully utilized.
Project Engineer at i-Secure Networks & Business Solutions Inc.
Stronger third-party email security integration visibility and more granular policy tuning options for Safe Links, impersonation protection, and automated remediation workflows are also needed.
Assistant Technical Manager at Softcell Technologies Limited
The main area for improvement is simplifying the implementation and rollout process.
Infrastructure and Security Lead at Vedanta
Microsoft could improve by offering recommendations for domain spoofing attacks, especially scenarios where DNS records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are not properly published.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
 

Setup Cost

MetaDefender offers costly multi-layer security, seen as competitive, with $145,000 for three years including servers and support.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers great value for enterprises but has complex licensing, challenging for smaller businesses.
When someone attempted to buy from us one instance of OPSWAT, it was about nine thousand dollars for multi-scanning with eight engines and also the CDR module.
Cyber Security Architect at Diffiesec
Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing, I find the pricing for kiosks, cloud, deep CDR, and adaptive sandbox appropriate.
Partner Account Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
feedback indicates that our pricing is better than other vendor solutions.
Cybersecurity Architect at Natica IT Consulting
We've likely saved 30% of costs.
Designation Chief Consultant at Avtow
Money-wise, it is a part of the Office 365 suite, making it slightly more expensive compared to Trend Micro.
Infrastructure and Security Lead at Vedanta
Microsoft is quite affordable with a lot of features available for any size organization.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
 

Valuable Features

MetaDefender offers comprehensive security with multi-engine scanning, sandbox analysis, CDR, file reputation, and seamless integration for enhanced data safety.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 enhances security with features like Safe Links, threat detection, automation, and Microsoft integration.
I believe this is very effective and is the most effective engine of OPSWAT because customers ask for OPSWAT for two main reasons: the CDR capabilities and the multi-scanning engines.
Cyber Security Architect at Diffiesec
MetaDefender's core philosophy of trusting no file means it scans files, rebuilds them, and verifies their reputation, ensuring they contain no malicious content.
Partner Account Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
The integration of multi-scanning and Content Disarm and Reconstruction is truly helpful because we can utilize it in other products such as email integration with ICAP capability, and we are also using it in web scanning.
Project Engineer at i-Secure Networks & Business Solutions Inc.
It ranks the threats and allows us to prioritize those hitting us the hardest, such as email threats.
Technology support manager at Alfred State College
It provides end-to-end visibility on email threats such as phishing, extending beyond Exchange Online Protection.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
The value of the DLP feature is significant to us because we have internal data, sometimes sensitive, and the users may not always be aware of security and privacy, which might lead them to send out information mistakenly to external parties.
Chief Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

MetaDefender
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
16th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Anti-Malware Tools (6th), Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) (7th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (6th)
Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (1st), Email Security (2nd), Microsoft Security Suite (8th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of MetaDefender is 1.6%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 6.7%, down from 14.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Office 3656.7%
MetaDefender1.6%
Other91.7%
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2805510 - PeerSpot reviewer
Partner Account Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
File sanitization has protected critical networks and prevents hidden malware from entering
In my experience, the best features MetaDefender offers include the number of different antivirus engines that can scan files through multi-file scanning, often using 20 to 30 engines, with the top premium package around 33 engines, capturing 80 to 90% of malware in all those files. If any engine detects malware, the file is blocked, which increases detection because different engines catch different malware. When dealing with central government and defense, we find that if there is any kind of malware on the network or the file, whether that is a software file, hard disk file, or a pen drive, it cannot be allowed on the network. This is when we put it into the sandbox and perform file sanitization to ensure that nothing malicious comes into the network. Whenever we are dealing with central government or defense contracts, MetaDefender's core philosophy of trusting no file means it scans files, rebuilds them, and verifies their reputation, ensuring they contain no malicious content. This positively impacts our organization by detecting malware and stopping any kind of data leaks through the network. In terms of measurable outcomes across central government and defense, we are seeing saved time when files go through the antivirus file scanners. In financial services, such as with mortgage applications, the process sends files straight into MetaDefender file scanning that cleans out any malicious content.
Emeka Ndulu - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Improves threat visibility and response while reducing manual tasks and training users against phishing
I appreciate the attack simulation feature whereby I get to train users and educate them on how to identify phishing emails and spam emails, as well as the anti-spam protection. It gives me visibility into my threat environment and threat landscape to ensure that I am one step ahead of any likelihood of threats within my environment. I get to detect it and respond, so the threat intelligence is very effective. Microsoft security solutions save my time. It saves money because once I protect my environment, I don't lose money. It has decreased my detection time and my time to respond.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Healthcare Company
10%
Construction Company
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise32
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MetaDefender?
I do not find it cost-effective, as the costing is high.
What needs improvement with MetaDefender?
I am not using the expanded file type and archive coverage feature because I was unaware of it. I am not using the enhanced reporting and audit visibility features, and I am unsure about them. Rega...
What is your primary use case for MetaDefender?
The use cases for MetaDefender involve checking an endpoint, such as a laptop or USB, to ensure that they are safe, clean, and meet security policy before they connect to the network. I can use it ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
My experience with pricing, setup, and licensing is that it's actually quite reasonable even on the licensing side as a standalone product. It's very competitive compared to what competitors are ch...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
I think Microsoft Defender for Office 365 can be improved by creating more educational pieces about not just looking for malware. We are seeing a lot more malware-less emails that Defender for Offi...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
My main use cases for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 include email hygiene.
 

Also Known As

OPSWAT MetaDefender, MetaDefender Core
MS Defender for Office 365
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Find out what your peers are saying about MetaDefender vs. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
894,738 professionals have used our research since 2012.