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Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting vs Rapid7 MDR comparison

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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender Experts ...
Ranking in Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
19th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Rapid7 MDR
Ranking in Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Managed Detection and Response (MDR) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is 1.3%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 MDR is 1.6%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Rapid7 MDR1.6%
Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting1.3%
Other97.1%
Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
 

Featured Reviews

Joe Cicero - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Marketing Officer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Proactive threat hunting has strengthened our defenses and provides expert support for incidents
Proactive threat hunting as well as the Ask an Expert feature, which is a button inside of the XDR portal that becomes available when the customer owns Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting, are the best features it offers. If a customer or one of our analysts needs extra support or has a question about a Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting notification, they can click on that button and chat directly with a Microsoft security analyst to get more information or fill in any gaps regarding the Ask an Expert feature. Improved detection rates are one of the specific outcomes that show the positive impact because Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is a second set of eyes or a second team looking for emerging threats within a shared customer's environment. For us, the proactive approach that Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is always running is valuable, and we see those alerts pop up inside of our incident queues in Microsoft Sentinel and we respond and acknowledge them. In many cases, Microsoft might see an alert from a zero-day that we aren't even aware of yet or the industry isn't aware of yet and we see that tagged within our incident queue, which allows us to follow up with it much sooner than had we had to search and detect for it ourselves. Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting helps my customers detect or prevent emerging threats that are not yet published but Microsoft has visibility into. Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting's reporting and analytics are clear and actionable, and the fact that it's tied to the MITRE framework puts it all in a common language. Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting helps my customers comply with industry regulations or standards, though I am unsure how, but many have requirements for threat hunting and this checks that box. Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting helps my team respond to incidents by providing a backstop, which does speed up the process and improve outcomes.
Ehsan Khaleel - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager SOC at PTCL
Comprehensive detection has strengthened real-time protection and streamlined investigations
My experience with detection and response capabilities for Microsoft-centric environments has been positive. While API integration can be challenging with some third-party tools, Microsoft's built-in features facilitate seamless communication. I have found it relatively easy to triage and integrate Microsoft systems with Rapid7 MDR. In terms of digital forensics and incident response included in the MDR service, my experience is that it is not very robust. We lack a dedicated forensic team, which is essential for thorough investigation. Rapid7 has introduced honeypots, which is an encouraging feature, but it is not a comprehensive solution such as those offered by competitors, such as Palo Alto's Unit 42. Apart from forensics, I believe Rapid7 MDR should introduce more forensic services. Another area to improve is the active platform's handling of on-premises tools versus cloud-based tools. We prefer on-premises options for data security, and we find limitations in features compared to cloud-based tools, concerning data access and privacy controls.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"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."
"Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting helps my customers detect or prevent emerging threats that are not yet published but Microsoft has visibility into."
"The enrichment that Rapid7 MDR generates for the client is greater than with other tools, and this has had a big impact."
"Rapid7 MDR is an excellent choice for organizations that want enterprise-grade threat detection and response without building a 24/7 in-house SOC team, combining expert analysis, high fidelity detections, broad integration support, and actionable incident response."
"The product allows us to customize our alerts."
"Overall, Rapid7 MDR helps us to strengthen our security operations by providing continuous monitoring, high quality threat detection, and expert analysis support."
"The benefits that came with Rapid7 MDR is the analysis we are getting now, which is quite useful."
"Instead of dedicating resources for around-the-clock monitoring, Rapid7 MDR acts as an extension of our security team, saving man-hours each month while improving detection and response capabilities."
"We've filled in crucial gaps we had with our previous solution. This was a key factor in choosing Rapid7 during the selection process. The ROI is already starting to show, too."
"In my opinion, the best features Rapid7 MDR offers are the 24/7 coverage with unlimited incident response and also the latest AI-driven alerts, which is one of the best features I have seen recently."
 

Cons

"The solution’s user interface could be improved."
"There is a lot of change in a small period. This might not be helpful for IT administrators and users."
"The price of the solution is costly, which I find significant."
"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."
"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."
"We cannot allow it to go outside because we do not have that level of trust at the moment."
"There are still a couple of areas where Rapid7 MDR can be improved. The visibility of the dashboard should be improved, and faster threat detection can also be enhanced."
"However, I think the best area for improvement is pricing."
"The primary improvement would be deeper native integration with third-party non-Rapid7 cloud security tools to reduce the portal pivoting."
"To improve Rapid7 MDR, I suggest enhancing detection and reporting, including customizable dashboards and more dynamic alert detection rules based on anomalies."
"As for my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing, it is a corporate pricing structure and it was not startup friendly, which was one of the major issues I mentioned in improvements."
"Evaluating the customer service and technical support teams of Rapid7 MDR, I would rate them a six out of ten."
"I think Rapid7 MDR already has a strong managed security service, but I believe things can be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The product is not overly priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Educational Organization
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise16
 

Questions from the Community

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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rapid7 MDR?
As for my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing, it is a corporate pricing structure and it was not startup friendly, which was one of the major issues I mentioned in improvements. The...
What needs improvement with Rapid7 MDR?
The major improvement I see is that the reporting and dashboarding experience could be more flexible because the needs for various companies would be different. Having a dashboard which is flexible...
What is your primary use case for Rapid7 MDR?
My main use case for Rapid7 MDR is to monitor incidents and ensure our applications are secured. I also want to make sure we are proactive in identifying threats. I use Rapid7 MDR daily as part of ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Rapid7 Managed Detection and Response
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Landmark Health, NISC, Resimac, Starr Companies
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting vs. Rapid7 MDR and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.