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Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

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 External...
Ranking in Attack Surface Management (ASM)
14th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (33rd)
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset ...
Ranking in Attack Surface Management (ASM)
3rd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (8th), Patch Management (4th), Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) (3rd), Software Supply Chain Security (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Attack Surface Management (ASM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is 3.1%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is 4.1%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Attack Surface Management (ASM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management4.1%
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management3.1%
Other92.8%
Attack Surface Management (ASM)
 

Featured Reviews

AndyChan3 - PeerSpot reviewer
General manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Enhanced visibility and exposes vulnerabilities but needs more integration
I am currently in the pilot stage of implementing Microsoft External Attack Surface Management (EASM). My organization is transitioning to a comprehensive track of Microsoft solutions, and we will move to full-scale production in another year, maybe Microsoft External Attack Surface Management…
Nicki Møller - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Engineer at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Enables automation and quick access to necessary information
One of the significant challenges Qualys is discovery, which I know Microsoft excels at. I can't recall how well Qualys performs this function; it seems I might be missing some details. However, if there's one key aspect to focus on, it's discovery—the ability to identify assets that you are not aware of, even when you can see they are present. Understanding what those assets are is crucial. With Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, it was very difficult to extract detections from the system. The features within Qualys are limited to what they have developed. Sometimes a complete overview is needed to push to a Power BI dashboard, Splunk, ServiceNow, or other platforms. The export process is incredibly challenging. We needed a developer to write a hundred-line Python script that would loop over certain assets due to export limitations. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management could improve its integration capabilities. While it generates substantial data, correlating it with other data sources can be challenging. The export process is difficult, and pre-built integrations with other tools could be enhanced for better process implementation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."
"It seems to be better at protecting from cyberattacks."
"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."
"With Qualys CSAM, we can see which assets have critical application vulnerabilities. This feature helps us prioritize and address these vulnerabilities more efficiently."
"What I appreciate most about Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is the inventory feature, where I can look up assets, software, applications, open ports, and similar items because it's very useful."
"The best features of Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management include its ability to scan and consider each and every endpoint based on the target we have given. This makes it stand out."
"The most valuable features of Qualys CSAM include the ability to manage authorized and unauthorized applications efficiently. This feature helps in validating applications and maintaining a secure environment."
"I appreciate the feature that simplifies cloud security posture, offering insights into vulnerabilities, and reducing the complexity of managing the security program."
"The scanning results are pretty good, and some insights are quite valuable."
"We have had zero attacks since we enabled all the features in Qualys CSAM."
"I use it primarily with tagging, asset counts, and groups that we can put them in, and we also use it to tell if a device has been merged and seen in Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, so that's beneficial for us too."
 

Cons

"The integration is not as seamless compared to competitors like Palo Alto."
"Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement."
"With Microsoft, support is always crazy, it's not easy to get support."
"With Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, it was very difficult to extract detections from the system."
"The only minor issue is occasionally being redirected to multiple teams, causing slight delays."
"Integration of Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, particularly with ServiceNow, takes a very long time, and it needs prioritization of patch rules based on vulnerability risk."
"The product stability has notably declined over the last two months, and the performance to fulfill a page request is very slow compared to its previous performance."
"The UI and menu navigation has improved significantly, however, the menus could still be clunky, making navigation within the assets challenging."
"Some areas that would be helpful are more comprehensive tagging and the ability to set up better dynamic rules."
"The UI needs improvement as it can become overwhelming after prolonged use."
"The UI needs improvement as it can become overwhelming after prolonged use."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management can be expensive, especially if we already have VMDR."
"The pricing is market-competitive."
"The pricing for Qualys CSAM is nominal."
"The Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management pricing is well-aligned with our usage."
"The cost for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is high."
"It is cost-effective because, in a single tool, we are getting everything. All the solutions come in a single license or price."
"Qualys is competitively priced for its features. Its pricing is suitable for large organizations with more than 4,000 assets, but for smaller organizations with few assets, such as banks, the costs might be high. They should come up with packages that are suitable for small organizations."
"The pricing for Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management is reasonable, with an annual subscription costing around $1,000 per year or a monthly subscription starting at approximately $72 per month, depending on the specific package and features included."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement. Introduction of more AI automation into the products would also be beneficial. The integration is not as seamless co...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
I am currently in the pilot stage of implementing Microsoft External Attack Surface Management (EASM). My organization is transitioning to a comprehensive track of Microsoft solutions, and we will ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?
We purchased it through a reseller and the pricing was reasonable. We received Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management included in our licensing at no cost for the first year.
What needs improvement with Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?
The TruRisk feature could help prioritize vulnerabilities and assets, but our issue currently is that we weren't provided with adequate information to set things up correctly. We have many configur...
What is your primary use case for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?
My use cases involve using Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management to detect vulnerabilities and then passing on the information to our IT team that has to fix the vulnerabilities. The External Attac...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.