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Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention 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
7.0
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps enhances security and efficiency, offering significant ROI with up to 60% savings and streamlined operations.
Sentiment score
6.3
Users benefit from Microsoft Purview DLP due to seamless integration, cost savings, productivity boosts, and enhanced security without extra expenses.
The biggest return on investment so far has been visibility, knowing what we have in our environment.
Cloud and data protection engineer at a university with 10,001+ employees
As a small team, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps allowed us to manage systems with just one or two people.
Manager, Information Technology Security Compliance at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
We have at least saved the costs we had from the Netskope solution this year.
Security and Continuity Manager at Rolinco NV
We save a lot of time for legal by using Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention when searching data for legal and HR and employee issues.
Staff Systems Administrator at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
In these days of data breaches and data leakages that result in huge regulatory fines, we have not had any data breaches that could result in such fines.
Head of Geographies; Data Protection Officer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The fact that we are not being fined is crucial.
Cloud Architecture Lead at bolder inc
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps support is praised for its responsiveness, though some users experience delays and resource access challenges.
Sentiment score
5.9
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention support experiences vary, with praised documentation but mixed reviews on response time and effectiveness.
Their customer service is pretty good, but it's frustrating to go through three or four channels before reaching the right person.
Cloud and data protection engineer at a university with 10,001+ employees
The support is excellent, and the speed of response is commendable.
Solutions Architect at a university with 51-200 employees
There were instances where the engineers were knowledgeable and helpful, but at other times it felt like a ping pong game, with unnecessary transfers until the right person was found.
Manager, Information Technology Security Compliance at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
I rate it a ten because they are very quick to respond and very quick to escalate if needed.
Cloud Architecture Lead at bolder inc
Once we got to the Microsoft engineers, the experience was great.
Director of Cyber Security
In terms of support, it's top-notch and always available to help us with any support issues we raise.
Head of Geographies; Data Protection Officer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps offers scalable, seamless integration, and reliable management for organizations of all sizes and environments.
Sentiment score
7.3
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is scalable for medium to large organizations but faces integration challenges with non-Microsoft systems.
For what I know about the log collector and how much data it can take in, it is super scalable and capable of handling high workloads.
Cloud and data protection engineer at a university with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is very scalable, provided you have the right subscription.
Solutions Architect at a university with 51-200 employees
In my experience, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is good enough for small to medium businesses.
Manager, Information Technology Security Compliance at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
The policy working and detection technology need enhancements.
Solution Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention scales well with the growing needs of our organization.
Head of Geographies; Data Protection Officer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention scales effectively.
Director, IT Infrastructure at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is highly stable, reliable, and maintains performance with minor, swiftly resolved incidents.
Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is stable and reliable, with minor configuration issues but overall positive user feedback.
I would rate it a ten because I have not experienced any stability issues so far with Defender for Cloud Apps.
Head of Security Operations at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
I would assess the stability and reliability of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps as stable
Network Engineer at Apexon
My impression on the stability and reliability of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is that it is very stable.
Security and Continuity Manager at Rolinco NV
I would assess the stability and reliability of Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention as high.
Co-Owner and Principal Consultant at BriComp Computers
The stability and reliability of Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is great.
Senior Infrastructure Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
I assess the stability and reliability of Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention as quite good because I don't think it's ever gone down, unlike other parts of Azure.
Director, IT Infrastructure at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps seeks enhanced pricing, integration, user interface, automation, and multi-cloud support, while improving insights and management.
Microsoft Purview DLP requires improvements in integration, stability, AI, licensing, language support, documentation, compatibility, and OCR features.
For data loss prevention, it would be useful to be able to drill down into the kind of data being transferred over CloudApp.
Head of Security Operations at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Defender typically connects to Entra ID, but we have local users on the cloud for database access, SSH, or RDS, and there is nothing produced by Defender regarding those local IAM users.
Network Engineer at Apexon
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps would benefit if Microsoft allows users to fine-tune false positives, enabling us to dismiss alerts or make adjustments so that such things don't trigger multiple times in the future.
Security delivery analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Business Premium users can get the data loss prevention features of E5, which is fantastic.
Senior Infrastructure Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Implementing a degree of severity ranking is essential.
Director of Cyber Security
More guides, more examples, and more compliance frameworks such as NIST or even PCI compliance would be great.
Director, IT Infrastructure at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is seen as cost-effective for enterprises within Microsoft ecosystems, despite standalone pricing concerns.
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention in E5 licenses offers competitive pricing and value with bundled security features and flexible options.
The pricing for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is acceptable.
Solutions Architect at a university with 51-200 employees
My organization is currently revisiting pricing, but previously, the cost was a bit expensive, yet comparable to other solutions with similar functionalities and features.
Manager, Information Technology Security Compliance at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
It's not the cheapest, but also not the most expensive, placing it in the mid-level range.
IT Architect at a logistics company with 10,001+ employees
In terms of pricing, I would say it's unlimited value because it's bundled in our A5 and E5 licensing situation.
Director, IT Infrastructure at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The pricing for Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is generally set; E5 is required, but it comes with all other products, so I would say it is fine.
Security Engineer at baseVISION
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is very straightforward because we are all using E5 licenses, so we are covered.
Cloud Architecture Lead at bolder inc
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps integrates well, offering threat detection, management ease, shadow IT discovery, and robust security enhancements.
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention excels in data protection, compliance, and productivity through integration and machine learning capabilities.
It provides excellent suggestions and options for configuration; for example, it can track suspicious files getting uploaded to cloud resources on Azure based on their signatures, generating alerts for those files.
Security delivery analyst at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The product recommends things that need to be blocked and allows for dynamic configuration, which cuts down on potential issues that might arise from going through lists and understanding what needs to be blocked.
Partner & Chief Executive Officer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
The ability to sanction unsanctioned apps using Secure Score benchmarking, included in Cloud, is also beneficial.
Head of Security Operations at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention prevents users from sharing sensitive information outside the organization based on the configurations that we've implemented.
Head of Geographies; Data Protection Officer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft Purview has helped improve our organization's ability to discover sensitive data significantly as we use eDiscovery Purview, which is incredibly helpful.
Staff Systems Administrator at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention usually performs well, except for endpoint Data Loss Prevention, which may need improvements.
Solution Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Clou...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (4th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (14th)
Microsoft Purview Data Loss...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is 3.1%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is 2.6%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps3.1%
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention2.6%
Other94.3%
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

FV
Security and Continuity Manager at Rolinco NV
Deployment has been seamless with insightful data categorization and enhanced control
The features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps that I have found most valuable include the overall portal view, with bubble graphs which give us insight into what goes where in the categorization, nowadays with Generative AI but all kinds of categorization, collaboration, etc. That central view of the portal is very useful for us. The impact of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps on our organization's ability to assess and manage app related risks has been significant because we have more visibility. Therefore, we can add more control, and we have already done so. This was not possible in the old solution, in the old CASB solution with Netskope. We now can see on the spot, and we do that almost weekly, what the end users are utilizing, which cloud providers or cloud apps they're using. The visibility into OAuth apps provided by Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is very good. The visibility into risk and risk management of our organization's Generative AI apps is very nice, as you can choose the category Generative AI and then see exactly what traffic has been going to and from Generative AI in the cloud. This makes us very insightful on what is used within the company. We have some policies on blocking specific Generative AI, and we use within our company one particular AI part, which is CoPilot of Microsoft. In this way, we can see what the end users are using other than CoPilot, and that makes us more in control. The effectiveness of the integration of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps with Defender XDR and defending against SaaS attacks is very intuitive. It works immediately if we create a new policy or in Purview or in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps, or when we make an app unsanctioned by blocking it, then it is almost immediately, or at least within a couple of hours, effective on all the endpoints where the EDR is running. This gives us much better control over things than before.
ClayHampton - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Infrastructure Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Protects sensitive data across devices and helps address client compliance needs proactively
The reporting in Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is a little easier than most Microsoft portals. I understand the licensing cost, especially if you're a Business Premium or in the SMB world, and a lot of clients run with a Business Premium. That comes with data loss prevention in a manual process, whereas E5 gives automation. Microsoft has said, 'Okay, here's your Microsoft 365 E5 compliance add-on that can go on the Business Premium.' So Business Premium users can get the data loss prevention features of E5, which is fantastic. That was the big point that they were missing, and I'm glad that they actually have an add-on now that makes it possible. So truly, I don't think there's a downside. Maybe more reporting, but that's it.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Insurance Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise15
 

Questions from the Community

Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Microsoft Cloud App Security?
Cisco Umbrella is an integral component of the Cisco SASE architecture. It integrates security in a single, cloud-native solution, unifying multiple features like DNS-layer security, threat intelli...
What do you like most about Microsoft Cloud App Security?
It does a great job of monitoring and maintaining a security baseline. For us, that is a key element. The notifications are pretty good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Cloud App Security?
At the time of implementation, when the size of our organization was small, it was a more affordable product. Since all our productivity applications were on O365, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention?
The pricing of Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is acceptable for us.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention?
I think that a feature on the side where you could click on something with a question mark, and then if you click on it, it would open up a new window and give you more information on that, almost ...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention?
My main use case is to upload mailboxes. We're using Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention to upload mailboxes. The migration tool that's built into the Microsoft Hybrid isn't working on our domai...
 

Also Known As

MS Cloud App Security, Microsoft Cloud App Security
Microsoft Endpoint Data Loss Prevention, MS Endpoint DLP, Microsoft Endpoint DLP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Customers for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps include Accenture, St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and Nakilat.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs. Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,768 professionals have used our research since 2012.