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Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps enhances security, reduces costs, and optimizes resources with seamless integration and proactive monitoring.
Sentiment score
5.3
Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management enhances value by reducing investigation time, false positives, and monitoring efforts, boosting data protection.
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
Purview saved us from potential lawsuits and the loss of confidential information, preventing legal issues.
Manager, Information Technology Security Compliance at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
The one example that I provided was worth significant attention, as the FBI and other organizations became involved, so I am assuming it was really important.
IC Sharepoint Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps support has mixed reviews, with high technical proficiency but inconsistent responsiveness and communication delays.
Sentiment score
4.5
Microsoft Purview's support is inconsistent, with premium service excelling while standard service suffers from delayed assistance on complex issues.
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
Premium support provides excellent service, but it can be challenging for customers who cannot afford it.
Director at Scybers
Overall, I had a few issues, so I would rate the service a nine for Purview.
Manager, Information Technology Security Compliance at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps offers scalable, cloud-native security but may require extra resources for large-scale policy management.
Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management is scalable and automated, but concerns exist about alert reaction speed and global applicability.
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 capability of creating policies to facilitate detections and responses improved.
Manager, Information Technology Security Compliance at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
I believe Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management scales well with the growing needs of the organization.
IC Sharepoint Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is stable and reliable, with minimal downtime and continuous improvements praised by users.
Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management is mostly stable, integrating well with Microsoft's ecosystem, though some users report integration challenges.
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
We have experienced minimal downtime, with Microsoft resolving issues within five to ten minutes maximum.
Director at Scybers
I would assess the stability and reliability of Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management as having improved.
IC Sharepoint Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps needs improvements in pricing, interface, integrations, alert precision, documentation, and multi-cloud support.
Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management is challenged by complexity, high costs, limited alert customization, and integration difficulties with non-Microsoft platforms.
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
Microsoft's pricing is very expensive.
Director at Scybers
I feel Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management can be improved by being able to identify patterns and practices of users to determine whether or not they fit the normal use case of a developer, an architect, and other roles.
IC Sharepoint Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It could be improved in terms of producing reports to provide information to the C-suite or others.
Manager, Information Technology Security Compliance at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise users find Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps affordable within bundles but expensive standalone, desiring more pricing transparency.
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
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps offers seamless integration, real-time threat detection, and robust security features for comprehensive cloud protection.
Microsoft Purview optimizes risk management with analytics, integration, and customization, enhancing efficiency and ease of use in existing environments.
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
It has saved us money on lawsuits and the loss of important confidential information that could lead to legal issues.
Manager, Information Technology Security Compliance at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
The scoring mechanism is exceptional because it eliminates the need to reinvent criteria for identifying risks, misconfigurations, or vulnerabilities.
Director at Scybers
We were able to remediate the fact that we had a North Korean spy working for us.
IC Sharepoint Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Clou...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
13th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (6th), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (19th)
Microsoft Purview Insider R...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
28th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Insider Risk Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is 3.8%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management is 1.9%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps3.8%
Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management1.9%
Other94.3%
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2777910 - PeerSpot reviewer
Partner & Chief Executive Officer at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Enforces dynamic policies and blocks risky behaviors to safeguard sensitive data
The fidelity of the signal in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps has been a challenge in some areas. There have been instances where the alerts generated have been false positives. A lot of work has to go into scoping and tuning the policies so that actual value can be achieved, especially when not doing outright blocks. When monitoring is the approach, it can be overwhelming for security teams to review all of the alerts and determine which ones require action. When a legitimate alert is found that requires action, the tools are available to take that direction, but it can take considerable time to determine if an alert is real or not, and that represents a problem. There is uncertainty about how well Microsoft is keeping up with the changing landscape of threats, as new artificial intelligence services and software as a service applications appear every day.
reviewer2778528 - PeerSpot reviewer
IC Sharepoint Administrator at a healthcare company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Identifies insider threats through alerts and enables action without continuous monitoring
I appreciate most of the dashboards and the notifications that are sent out with Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management. I do not have to sit and watch it actively. I get notified. An example of how these features from Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management have benefited my organization is that we recently discovered a foreign actor. Someone from North Korea took a job at our company and was pretending to be an employee, and with Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management, they notified us of that problem and we were able to remediate the fact that we had a North Korean spy working for us.
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920,939 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise19
No data available
 

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 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 needs improvement with Microsoft Cloud App Security?
The fidelity of the signal in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps has been a challenge in some areas. There have been instances where the alerts generated have been false positives. A lot of work has...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?
There is a big gap for improvement in this area. My company is a partner with Microsoft.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?
I have a good use case with Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management.
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?
I use some Microsoft Purview solutions such as risk management, information barriers, and customer locker. My overall final rating for Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management is seven out of ten.
 

Also Known As

MS Cloud App Security, Microsoft Cloud App Security
Microsoft Insider Risk Management
 

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 Insider Risk Management and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,939 professionals have used our research since 2012.