Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai comparison

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

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Helped 879,422 peers since 2012

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 for Clou...

Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

14th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (12th)

The NodeZero Platform by Ho...

Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

13th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Vulnerability Management (9th), Penetration Testing Services (1st), Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) (2nd), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is 1.8%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai is 0.5%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai	0.5%
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps	1.8%
Other	97.7%

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

Featured Reviews

Frank Van Der Spek

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.

Read full review

Shaun Hunt

Chief Information Officer at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Has unified our IT teams by providing clear visibility into network vulnerabilities and accelerated remediation with real-world attack testing

One of the things that we've shared with Horizon is just the reporting. They've made a lot of changes over time, but when examining computers, most average normal people don't look at a computer and identify it as 114.82.117.180. They identify it as 'the printer for accounting.' When many of the reports give the very detailed technical IP address or serial number, that's really not helpful for anyone other than the person, the hands-on person that's trying to remediate it. All the managers, all the leaders, having information in that format isn't helpful. Being able to have information about what those devices are would be very helpful. There's a technical reason they can't just have an easy button because some people have really complicated networks. When examining things for the average company, the average executive, that 114 number, there's only one of those. But if examining an AT&T or a Walmart, it isn't unique. They haven't solved that problem. But for the 90% of companies, being able to have just a human readable name for all devices on your network in all of the reports all of the time would be the most beneficial.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like the alert policies because they are quite robust. It has some built-in templates that we can easily pick up. One of them is the alert for mass downloads, when a particular user is running a massive download on your SharePoint site."

"If your business requirements are relatively simple, it can get the job done."

"The integration within the entire Defender suite is highly valuable because it allows for communication between different components and offers pretty decent correlations."

"I would rate it a ten because I have not experienced any stability issues so far with Defender for Cloud Apps."

"The product’s most valuable feature is SQL database."

"Defender's integration with our identity solutions is critical in our current setup."

"One of the most valuable features is auditing. Some of the other protection services have issues with auditing. Microsoft Defender for Cloud has an excellent auditing technique that helps us avoid the risk of filtering or information loss. You can use different tools to guarantee these things. It allows you to conduct an in-depth exploration of applications, users, and files that are harmful or suspicious. You can also enhance your security setup by creating personalized rules or policies that help you better control traffic in the cloud."

"The most valuable features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps include live, up-to-date information, which provided real-time alerts, and the ability to delve into detailed metadata information."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps pros

"Penetration testing and scans are useful features."

"We experienced a threat that could have severely crippled us, but we were able to shut it down before it escalated, thanks to internal vulnerability testing and addressing critical vulnerabilities using their tool."

"After the third party conducts the pen test, The NodeZero Platform is run, and it finds the same things they found and sometimes a few other things that they did not even identify."

"The NodeZero Platform's real attack capabilities help identify vulnerabilities on my on-premise systems by adding an element of validation and offensive security testing on top of known vulnerabilities. The feature that allows security teams to fix and retest vulnerabilities instantly is very useful, even though it may not happen literally 'instantly.' It's a necessary tool for any organization to understand whether vulnerabilities are genuinely exploitable by attackers. With its near-real-time testing capabilities, it's an essential part of any security portfolio."

"Overall, I'd rate NodeZero at nine to 9.5 out of ten."

"My favorite feature about The NodeZero Platform is that it's autonomous, and it truly delivers on that promise—it can be set and forgotten while it performs its tasks, and it does exactly what it claims to do."

"I rate the stability of the NodeZero Platform a ten out of ten."

"The NodeZero Platform's real attack capabilities help in identifying vulnerabilities on our on-prem systems because it provides actual vulnerabilities by attacking our systems."

More The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai pros

Cons

"They should continue integration with all other Microsoft security-related products. The integration with all the other products is still ongoing."

"I would prefer to have filtering options incorporated within the policies, enabling the solution to perform tasks beyond mere blocking or allowing."

"The insights could be improved, especially in reporting."

"It doesn't actually decrease the time to respond. This has been an issue with Microsoft recently. Sometimes, there is a delay when it comes to getting an alert policy email... Sometimes it takes two or three hours for that email to be sent."

"Generally, the pricing can always be improved along with the management system."

"We would like to get more information from the endpoint. I don't get enough detailed information right now on why something failed. There is not enough visibility."

"We sometimes get errors when we create policies, which is somewhat annoying because some policies stop working due to misconfigurations. We find this challenging because it limits our options for troubleshooting an issue."

"Defender for Cloud apps is primarily useful for Azure apps. It has limited capabilities for applications based on other cloud platforms."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps cons

"The areas for improvement for The NodeZero Platform involve integration and automation. It would be beneficial if it could integrate directly with vulnerability management tools that would allow the platform to automatically import data, identify vulnerable systems, and test targets immediately, potentially even enabling automated feedback loops for rescanning since the process is currently manual."

"The speed of the scans takes some time, but in my opinion, it is not surprising for what it is doing."

"I think The NodeZero Platform could improve by leveraging GPUs for password cracking, which would be pretty good."

"One of the areas where improvement is needed is in the visibility and reporting for large enterprises."

"The only issue we’ve encountered is that sometimes the scans take a long time to complete."

"Sometimes even their support doesn't know why we're seeing certain issues."

"I encountered challenges with patch management, as we struggled to test and implement patches due to time constraints. This led to our patch management process being ineffective."

"You need to be cautious about what it scans, as it could potentially cause issues."

More The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our clients normally use the Microsoft E1 licensing, which is renewed yearly."

"Microsoft offers bundle discounts and a pay-as-you-go option."

"We are an MST and we do not pay for the solution. However, the price of the solution could be better."

"Its pricing is on the higher side. Its price is definitely very high for a small-scale company. As an enterprise client, we do get benefits from Microsoft. We get a discounted price because of the number of users we have in our company. We have a premier package, and with that, we do get a lot of discounts. There are no additional costs. It only comes in the top-tier packages. Generally, the top-tier license is the best license that you can get for your organization. If you want, you can buy it separately, but that's not a good idea."

"This product is not expensive."

"The price could be better and should be reconsidered."

"It is a little bit expensive. When you want to have the complete package with Office 365, Defender, and everything else, it is expensive."

"The pricing is fair."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	19

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	4

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 do you like most about Horizon3.ai?

Penetration testing and scans are useful features.

What needs improvement with Horizon3.ai?

I think The NodeZero Platform could improve by leveraging GPUs for password cracking, which would be pretty good.

What is your primary use case for Horizon3.ai?

We use The NodeZero Platform for control validation and we are also looking for the likelihood of vulnerabilities.

Zscaler Internet Access vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Comparisons

Compared 15% of the time

Cisco Umbrella vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 15% of the time

Netskope vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 11% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Competitors

Pentera vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

Compared 30% of the time

Tenable Security Center vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

Compared 9% of the time

Tenable Vulnerability Management vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

Compared 7% of the time

Tenable Nessus vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

Compared 6% of the time

vPentest vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

Compared 6% of the time

More The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

Download Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps product report

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps report

The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

Download The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai product report

The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai report

Also Known As

MS Cloud App Security, Microsoft Cloud App Security

Horizon3.ai

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is a comprehensive security solution that provides protection for cloud-based applications and services. It offers real-time threat detection and response, as well as advanced analytics and reporting capabilities. With Defender for Cloud Apps, organizations can ensure the security of their cloud environments and safeguard against cyber threats. Whether you're running SaaS applications, IaaS workloads, or PaaS services, Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps can help you secure your cloud environment and protect your business from cyber threats.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Benefits:

Provides comprehensive security for cloud applications
Integrates with other Microsoft security tools
Easy to use and deploy
Provides real-time threat detection and response
Strong protection against phishing attacks and other common threats
Highly customizable to meet specific needs of different organizations

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Use Cases:

Governance, authentication, security, and compliance.
Detects shadow IT and anomalous user behavior
Controls access to applications
Provides auditing and filtering setups
Used for end-user compute devices, file monitoring, user investigation, and activity
Used for data governance, threat detection, and getting visibility over cloud applications
Used to identify information about applications beyond organizational boundaries
Prevent exfiltration and data filtration of corporate data
Used to deal with spam emails and detect shadow IT

Reviews from Real Users

Ram-Krish, Cloud Security & Governance at a financial services firm, says that Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps "Integrates well and helps us in protecting sensitive information, but takes time to scan and apply the policies and cannot detect everything we need".

PeerSpot user, Senior Cloud & Security Consultant at a tech services, writes that Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps "Great for monitoring user activity and protecting data while integrating well with other applications".

Simon Burgess,Infrastructure Engineer at SBITSC, states that Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps is "A fluid, intelligent product for great visibility, centralized management, and increased uptime".

Microsoft

NodeZero by Horizon3.ai is an offensive security platform that enables users to adopt an attacker’s perspective, reveal vulnerabilities, and verify defense effectiveness with evidence-backed insights.

NodeZero provides autonomous pentesting, showing how attackers exploit misconfigurations, credentials, and exposures into attack paths. It helps focus on real risks rather than hypothetical ones, integrating seamlessly into existing IT and security workflows to streamline processes. The platform drives risk-based vulnerability management and CTEM by validating vulnerabilities and measuring resilience.

What standout features improve your security?

Autonomous Pentesting at Scale: Executes extensive pentests across broad IT landscapes swiftly.
Hybrid Cloud Coverage: Navigates on-premises and cloud domains to find attack paths.
Proof of Exploitation: Offers evidence for every finding.
Fix Validation: Allows quick retesting to ensure vulnerabilities are resolved.
NodeZero Tripwires: Uses deception tokens for real adversary detection.

What benefits should you expect from reviews?

Reduced Vulnerability Noise: Prioritizes exploitable risks with ServiceNow integration.
Automated Workflows: MCP Server automates processes, reducing bottlenecks and enhancing efficiency.
Immediate Fix Validation: Ensures defenses work during attacks.
Real-Time Resilience Measurement: Helps schedule routine assessments without external help.

NodeZero assists in automated penetration testing and vulnerability management in industries like finance and healthcare. It enhances security processes by complementing or replacing existing solutions, enabling efficient testing, feedback, and control validation.

Horizon3.ai

Sample Customers

Customers for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps include Accenture, St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and Nakilat.

Government agencies, Defense Industrial Base organizations, and enterprises in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and criticalinfrastructure rely on NodeZero to meet rigorous security and compliance requirements with continuous, scheduled, and on-demand testing.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai