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Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 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 for Cloud
Ranking in Container Management
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (7th), Container Security (6th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (2nd), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (4th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (4th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (7th), Compliance Management (5th)
Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE
Ranking in Container Management
11th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Container Monitoring (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Container Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud is 1.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE is 9.0%, up from 7.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Management
 

Featured Reviews

Vibhor Goel - PeerSpot reviewer
A single tool for complete visibility and addressing security gaps
Currently, issues are structured in Microsoft Defender for Cloud at severity levels of high, critical, or warning, but these severity levels are not always right. For example, Microsoft might consider a port being open as critical, but that might not be the case for our company. Similarly, it might suggest closing some management ports, but you might need them to be able to log in, so the severity levels for certain things can be improved. Even though Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides a way to temporarily disable certain alerts or notifications without affecting our security score, it would be better to have more granularized control over these recommendations. Currently, we cannot even disable certain alerts or notifications. There should be an automated mechanism to design Azure policies based on the recommendations, possibly with AI integration. Instead of an engineer having to write a policy to fix security gaps, which is very time-consuming, there should be an inbuilt capability to auto-remediate everything and have proper control in place. Additionally, enabling Defender for Cloud at the resource group level, rather than only at the subscription level, would be beneficial.
Prasanthraj PN - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers efficient deployment and management with easy resource allocation, yet faces challenges in integration and compatibility
Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE ( /products/nutanix-kubernetes-engine-nke-reviews ) offers easy and fast deployment, management, stability, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. The resource allocation is very simple. If we need to expand the memory, storage space, or processor core, it is very easy to manage through our central control. These features are what stand out the most.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution's robust security posture is the most valuable feature."
"The solution is used for risks, vulnerabilities, and compliance."
"Defender for Cloud provides a complete DevOps security package for cloud services."
"Defender for Cloud has improved our security posture."
"The UX and UI are very good. Users have more of a taste for Microsoft UI."
"The most valuable feature for me is the variety of APIs available."
"The entire Defender Suite is tightly coupled, integrated, and collaborative."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its support for cloud-native services like Kubernetes, containers, managed storage, and databases. Protecting these without Microsoft Defender for Cloud would be extremely challenging. For threat protection specifically, I find the signature-based detection and heuristic detection features very effective."
"Nutanix's support is really good."
"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"We can add some add-ons and plugins to the product if we need to."
"The platform is valuable due to its ease of use and quick deployment capabilities."
"The solution is embedded in the hypervisor and there are no deployment costs."
"We can do a lot of provisioning."
"The solution is easy to manage. You can get everything in a single platform. It is also easy to work with Terraform as a code."
"The product integrates well with our infrastructure."
 

Cons

"I would like to see more connectors and plugins with other platforms."
"The solution could extend its capabilities to other cloud providers. Right now, if you want to monitor a virtual machine on another cloud, you can do that. However, this cannot be done with other cloud platform services. I hope once that is available then Defender for Cloud will be a unified solution for all cloud platform services."
"For improvements, I'd like to see more use cases integrated with Microsoft Sentinel and support for multi-cloud environments beyond just Azure."
"After getting a recommendation, it takes time for the solution to refresh properly to show that the problem has been eliminated."
"Microsoft can improve the pricing by offering a plan that is more cost-effective for small and medium organizations."
"The user interface of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, like many Microsoft portals, undergoes frequent changes and feature relocation."
"Microsoft Defender could be more centralized. For example, I still need to go to another console to do policy management."
"The documentation and implementation guides could be improved."
"Nutanix has limitations compared to VMware, particularly in testing and industry tie-ups with different OEMs. Deploying virtual machines, especially for industrial automation, can be challenging due to compatibility issues."
"NKE could benefit from additional features that support more advanced Kubernetes functionalities and configurations."
"The product lacks some virtualization capabilities, making it an area for improvement where the solution can focus on providing users with more virtualization capabilities related to disk systems."
"In the next release, I would like to have automatic dynamic scaling, both upscaling and downscaling."
"Areas for improvement in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE) include upgrading management capabilities and enhancing the user interface for improved usability."
"One major issue we faced was that appliances couldn't migrate from VMware to the tool. However, this seems to be a common problem across platforms. We've seen the same issue when migrating from VMware to RHV or other solutions. It's not specifically a Nutanix problem but rather an issue migrating appliances from one VM infrastructure to another. Some kernel-level and storage-level issues impact this process."
"We need a backup of production clusters."
"GUI lacks sufficient information to help with understanding the installation and process."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are improvements that have to be made to the licensing. Currently, for servers, it has to be done by grouping the servers on a single subscription... We don't have an option whereby, if all those resources are in one subscription, we can have each of the individual servers subject to different planning."
"Currently, Microsoft offers only one plan at the enterprise level which is $15 per machine."
"There is a helpful cost-reducing option that allows you to integrate production subscriptions with non-production subscriptions."
"The licensing cost per server is $15 per month."
"While we pay for any additional features, the pricing seems competitive, though I am not involved in the specific cost details."
"The pricing is very difficult because every type of Defender for Cloud has its own metrics and pricing. If you have Cloud for Key Vault, the pricing is different than it is for storage. Every type has its own pricing list and rules."
"Microsoft Defender for Cloud is pricey, especially for Kubernetes clusters."
"The licensing is straightforward but can become expensive if you cover everything. You must balance the cost against the importance of what needs covering."
"The platform is averagely priced. I rate the pricing as four out of ten."
"I rate NKE's pricing a six out of ten."
"I rate the product price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"While deploying Kubernetes clusters on Nutanix is cost-effective, there may be additional costs for remote branch offices where Kubernetes is less common."
"The product's licenses are included in the software version deployed in our data center."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How is Prisma Cloud vs Azure Security Center for security?
Azure Security Center is very easy to use, integrates well, and gives very good visibility on what is happening across your ecosystem. It also has great remote workforce capabilities and supports a...
What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
The entire Defender Suite is tightly coupled, integrated, and collaborative.
What do you like most about Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?
The most valuable features of the Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE) are its simplicity and efficiency during the initial cluster creation phase.
What needs improvement with Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?
Nutanix has limitations compared to VMware, particularly in testing and industry tie-ups with different OEMs. Deploying virtual machines, especially for industrial automation, can be challenging du...
What is your primary use case for Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?
We are using Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE ( /products/nutanix-kubernetes-engine-nke-reviews ) in our organization. It is implemented on Cisco M7 ( /products/oracle-supercluster-reviews ) Series ( ...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender
Nutanix Karbon
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is trusted by companies such as ASOS, Vatenfall, SWC Technology Partners, and more.
JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, SAIC Volkswagen
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
857,162 professionals have used our research since 2012.