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Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Qualys TotalCloud comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 19, 2025

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
7.8
Organizations gain productivity, save time and resources, and reduce costs by 30-80% with SentinelOne Cloud Security's features.
Sentiment score
7.3
Microsoft Defender for Cloud boosts security and efficiency, integrates with Azure, reduces costs, prevents breaches, and offers proactive defense.
Sentiment score
8.5
Qualys TotalCloud boosts efficiency, reduces time by up to 90%, lowers costs by 40%, and enhances ROI through automation.
The detailed information PingSafe gives about how to fix vulnerabilities reduces the time spent on remediation by about 70 to 80 percent.
After implementing SentinelOne, it takes about five to seven minutes.
Cloud Native Security does offer ROI.
Defender proactively indexes and analyzes documents, identifying potential threats even when inactive, enhancing preventative security.
Identifying potential vulnerabilities has helped us avoid costly data losses.
The biggest return on investment is the rapid improvement of security posture.
It has saved about 90% of our time.
TotalCloud has generated overall savings of 30 to 40 percent across various departments.
CallStream helps us integrate and automate tasks.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.8
SentinelOne Singularity Cloud's support team is responsive and knowledgeable, though response time inconsistencies occasionally persist, earning high satisfaction.
Sentiment score
6.5
Microsoft Defender for Cloud support is responsive at higher levels, but experiences vary with mixed satisfaction due to delays.
Sentiment score
7.4
Qualys TotalCloud's customer service is praised for helpfulness and expertise but faces occasional delays and inconsistent response quality.
When we send an email, they respond quickly and proactively provide solutions.
They took direct responsibility for the system and could solve queries quickly.
Having a reliable team ready and willing to assist with any issues is essential.
Since security is critical, we prefer a quicker response time.
The support team was very responsive to queries.
They understand their product, but much like us, they struggle with the finer details, especially with new features.
They are helpful, respond to my queries, and can answer any question.
Qualys's tech support is highly responsive, providing multiple ways to interact with them.
Qualys' customer service provides quality answers, but the response time is long, even though it is within the SLA.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
SentinelOne Singularity Cloud offers scalable, easily integrated security solutions for diverse needs, supporting AWS and Azure with seamless expansion.
Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is scalable, integrating across environments effortlessly, suitable for all enterprise sizes with flexible performance.
Sentiment score
8.3
Qualys TotalCloud is praised for its scalability, adaptability, and global support, making it ideal for businesses of all sizes.
I would rate it a 10 out of 10 for scalability.
Scalability is no longer a concern because Cloud Native Security is a fully cloud-based resource.
I would rate the scalability of PingSafe 10 out of 10.
We are using infrastructure as a code, so we do not have any scalability issues with Microsoft Defender for Cloud implementation because our cloud automatically does it.
It has multiple licenses and features, covering infrastructures from a hundred to five hundred virtual machines, without any issues.
Defender won't replace our endpoint XDR, but it will likely adapt and support any growth in the Microsoft Cloud space.
We started our organization about nine months back. We started with about 30 users, and we now have more than 100 users.
Our organization currently uses it to manage over 1200 web applications.
It is absolutely scalable, and I would rate its scalability as nine out of ten.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security is stable and reliable, with occasional UI lags but generally praised for consistent performance.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is stable and reliable, with minimal issues mainly during updates, ensuring strong user satisfaction.
Sentiment score
8.5
Qualys TotalCloud is highly rated for stability, reliability, and 99.9% uptime, with quick resolution of minor issues.
It's a reliable solution that the organization is increasingly adopting for its robust features and security.
We contacted Cloud Native Security, and they addressed it in a day.
The only downtime we had was when switching from V1 to V2 but it was smooth.
Defender's stability has been flawless for us.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is very stable.
Microsoft sometimes changes settings or configurations without transparency.
Overall, the support provided has been excellent.
It is a stable solution, which is why we chose it.
Continuous monitoring is crucial to ensure system stability and avoid vulnerabilities or threats.
 

Room For Improvement

SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security needs enhancements in affordability, integration, support, customization, documentation, and performance for improved user experience.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud users seek better automation, clarity, integration, AI features, and comprehensive analytics for improved security management.
Qualys TotalCloud users seek clearer licensing, enhanced features, better integrations, improved support, and customized functionality for comprehensive management.
If they can merge Kubernetes Security with other modules related to Kubernetes, that would help us to get more modules in the current subscription.
As organizations move to the cloud, a cloud posture management tool that offers complete cloud visibility becomes crucial for maintaining compliance.
I would also like to see Cloud Native Security offer APIs that allow us to directly build dashboards within the platform.
Microsoft, in general, could significantly improve its communication and support.
It would be beneficial to streamline recommendations to avoid unnecessary alerts and to refine the severity of alerts based on specific environments or environmental attributes.
The artificial intelligence features could be expanded to allow the system to autonomously manage security issues without needing intervention from admins.
Ideally, the scanner should automatically detect and scan all subdomains, even if not explicitly defined, ensuring comprehensive vulnerability assessment.
Ideally, updates should be more immediate, enabling quicker implementation of solutions.
Our goal is to integrate all these functions into Qualys, creating a single dashboard for comprehensive security monitoring and management.
 

Setup Cost

SentinelOne Singularity is competitively priced but perceived as costly for larger deployments and possibly unsuitable for smaller businesses.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is scalable, offering free and paid versions with costs averaging $15 monthly per server.
Qualys TotalCloud is valued by enterprises for cost-effectiveness, comprehensive features, and flexible licensing despite perceived high costs.
I believe the enterprise version costs around $55 per user per year.
There are some tools that are double the cost of Cloud Native Security.
I recall Cloud Native Security charging a slightly higher premium previously.
Every time we consider expanding usage, we carefully evaluate the necessity due to cost concerns.
We appreciate the licensing approach based on employee count rather than a big enterprise license.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is pricey, especially for Kubernetes clusters.
Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive.
Pricing is managed by our finance team; however, Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility.
Qualys TotalCloud is expensive, but it offers a premier solution with no headaches.
 

Valuable Features

SentinelOne excels in ease of use, real-time detection, automated remediation, and seamless integration, enhancing security operations efficiently.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud enhances security with AI-based threat detection, multi-cloud support, and a unified portal for comprehensive management.
Qualys TotalCloud offers comprehensive cloud security with real-time protection, effective vulnerability management, and user-friendly integration for enhanced security management.
This helps visualize potential attack paths and even suggests attack paths a malicious actor might take.
The infrastructure-as-code feature is helpful for discovering open ports in some of the modules.
This tool has been helpful for us. It allows us to search for vulnerabilities and provides evidence directly on the screen.
The most valuable feature for me is the variety of APIs available.
This feature significantly aids in threat detection and enhances the user experience by streamlining security management.
The most valuable feature is the recommendations provided on how to improve security.
This view of risk helps reduce the work we would have to do to combine multiple sources to prioritize risk.
It will help cybersecurity professionals monitor the cloud and find vulnerabilities.
We are enjoying the new feature, FlexScan, which is valuable for Internet-facing VMs.
 

Categories and Ranking

SentinelOne Singularity Clo...
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Ranking in Vulnerability Management
5th
Ranking in Container Security
3rd
Ranking in Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP)
4th
Ranking in Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
3rd
Ranking in Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
116
Ranking in other categories
Cloud and Data Center Security (2nd), Compliance Management (2nd)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
7th
Ranking in Container Security
7th
Ranking in Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP)
1st
Ranking in Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
4th
Ranking in Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
79
Ranking in other categories
Container Management (9th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (8th), Compliance Management (5th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (2nd)
Qualys TotalCloud
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
11th
Ranking in Container Security
11th
Ranking in Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP)
9th
Ranking in Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
8th
Ranking in Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
8th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) category, the mindshare of SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security is 4.6%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud is 10.9%, down from 12.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys TotalCloud is 1.6%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security4.6%
Microsoft Defender for Cloud10.9%
Qualys TotalCloud1.6%
Other82.9%
Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP)
 

Featured Reviews

Ritesh P. - PeerSpot reviewer
It's more scalable and flexible than our previous solution because we don't need to install any agents
The reporting works well, but sometimes the severity classifications are inaccurate. Sometimes, it flags an issue as high-impact, but it should be a lower severity. For example, it might highlight an exposed AWS encryption key, a critical compliance issue, but it isn't tagged as a high-risk problem. That only happens about 10 percent of the time. It shows a true positive 80-90 percent of the time.
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.
Sushant Samantara - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps us minimize attack surfaces by identifying root accounts and encryption issues
TotalCloud provides written explanations to guide remediation and eliminate cyber risks. While all cloud platforms offer security features, it's challenging to consolidate them into a single dashboard. Qualys TotalCloud effectively addresses this by consolidating multiple cloud platforms and subscriptions onto one dashboard. This allows users to quickly identify and mitigate misconfigurations and risks, simplifying security management. Before implementing TotalCloud, our compliance rate was approximately 50 to 60 percent. However, after adopting the platform, it has increased to 80 to 90 percent. TotalCloud also helps us minimize attack surfaces by identifying root accounts and encryption issues, thereby enhancing our overall security by 40 percent. TotalCloud offers a unified platform for assessing vulnerabilities and threats across both IaaS and PaaS environments. This unified view has improved our cloud security posture management. We gain a single, prioritized view of risks through TotalCloud's TruRisk Insights feature. This feature considers not only the QDA score but also factors in cost and other relevant elements to provide a comprehensive risk assessment. From a potentially overwhelming list of findings, TruRisk Insights prioritizes the most critical risks, allowing us to focus our efforts and resources on addressing these high-priority tasks efficiently. A single, prioritized view of risk streamlines the risk assessment process by eliminating the need to consolidate multiple sources. This comprehensive view is instrumental in communicating with other business customers who may be unaware of potential risks or misconfigurations within their resources. By identifying and informing them of these issues, we can guide them towards compliance and ensure a more secure environment. TruRisk Insights provides valuable findings by identifying vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, displaying them on a dashboard, and offering deeper insights into the attack surface. It analyzes not only internet-facing devices but also those indirectly connected, providing a comprehensive understanding of potential risks. This is crucial because even devices not directly connected to the internet can be vulnerable if they have an attack surface. TruRisk Insights also offers mitigation strategies, making it a highly useful tool for managing security risks. With the VMDR feature enabled and the Qualys Agent installed on various assets, we can identify existing vulnerabilities. TruRisk Insights then calculates risk scores, prioritizes tasks, and presents the number of findings. This allows us to focus on mitigating high-priority vulnerabilities while deferring those with lower priority, ultimately reducing overall risk. TruRisk Insights provides device details, allowing for containerization of misconfigured devices. This process involves isolating problematic devices and rectifying misconfigurations, ultimately enhancing our security posture.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
5%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business44
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise55
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise45
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise22
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about PingSafe?
The dashboard gives me an overview of all the things happening in the product, making it one of the tool's best featu...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PingSafe?
I think the pricing of SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security is a bit high.
What needs improvement with PingSafe?
One area that could be improved in SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security is their policies; the way they have config...
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 acros...
What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Cloud?
The entire Defender Suite is tightly coupled, integrated, and collaborative.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys TotalCloud?
Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is fair. It is not expensive and is affordable.
What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
I sometimes have difficulty detecting or uninstalling certain versions of applications, which I have to do manually. ...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
I use Qualys TotalCloud for vulnerability as a service, vulnerability management as a service. I use it to check my d...
 

Also Known As

PingSafe
Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender
Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is trusted by companies such as ASOS, Vatenfall, SWC Technology Partners, and more.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Qualys TotalCloud and other solutions. Updated: October 2025.
872,019 professionals have used our research since 2012.