Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Vanta comparison

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 19, 2025

Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Vanta compete in the cloud security and compliance domain. Microsoft Defender for Cloud has the upper hand in security management with its robust features for businesses utilizing Azure, while Vanta shines in compliance automation.

Features: Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides advanced threat protection, security posture management, and seamless integration with Azure services. It offers comprehensive visibility into security metrics and alerts for potential threats. Vanta specializes in automated compliance tracking for standards like SOC 2 and ISO 27001, aiding organizations in maintaining continuous compliance with minimal effort.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Defender for Cloud can improve by simplifying its complex configuration process to enhance user experience and adaptability beyond the Azure ecosystem. Enhancing third-party integration capabilities could also be beneficial. Vanta could improve by expanding its feature set to cover broader security needs and optimize its interface to better accommodate larger enterprise environments.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Defender for Cloud's deployment might be challenging due to intricate configurations that need technical expertise, yet it offers strong support for Azure users. Vanta excels with a straightforward deployment process, focusing on easy compliance setup and responsive customer support, facilitating efficient onboarding for users.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Defender for Cloud may require a higher initial investment but provides significant value for Azure-focused enterprises through its extensive security offerings. Vanta offers a competitive pricing structure with rapid ROI for organizations prioritizing compliance, justifying its costs through streamlined procedures despite a higher per-feature price.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Vanta Report (Updated: December 2025).

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Vanta

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Helped 879,259 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 Cloud

Ranking in Compliance Management

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Vulnerability Management (6th), Container Management (7th), Container Security (7th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (1st), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (4th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (4th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (7th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (2nd)

Vanta

Ranking in Compliance Management

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Compliance Consulting (3rd), Data Governance (19th)

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Compliance Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud is 14.6%, down from 16.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Vanta is 9.4%, down from 15.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Compliance Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Vanta	9.4%
Microsoft Defender for Cloud	14.6%
Other	76.0%

Compliance Management

Featured Reviews

David Birhange

Director, Cloud and Modern Workplace at Informanix Technology Group

Brings together cloud security insights through a unified view and supports agentless protection for virtual machines

Copilot and similar features are already being used, though not necessarily for Microsoft Defender for Cloud specifically. We are trying to get more experience before rolling out most of Microsoft Defender for Cloud's AI capabilities. This is definitely on our to-do list, and the priority is urgent as we seek to learn more about these capabilities. The GenAI threat protection from Microsoft Defender for Cloud has not been enabled yet. There are many unknowns with AI applications. AI agents will operate while you're not present, whether you are sleeping or awake, and it's unclear whether there would be any exfiltration of data or how data is being managed. Microsoft Purview is being used extensively, and there is significant development going on with DSPM that will be rolled out to address security concerns. Data labeling and proper demarcation for sensitivity of data before it is received are being actively pursued.

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reviewer2585640

Consultant at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Compliance workflows have become organized and automation supports ongoing healthcare audits

There are always tons of rooms for improvement for Vanta. I kind of exaggerated a little bit about the policy control. I don't really love the way they handle the revision management of that feature. If I'm on V1 of the policy document and I make some changes to it, then I get rid of V1 and then I re-upload V2. It's not that it keeps a running history of each of the different revisions. A little bit of an issue with that, but workable. I don't really have any negative complaint right now that would be worthwhile expressing. It's just that there's a lot of features. The UI is not super intuitive, but now that I've worked with it for a couple of years, I know how to navigate and get around. Initially, it was a little bit of a struggle understanding how these things would all work.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The valuable features include the ability to manage devices and the fact that Defender can replace other security tools like SCCM."

"Defender for Cloud provides a complete DevOps security package for cloud services."

"Having the ability to do what we could not before, such as gaining visibility and securing our full estate, is crucial."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the vulnerability assessments and the glossary of compliance."

"The vulnerability reporting is helpful. When we initially deployed Defender, it reported many more threats than we currently see. It gave us insight into areas we had not previously considered, so we knew where we needed to act."

"It isn't a highly complex solution. It's something that a lot of analysts can use. Defender gives you a broad overview of what's happening in your environment, and it's a great solution if you're a Microsoft shop."

"The first valuable feature was the fact that it gave us a list of everything that users were surfing on the web. Having the list, we could make decisions about those sites."

"Microsoft Defender for Cloud helps in improving our overall security posture. We have a nice overview of what is missing where and what can be improved."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud pros

"Vanta provides a necessary repository that any compliance expert will look at and recognize right away."

"The most valuable feature of Vanta would be the time savings from the automation and the continuous compliance monitoring once set up."

"Task management and vendor assurance are the most valuable features. It is also an easy tool to use."

"They integrate into New Relic as a performance monitoring tool."

"The most valuable feature of Vanta is its prebuilt control frameworks."

"It helps us track the compliance of the components listed in our partner's directory. We can also check if the password manager, XML, and three log policies have been properly implemented on the desktop."

"Vanta's integrations and automated tests have streamlined our SOC 2 compliance and provided a single entry point for addressing risks and failed tests."

"After implementing those changes with Vanta, we tracked specific outcomes and metrics and improved compliance scores, which we can see in Vanta."

More Vanta pros

Cons

"The cost is always a concern, but overall, it's not too bad because it is easy to use and pretty friendly."

"Defender is occasionally unreliable. It isn't 100% efficient in terms of antivirus detection, but it isn't an issue most of the time. It's also somewhat difficult to train new security analysts to use Defender."

"The product was a bit complex to set up earlier, however, it is a bit streamlined now."

"There needs to be improvement in the security recommendations, particularly in attack path mapping. Sometimes, it misleads users about the real exposure of external-facing assets."

"Customizing some of the compliance requirements based on individual needs seems like the biggest area of improvement. There should be an option to turn specific controls on and off based on how your solution is configured."

"It needs to be simplified and made more user-friendly for a non-technical person."

"Agent features need to be improved. They support agents through Azure Arc or Workbench. Sometimes, we are not able to get correct signals from the machines on which we have installed these agents. We are not able to see how many are currently reporting to Azure Security Center, and how many are currently not reporting. For example, we have 1,000 machines, and we have enrolled 1,000 OMS agents on these machines to collect the log. When I look at the status, even though at some places, it shows that it is connected, but when I actually go and check, I'm not getting any alerts from those. There are some discrepancies on the agent, and the agent features are not up to the mark."

"I would suggest building a single product that addresses endpoint server protection, attack surface, and everything else in one solution. That is the main disadvantage with the product. If we are incorporating some features, we end up in a situation where this solution is for the server, and that one is for the client, or this is for identity, and that is for our application. They're not bundling it. Commercially, we can charge for different licenses, but on the implementation side, it's tough to help our end-customer understand which product they're getting."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud cons

"Some of the tool's automated tests do not work the way it should."

"There is a delay with customer support and they are unsure of the answers we need."

"There are connection problems about 50% of the time because of the automated evidence collection."

"They have an AI generator for the system description for SOC 2, however, the outline is a little sketchy."

"The main area for improvement in Vanta is the user interface's refresh rate."

"Failed tests for device CVEs seem to be cumulative, meaning I have to clear all CVEs before the test will pass, which makes it difficult to resolve the test before the next round of CVEs are published."

"Permissions for platform users have been an issue. We've had to give admin access to Vanta for another team member to view all items."

"Scalability could be improved."

More Vanta cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Currently, Microsoft offers only one plan at the enterprise level which is $15 per machine."

"Understanding the costs of cloud services can be complicated at first. As with a lot of things in the cloud, it can be quite hard to understand the end cost, but it becomes clearer over time. Early on, the lack of transparency is a challenge. Microsoft does not tell you the cost when they launch something. It is clever marketing, and there is room for improvement there. There should be clarity from the start."

"This is a worldwide service and depending on the country, there will be different prices."

"The pricing model for most plans is generally good, but the cost of the new Defender for Storage plan is high and should be revisited, as it could lead to disabling desirable security features due to cost."

"Its pricing is a little bit high in terms of Azure Security Center, but the good thing is that we don't need to maintain and deploy it. So, while the pricing is high, it is native to Azure which is why we prefer using this tool."

"Defender's basic version is free, which is good. Many of our teams are evaluating the paid version against third-party products."

"The tool is pretty expensive."

"I am not involved in this area. However, I believe its price is okay because even small customers are using Azure Security Center. I don't think it is very expensive."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud pricing and cost advice

"Vanta is expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

19%

Financial Services Firm

University

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	27
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	49

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	1

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Cloud?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Microsoft Defender for Cloud was pretty straightforward. We did have a consultation with a third party to go over different tiers and produ...

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Cloud?

Microsoft Defender for Cloud can be improved. An additional feature that should be included in the next release is Zero Trust, similar to ThreatLocker software.

What do you like most about Vanta?

The most valuable feature of Vanta is its prebuilt control frameworks.

What needs improvement with Vanta?

What is your primary use case for Vanta?

The main use cases are all healthcare related and specifically SOC and HIPAA compliance.

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Product Reports

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Download Microsoft Defender for Cloud product report

Download Vanta product report

Also Known As

Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender

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Interactive Demo

Microsoft

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Overview

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a comprehensive security solution that provides advanced threat protection for cloud workloads. It offers real-time visibility into the security posture of cloud environments, enabling organizations to quickly identify and respond to potential threats. With its advanced machine learning capabilities, Microsoft Defender for Cloud can detect and block sophisticated attacks, including zero-day exploits and fileless malware.

The solution also provides automated remediation capabilities, allowing security teams to quickly and easily respond to security incidents. With Microsoft Defender for Cloud, organizations can ensure the security and compliance of their cloud workloads, while reducing the burden on their security teams.

Microsoft

Vanta helps companies scale security practices and automate compliance for the industry’s most sought after standards - SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, and CCPA.

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is trusted by companies such as ASOS, Vatenfall, SWC Technology Partners, and more.

Care Directives, Shortcut , Nayya, Heizenrader, Treasury Prime

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Vanta