Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Symantec Endpoint Security Complete comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Symantec Endpoint Security Complete based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. Symantec Endpoint Security Complete Report (Updated: May 2024).
771,212 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The product detects and blocks threats and is more proactive than firewalls.""Having all monitoring, response, tracking, and mitigation tools in one dashboard provides our analysts and SOC team with a comprehensive view at a glance.""It is stable and scalable.""The price is low and quite competitive with others.""Fortinet FortiEDR's scalability is quite good, and you can add licenses to the solution.""Ability to get forensics details and also memory exfiltration.""It is very easy to set up. I would rate my experience with the initial setup a ten out of ten, with ten being very easy to set up.""The stability is very good."

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"DFE organizational security posture has been a positive experience. We're a Microsoft house. It works. Once it's deployed and once it's configured, it works and our clients tend to be happy with it. I haven't really experienced anyone who has been so unsatisfied with the platform that they wanted to go a couple of different directions, that has never happened to me.""We found that because the endpoint devices are based on Microsoft Windows devices and Windows Defender is integrated with the foundation and the core layer, it makes it more integrated and more agile in terms of responding to any security threats or changes or development""Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is scalable. Currently, we have 600,000 users in our organization.""In terms of the installation, ease of use, and user interface, Defender has been great so far.""It's stable.""Defender for Endpoint has one dashboard with security-related information, vulnerability-related information, and basic recommendations from Microsoft, all in different tabs. That's helpful because if we want to fix only the recommended ones, we can go fix all of them...""The most valuable feature is that we can use the solution right out of the box without too much configuration.""The most valuable feature is that it comes with the package, so there is no additional installation of third-party software. It's also easy to use."

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"It protects emails and messages shared between users.""One feature I found most valuable in Symantec Endpoint Security Complete is the firewall feature on the endpoint. The firewall feature helps users handle virus outbreaks.""The most valuable feature of this solution is the advanced rate firewall protection, the URL filtering.""Endpoint security platform that provides protection for Active Directory environments, file servers, etc., and offers excellent technical support.""The SONAR feature is valuable as it offers real-time protection and threat rejection.""The solution's most important feature is its reliability. It is not heavy on the workstation.""One of the most valuable features includes elements such as host libraries.""The solution prevents any damage from viruses and provides risk mitigation for virus threats."

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Cons
"The solution's installation from a central installation server could be improved because the engineers had a little bit of trouble getting it installed from a central location.""Detections could be improved.""I think cloud security and SASE are areas of concern in the product where improvements are required. The tool's cloud version has to be improved in terms of the security it offers.""The amount of usage, the number of details we get, or the number of options that can be tweaked is limited in comparison to that with other EDR solutions""The EDR console should have more extensive reporting. You shouldn't need to purchase FortiAnalyzer. It should be included in the EDR part. The security adviser cloud platform could be improved with more options for exclusive or intensive rules for devices.""It takes about two business days for initial support, which is too slow in urgent situations.""Cannot be used on mobile devices with a secure connection.""There's room for improvement in the quick response time and technical support for integration issues, especially when dealing with multiple vendors."

More Fortinet FortiEDR Cons →

"The solution needs to improve its ransomware. It's not so good. It could also use some general performance optimization for the computers the solution operates on, to ensure it does not slow down the devices.""It is inexpensive but could be cheaper like anything else.""The product itself does not necessarily need improvement, but the support and implementation of the product are the disaster cases.""Defender's cloud integration could be improved.""Lowering the price would be an improvement.""This solution needs to move beyond relying on virus definitions alone and protect the system using behavioral analysis of the processes that are running.""Notifications are always popping up — I hate that.""Threat intelligence has the potential for improvement, particularly by integrating more sources."

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"Symantec Endpoint Security Complete does not cover everything on the cloud. It does not cover the workstation emails. There are risks associated with it.""The overall support level for the solution could be increased.""There are some limitations from the cloud security point of view.""Enhancements in malware analysis and behavior detection would be beneficial.""The product’s scalability must be improved.""Installation and packaging for Symantec Endpoint Security Complete should be improved. Its console is also confusing, so that's another area for improvement.""The Threat Defense for Active Directory feature has a problem in that it is not possible to deploy it within a hybrid management architecture... we would have to migrate all the infrastructure to be managed by the cloud to deploy this feature, so we have not deployed it.""The deployment of Symantec components could be improved."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "I know it is tough to get big budget additions up front, but I highly recommend deploying environment wide and adding the forensic service."
  • "There are no issues with the pricing."
  • "The price is comprable to other endpoint security solutions."
  • "The pricing is typical for enterprises and fairly priced."
  • "I'm not familiar with pricing, but it looks a bit costly compared to other vendors I think."
  • "The pricing is good."
  • "I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
  • "The hardware costs about €100,000 and about €20,000 annually for access."
  • More Fortinet FortiEDR Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The product is free of charge and comes integrated into Windows."
  • "The solution is free."
  • "This product is included in the pricing for Windows."
  • "If you don't purchase the advanced threat protection then there is no additional charge."
  • "It is affordable and comes in the Office 365 bundle."
  • "Microsoft Defender ATP is expensive."
  • "I pay for it through the Windows Professional or Standard license. It is a one-time cost for me, and I use the same license."
  • "When compared with other vendors, the pricing is very high."
  • More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "I'm recommending going with three-year licensing, rather than the yearly licensing option for this product."
  • "In terms of costs, Symantec Endpoint Security Complete has become costlier compared to how much it was in the past. The cost of the product is very high now. The customer needs to pay extra for additional features, but not for technical support. For example, if you need an email gateway or if you are looking for URL filtering, you have to pay extra, and that's where the costs for Symantec Endpoint Security Complete become higher."
  • "The pricing is good. It's good value for the money."
  • "The product's pricing is dependent on partnership levels. The solution's price is competitive compared to other solutions."
  • "License renewal is not a straightforward process. I have a three-year subscription. It takes a long time to renew the license after three years. It is not proactive on that. The solution is expensive for the coverage that it does. I have to include other products to complement the protection that Symantec Endpoint Security Complete does not cover. We have to pay 18 euros. There are no additional support or maintenance costs."
  • "It's cost-effective and well-suited for smaller to midrange companies."
  • More Symantec Endpoint Security Complete Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protection… more »
    Top Answer:We have FortiEDR installed on all our systems. This protects them from any threats.
    Top Answer:We license it per employee, so as long as the employee count remains the same, the licensing won't change. We have it… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface… more »
    Top Answer:We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior… more »
    Top Answer:The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never push… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable features of Symantec Endpoint Security Complete for me are sandboxing and its threat-hunting… more »
    Top Answer:I would rate Symantec as a five out of ten in terms of costliness. Our licensing costs for Symantec Endpoint Security… more »
    Top Answer:Symantec Endpoint Security Complete could improve by integrating more easily with other Symantec security products. In… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    enSilo, FortiEDR
    Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
    Learn More
    Interactive Demo
    Fortinet
    Demo Not Available
    Broadcom
    Demo Not Available
    Overview

    Fortinet FortiEDR is a real-time endpoint protection, detection, and automated response solution. Its primary purpose is to detect advanced threats to stop breaches and ransomware damage. It is designed to do so in real time, even on an already compromised device, allowing you to respond and remediate incidents automatically so your data can remain protected.

    Fortinet FortiEDR Features

    Fortinet FortiEDR has many valuable key features, including:

    • Easily customizable
    • Real-time proactive risk mitigation & IoT security
    • Pre-infection protection
    • Post-infection protection
    • Track applications and ratings
    • Reduce the attack surface with risk-based proactive policies
    • Achieve analysis of entire log history
    • Optional managed detection and response (MDR) service

    Fortinet FortiEDR Benefits

    Some of the key benefits of using Fortinet FortiEDR include:

    • Protection: Fortinet FortiEDR provides proactive, real-time, automated endpoint protection with the orchestrated incident response across platforms. It stops the breach with real-time postinfection blocking to protect data from exfiltration and ransomware encryption.

    • Single unified console: Fortinet FortiEDR has a single unified console with an intuitive interface, which makes management easier. The solution automates mundane endpoint security tasks so your employees don’t need to do it.

    • Cost savings: With Fortinet FortiEDR you can eliminate post-breach operational expenses and breach damage costs.

    • Flexibility: Fortinet FortiEDR can be deployed on premises or on a secure cloud instance. With Fortinet FortiEDR, endpoints are protected both on- and off-line.

    • Scalability: Because Fortinet can be deployed quickly and has a small footprint, it is easy to scale up to protect hundreds of thousand endpoints.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Fortinet FortiEDR users.

    An Owner at a security firm says, "The features that I have found most valuable are the ability to customize it and to reduce its size. It lets you run in a very small window in terms of memory and resources on legacy cash registers. The customer has literally about 800 cash registers. That was the use case for Fortinet FortiEDR - to get that down into a tiny space. The only way to do that was to use this product because it had that ability to unbundle services that were a surplus.”

    Chandan M., Chief Technical Officer at Provision Technologies LLP, mentions, “The ease of deployment and configuration is valuable. It's very easy compared to other vendors like Sophos. Sophos' configuration is complex. Fortinet is a lot easier to understand. You don't need a lot of admin knowledge to do the configuration.” He also adds, “The security is also very good and the firewall response is good.”

    Harpreet S., Information Technology Support Specialist at Chemtrade Logistics, explains, "It notifies us if there's any suspicious file on any PC. If any execution or similar kind of thing is happening, it just alerts us. It doesn't only alert. It also blocks the execution until we allow it. We check whether the execution is legitimate or not, and then approve it or keep it blocked. This gives us a little bit of control over this mechanism. Fortinet FortiEDR is also very straightforward and easy to maintain."

    DeAndre V., Senior Network Administrator at a financial services firm, states, “The dashboard is easy to follow and use. The deployment and uninstalling were easy. I like the detailed information about the path of a file that might be suspicious. Being able to check that out was easy to follow. Exceptions are easy to create and the interface is easy to follow with a nice appearance.

    Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a comprehensive security solution that provides advanced threat protection for organizations. It offers real-time protection against various types of cyber threats, including malware, viruses, ransomware, and phishing attacks.

    With its powerful machine-learning capabilities, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks before they can cause any harm. The solution also includes endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities, allowing organizations to quickly investigate and respond to security incidents. It provides detailed insights into the attack timeline, enabling security teams to understand the scope and impact of an incident.

    Microsoft Defender for Endpoint also offers proactive threat hunting, allowing organizations to proactively search for and identify potential threats within their network. It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft security solutions, such as Microsoft Defender XDR, to provide a unified and holistic security approach. With its centralized management console, organizations can easily deploy, configure, and monitor the security solution across their entire network.

    Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a robust and scalable security solution that helps organizations protect their endpoints and data from evolving cyber threats.

    Symantec Endpoint Security (SES) Complete delivers comprehensive protection for all your traditional and mobile devices across the entire attack chain. Symantec endpoint innovations include behavioral isolation, Active Directory security, and Threat Hunter technologies to protect your endpoints against sophisticated threats and targeted attacks. For higher return-on-investment and lower total cost of ownership, this single-agent solution supports on-premises, hybrid, and cloud-based deployments.

    Sample Customers
    Financial, Healthcare, Legal, Technology, Enterprise, Manufacturing ... 
    Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
    Information Not Available
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm21%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Healthcare Company5%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Government8%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Energy/Utilities Company7%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization22%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Government8%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    REVIEWERS
    Comms Service Provider30%
    Transportation Company20%
    Manufacturing Company20%
    Security Firm10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business53%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise32%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise50%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business40%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise43%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise33%
    Large Enterprise45%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business50%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise36%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business34%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise47%
    Buyer's Guide
    Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. Symantec Endpoint Security Complete
    May 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. Symantec Endpoint Security Complete and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
    771,212 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is ranked 1st in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) with 182 reviews while Symantec Endpoint Security Complete is ranked 38th in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) with 14 reviews. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is rated 8.0, while Symantec Endpoint Security Complete is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint writes "Eliminates the need to look at multiple dashboards by automatically providing one XDR dashboard to show the security score of each subscription". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Symantec Endpoint Security Complete writes "A reliable solution for endpoint protection ". Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is most compared with Symantec Endpoint Security, Intercept X Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity Complete, CrowdStrike Falcon and Microsoft Intune, whereas Symantec Endpoint Security Complete is most compared with Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise, Microsoft Defender for Business and SentinelOne Singularity Complete. See our Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. Symantec Endpoint Security Complete report.

    See our list of best Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) vendors.

    We monitor all Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.