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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 2024

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
7.1
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers significant ROI with cost savings, seamless integration, and real-time protection against ransomware attacks.
Sentiment score
4.1
Symantec Endpoint Security's robust protection minimizes ransomware impact, ensuring data security and ROI for manufacturing firms against cyber threats.
Without detection and protection measures, organizations would face substantial payments and reputational damage, including the necessity to inform customers about data breaches, potentially leading to loss of business.
We have seen a return on investment when using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, as it saves labor by reducing the need for staff to focus on it.
The biggest return on investment for me when using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is the time saving.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Many users find Microsoft Defender for Endpoint reliable, but support experiences vary, with premium support offering quicker assistance.
Sentiment score
5.5
Symantec Endpoint Security's technical support is mixed, with responsive service overall but variations in speed and costlier advanced support.
The level-one support seems disconnected from subject matter experts.
I rate Microsoft support 10 out of 10.
Due to our size, we don't have access to direct technical support, but the knowledge base, Microsoft Learn, and the articles available are really good.
The support site for accessing new software is complicated, despite necessary multi-factor authentication.
I rate the technical support from Symantec as eight out of ten because they have comprehensive and clear documentation that can be easily found on search engines if someone knows how to search.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is scalable and integrates well with Microsoft’s ecosystem, despite needing improvements for handling massive data.
Sentiment score
8.0
Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise scales well for all business sizes, though costly and affected by network configuration challenges.
We managed to scale it out in a short amount of time, with two months of planning and three months of implementation on 10,000 computers.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is scalable enough to handle various devices across environments, whether they are laptops, Android devices, or operating in hybrid environments.
Compatibility is its main feature.
Regarding scalability, since Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise is a cloud solution, it is very scalable.
In my experience supporting approximately 10 different companies with up to 100 workstations each, scalability has never been a concern with Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is praised for its reliability and stability, with minor concerns about resource intensity and performance.
Sentiment score
8.9
Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise is praised for reliability but has occasional issues, mainly with Windows updates and scans.
I haven't seen any outages with Microsoft.
I rate Defender 10 out of 10 for stability.
Defender for Endpoint is extremely stable.
I rate the stability of Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise as excellent, giving it a nine for all the new possibilities and features that can be implemented.
The solution is exceptionally stable.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint faces interface complexity, slow detection, high CPU usage, integration issues, and seeks improvements in multiple areas.
Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise needs user-friendliness upgrades, better Mac compatibility, and improved pricing, threat notifications, and support services.
Repeated interactions are necessary due to Level One's lack of tools and knowledge, hindering efficient problem-solving and negatively impacting our experience with Microsoft support.
In contrast, competing products offer reduced pricing for long-term commitments, which makes it difficult for us in that environment.
We use Microsoft partners to help govern the platform, and as part of an alliance, we want to gather data from each tenant and combine them for a complete view.
Many customers are seeking modern protection features such as MDR (managed detection and response).
The centralized management console is intuitive, but the threat intelligence aspect could be more incorporated and developed, especially with AI integration and news directly in the platform.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers flexible pricing, making it competitive and cost-effective compared to standalone security products.
Symantec's pricing is seen as reasonable by some but expensive by others, particularly when upgrading to EDR.
Given our extensive Microsoft licensing, transitioning to Defender for Endpoint did not affect licensing costs.
It costs $15 per VM for the P2 plan, which is seen as affordable for customers.
The pricing, setup, and licensing were very easy and simple.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint excels with seamless integration, advanced threat intelligence, AI-driven protection, and continuous cloud-based security management.
Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise offers proactive threat protection, ease of use, scalability, and cost-effective basic security with frequent updates.
Defender for Endpoint's coverage across different platforms in our environment is pretty good. We have devices running Linux, Mac OS, Windows, iOS, and Android. It covers all of them.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides a unified management interface allowing customers to manage their on-premises and hybrid infrastructures from a single pane.
One of the best features of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is its database for identifying zero-day attacks or malware attacks.
What I appreciate the most about Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise is the integration with the workstations and the around-the-clock monitoring.
Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise is highly compatible and rarely causes disruptions in production.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
198
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (3rd), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
Symantec Endpoint Security ...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
22nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
32
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 9.9%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint9.9%
Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise0.5%
Other89.6%
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

NaySan @ Suraj Verma - PeerSpot reviewer
Has effectively blocked sophisticated attacks and malicious activities while providing excellent support
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is very good, but one suggestion is that in some products, we may need to configure security-related settings, whereas Microsoft Defender for Endpoint works completely differently, providing automatic recommendations and actions that we may need to perform ourselves. Regarding the pricing of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, during the last three years, we set up the product and sold it, but we faced difficulties because Microsoft pricing is always the same. For example, whether I purchase Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for one year or for the next three years, the pricing remains constant with no discounts available. In contrast, competing products offer reduced pricing for long-term commitments, which makes it difficult for us in that environment. Microsoft should consider this option to remain competitive, but otherwise, everything else is fine.
Intekhab Ahmad. - PeerSpot reviewer
A product that offers good threat detection capabilities to its users
The product has improved my company through its area of threat detection. The other applications use the same engine as Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise. Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise does not have a set of 100 percent useful things in the tool. Sometimes, a user may know that a file system does not contain any viruses, but it is labeled as a virus by Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise, making it an issue for users. The aforementioned problem prompts me to contact the product support team via email so that my company can get some help dealing with such problems. I would say that my experience with deploying the product across multiple devices in my company is not tough and can be easy, especially if you have domain environments. The feature of the product that is the most effective for threat prevention stems from the fact that the tool provides updates. The main problem with the solution is that a user has to do the updates manually, so at times, the product is not useful, especially when the machine has to be shut down for updates when new viruses are introduced on the market. I rate the solution's ease of use and administration a seven and a half out of ten. I suggest that those who plan to buy the solution periodically update the product, especially in the area of the virus engine. I rate the tool an eight out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business79
Midsize Enterprise34
Large Enterprise87
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

How is Cortex XDR compared with Microsoft Defender?
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface, applies behavioral-based endpoint protection and response, and includes risk-ba...
Which offers better endpoint security - Symantec or Microsoft Defender?
We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior solution. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security s...
How does Microsoft Defender for Endpoint compare with Crowdstrike Falcon?
The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never push your machine hardware to "test", you don't have the usual "scan now" feature ...
What do you like most about Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise?
The tool is a secure and stable workstation for checking antivirus. The alerting feature helps us see alerts and is easy to control. The main benefit we derive from using Symantec Endpoint Security...
What needs improvement with Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise?
I have not experienced integrated threat intelligence benefits with Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise. Many customers are seeking modern protection features such as MDR (managed detection and r...
What is your primary use case for Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise?
The primary use case for Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise for my clients is basic antivirus protection.
 

Also Known As

Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. Symantec Endpoint Security Enterprise and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.