Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection comparison

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection

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Helped 849,686 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 Endp...

Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

194

Ranking in other categories

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)

WithSecure Elements Endpoin...

Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

51st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 10.8%, down from 14.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection is 0.7%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)

Featured Reviews

AnuragSrivastava

Information Security Engineering Lead at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

Provides detailed visibility into threats but the ability to add exceptions needs improvement

One major item for improvement is the ability to add exceptions. We can add some exceptions, but not at the level we need to. The second major area for improvement involves enhanced capabilities for different operating systems or platforms. That is, even though we have coverage for different operating systems or platforms such as Linux, we don't get all of the controls and enhanced capabilities that are available with Windows devices. Reporting could also be improved because, at present, we get limited results at times. For example, in an environment with more than 100,000 devices, you may just get 10,000 results when you run a report.

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Muhammed Abdul Gafoor

Chief Information Officer at Future Generations Computers LLC

Has an easy initial setup process, but there could be more integration options

The initial setup is easy. I rate the process a seven or eight out of ten. We have LPR procurement. The deployment involves installing the product and adding a license. It takes three to four days to complete and requires a team of less than ten people to execute the process.

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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

"Auto-remediation: When the product sees malware, it resolves the issue immediately. This protects the machine."

"Its threat intelligence feature is beneficial. This solution smoothly integrates with SIEM."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is that it is embedded into the Windows system. Additionally, the performance is good and simple to maintain."

"Because it has been integrated with the OS, we get the entire software inventories, and we even get access to the registries. Those are the primary features."

"The patch management is very easy, as it can be done automatically or added to a schedule."

"It's stable."

"Defender is stable, I haven't had any problems with viruses when using it, and it's easy to update."

"The antivirus is the most valuable feature."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pros

"The most valuable features of WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection are the clear useful portal and overall company protection."

"The notifications and patch management features are valuable."

"WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection is good and easy to set up."

"There is a layer of security to prevent a malicious agent (malware) from interrupting or stopping services, deleting or modifying registry entries or even stopping the antivirus from acting, ensuring that there will be no interruption of protection."

"We use the product for detecting network vulnerabilities and for software update purposes."

"Both incoming and outgoing traffic is protected."

"F-Secure is useful for keeping user machines up-to-date by pushing out security and critical updates."

"On the cloud management page, the solution scales up very highly."

Cons

"I personally haven't experienced any pain points, but some of my coworkers feel that it isn't secure enough."

"I would like MDE to have the ability to isolate a certain amount of time on the timeline."

"My main issue with the tool is that there are too many menus. This causes a steep learning curve for those without training or unfamiliar with Defender for Endpoint. From an end-user perspective, the solution is there on the machine and does its job; it works seamlessly. However, as a security professional dealing with it behind the scenes, the learning curve can be steep, but not too steep. Still, it has taken some of my analysts up to a month to get familiar with the product."

"Where we stand right now, compared to other products that are there in the market, they still have to work on their threat intelligence and the overall maturity of detecting the malware."

"It can be more secure."

"I would like to see fewer pop messages and alerts."

"I would like to see online updates for patches for this solution. I would also like to see online information about what is trending in the market in terms of spams, viruses, or trojans. It takes some time to understand how this solution works. A few things are unclear at the beginning, such as whether it actually restricts the virus or spam at the initial stage, or when there is a security update, how will we come to know and how will it get synchronized. It would be really helpful if there is some kind of knowledge base in the form of video, audio, or document that can explain in a user-friendly way the setup, features, risks, and process to mitigate the risks. Currently, I have installed endpoint security for every individual system. I could not install it like other endpoint solutions where we have a server and a client. It would be really helpful if Microsoft Windows Defender has a server-client based model so that I can save some bandwidth when it downloads or uploads features. It will be helpful if we have a LAN-based or WAN-based controlling system."

"The interface could be improved."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint cons

"One problem is that the solution takes too much RAM from the client."

"The program and cloud service management is in English. It's not a problem for me, however, it might be for users who don't speak English or use it regularly."

"Resource consumption is suboptimal and could be improved."

"The solution could improve by having more real-time responses. For example, when a license gets removed from a computer it does not update the records of the change. Additionally, when I installed Microsoft Windows Defender I was not able to send licenses through email to our tenants. The integration with other solutions could improve."

"But the biggest one for us is patch management because this has been our top priority when looking at alternatives. Every solution needs to have patch management, if that's possible. It would cut costs on our side if that feature were included, so we don't need to pay for two separate pieces of software."

"There is no technical support available in the Middle East."

"There could be a dedicated security partner with essential knowledge."

"I would like the part of Hash Analysis by external sources to be improved."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"You need a license to use this solution."

"Licenses depend upon what you are looking for and what kind of security do you want to implement. There are costs in addition to the standard licensing fees. When we used to buy Symantec, we used to spend on 100 licenses. We used to spend approximately $2,700 for those many licenses, and they came in packs. To add one more license, I had to buy a pack with a minimum of 10 licenses. I had to spend on nine extra licenses because I can't get a single license, whereas when we go for Microsoft, we can get as many licenses as we want. If I have 100 users today, and tomorrow, I have 90 users, I can release my 10 licenses next month. With any other software vendor, you buy licenses for one year, and you have to stick with that. If today you have 100 licenses, and tomorrow, you have 50, you have already paid for one year's license. You can't go back and tell them that I don't require these 50 licenses because I have lost my 50 users, but with Microsoft Defender, licensing is on a monthly basis. It gives you both options. You can go yearly and save on it, or you can go monthly. You will, again, save on it. It is very fair everywhere."

"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is cost-effective because there's one unified license, and with this unified license, you get the capabilities for your cloud applications, servers, and endpoints as well. Therefore, it saves us a lot of money because the cost with other solutions is for just one piece of OS or maybe an urban environment. The licensing process is not complex as well."

"The solution is free with Windows."

"We have the E5 security license, and the solution comes with that."

"The solution comes free with Microsoft Windows 10."

"Its price at the moment is very good because you get a lot of value for your money, especially with the subscriptions. If you have the E1, E3, or E5 enterprise subscription, you pay per month per user, and you get almost an infinite number of solutions. If you compare the price to the number of solutions that you get, it is a very good deal."

"We have an enterprise agreement so from my perspective, this is a product that ships with Windows and it is not priced standalone."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pricing and cost advice

"The cost of the solution depends on the size of the company and where the licenses are being ordered from."

"If you purchase licenses in bulk the price of the licenses can decrease."

"The product has average pricing."

"We pay a yearly licensing fee of about €20 per computer."

"The price is comparable."

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849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

25%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

19%

Comms Service Provider

15%

Government

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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 F-Secure Protection Service for Business?

The notifications and patch management features are valuable.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for F-Secure Protection Service for Business?

The pricing is scalable. We can purchase more licenses if needed. It's a more cost-effective solution compared to Darktrace, which requires a special device purchase.

What needs improvement with F-Secure Protection Service for Business?

One problem is that the solution takes too much RAM from the client. It would help if it used less RAM in future versions.

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

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Product Reports

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Download Microsoft Defender for Endpoint product report

WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection

Download WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection product report

WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection report

Also Known As

Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus

F-Secure Elements Endpoint Protection, F-Secure Protection Service for Business

Interactive Demo

Microsoft

Demo not available

WithSecure

Overview

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.

Microsoft

WithSecure (formerly F-Secure) Elements Endpoint Protection is cloud-native, AI-powered endpoint protection that you can deploy instantly from your browser and manage easily from a single console. It integrates across all your endpoints, keeping your organization fenced in from attacks. WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection is a module of the Elements cyber security platform. The cloud-based platform provides effective protection against ransomware and advanced attacks. Elements brings together vulnerability management, automated patch management, dynamic threat intelligence and continuous behavioral analytics. Use individual solutions for specific needs or combine them all seamlessly for maximum defense.

WithSecure

Sample Customers

Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health

Information Not Available

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection