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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs ZoneAlarm comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 2025

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 Anti-Malware Tools
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
197
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (4th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (4th)
ZoneAlarm
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Anti-Malware Tools category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 15.1%, down from 20.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ZoneAlarm is 2.5%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Anti-Malware Tools
 

Featured Reviews

John Rallo - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers excellent visibility into vulnerabilities and the attack surface itself
Attack surface reduction and limiting attack surface vectors are valuable features. It's helpful to isolate specific devices and get super granular with the features they offer. The visibility into the attack surface is good. It gets highly granular. I don't work on that side, but the people who do tell me they get more visibility.
Nagendra Nekkala - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly stable solution that protects computers from viruses, spyware, and hackers
ZoneAlarm doesn't require much maintenance. You only need to update the application when there are any latest updates. ZoneAlarm is deployed on-cloud in our organization. With an increase in the bring your own device concept, ZoneAlarm should be part of every device to help us make the operational work very easy. Overall, I rate ZoneAlarm a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find the vulnerability management section of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to be very useful for organizations."
"Auto-remediation: When the product sees malware, it resolves the issue immediately. This protects the machine."
"It's pretty easy to use, works with compliance issues, and is reliable."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easy to load and it runs quietly in the background, unlike other solutions."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a robust platform."
"I like Defender's reporting and logging features. The email alerts are also helpful. It's hard sometimes to sift through the email, especially if you're an IT firm managing hundreds if not thousands of endpoints, but we find email reporting useful. For example, last Tuesday, we learned of new vulnerabilities that were discovered as a result of the previous patches. The endpoints without those patches triggered alerts in Defender."
"The best feature is the fact that for certain mobiles you can control your corporate profiles versus your personal profiles. That is amazingly important. Apple just supported the separation of corporate and personal profiles, whereas Android has been doing that for quite some time... Because Android supports that, if an Android phone is lost or stolen, I can wipe out all the corporate-related information from that phone and not touch the personal side. I can separate the apps and I can separate the ability to cut and paste between apps."
"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."
"The solution really focused on giving more security than an antivirus."
"The product's most valuable feature is the detection engine due to its ability to identify threats."
"The phone access scan stands out as the most valuable feature for me."
"It is easy to use through interfaces and easy to configure each of the customizations we created based on the characteristics that we wanted."
"ZoneAlarm protects all computers from viruses, spyware, and hackers."
"It is quick and easy to configure."
"This antivirus is regularly updated, and the updates can be scheduled."
"It gives us security for the users' mobiles and ends up protecting us in a significant way."
 

Cons

"I would like to have a dashboard that shows an overview of the results for the enterprise."
"I would like to see better integration with their other security products to give better visibility from a higher level."
"The solution has minimal customization options, especially compared to Mandiant, so we want to see more scope for customization. A single portal for customization would also be a welcome addition."
"The time it takes to implement policies has room for improvement."
"The solution can be more user-friendly."
"If the solution could be integrated more with Defender for Cloud, to be more unified, that would help. It is good now, but even more integration could be done with Defender for Cloud. We see two different portals. If Defender for Endpoint could be ported to the CSPM, Defender for Cloud, that would make things even easier for us."
"The application control feature requires improvement."
"Defender's cloud integration could be improved."
"Perhaps the primary area for potential enhancement is to make it faster, ensuring a more seamless experience while maintaining robust security features."
"Currently, the client is only available for the Windows Operating System but it would be good if it were released for Mac OS as well."
"They should release a single update with all the necessary characteristics to avoid being in a cycle of consecutive updates."
"The solution's efficiency in threat containment and overall protection needs improvement."
"They need to update and improve the features available for Mac."
"We'd like better performance of the network equipment. There are high-speed environments where an immediate response is required."
"I would like it to be integrated with the Check Point centralization solution like Infinity Portal. It would be great to be able to manage it through the same website."
"The support is not always so effective."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is an expensive product and licensing for all Microsoft products is a big issue."
"It is free."
"Because Microsoft Defender comes as an add-on, it can be a bit expensive if you're trying to buying it separately. Another option is to upgrade, but the enterprise licenses for Microsoft can also be quite a bit pricey. Overall, the cost of Microsoft Defender compared to that of other endpoint detection solutions is slightly higher."
"Its price is fair. It has approximately the same price as the other products such as Kaspersky. It is much cheaper than Malwarebytes."
"The normal, standalone model, is not expensive, but the enterprise model that includes the bundle with email and some web protection, is a bit more expensive."
"There is an annual license required."
"For me, the pricing is very good, but for management it's very expensive. Other solutions are less expensive. But when I present all the information and all the reports they say, "Well, it's expensive, but the cost-benefit is very good.""
"We have a bundle where the price includes all Microsoft products."
"We have to pay a yearly licensing fee for ZoneAlarm, which is cheap."
"This is a freeware product and I recommend using it."
"The pricing is reasonable, with a yearly renewal license costing seventy dollars."
"We use the free version of the software, but it can be upgraded to the paid Extreme Security edition."
"I rate the product pricing a seven out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Hospitality Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
 

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 ZoneAlarm?
ZoneAlarm protects all computers from viruses, spyware, and hackers.
What needs improvement with ZoneAlarm?
As for improvements, ZoneAlarm enhances Check Point’s solution by having a very efficient engine. The engine checks all components of the device, such as the memory process, to detect and stop thre...
 

Also Known As

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

Interactive Demo

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Terma, Optix, Samsung Research Amercia, SF Police Credit Union, Independence Care System, Mattias Thomsen, Carmel Partners, Desert Research Institute, CRIF, FXCM Inc, US State Agency
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. ZoneAlarm and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.