Microsoft Defender for Identity vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management comparison

Microsoft Defender for Identity and Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management are both solutions in the Microsoft Security Suite category. Microsoft Defender for Identity is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.8, while Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management is ranked #29 with an average rating of 7.5. Microsoft Defender for Identity holds a 6.5% mindshare in Microsoft Security Suite, compared to Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Microsoft Defender for Identity users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 75% of Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Defender for Iden...

Read 26 Microsoft Defender for Identity reviews

7,070 Views
4,454 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Purview Insider R...

Read 4 Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management reviews

1,673 Views
468 Comparison Views

75% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender for Iden...

Microsoft Purview Insider R...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Defender for Identity and Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Microsoft Security Suite solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

September 2025

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Helped 872,706 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 Iden...

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

3rd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (5th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (3rd)

Microsoft Purview Insider R...

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

29th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Insider Risk Management (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Identity is 6.5%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management is 1.9%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Identity	6.5%
Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management	1.9%
Other	91.6%

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

Peter Arabomen

Security Engineer at Fidelity Bank Plc

Has supported hybrid identity management while integrating well with cloud directory services

The only challenge I have with Microsoft Defender for Identity is the latency. I may not put that entirely on Microsoft, because latency could be network related. At times when trying to authenticate, the prompt is delayed. We tried implementing passwordless authentication, especially for on-premises workloads, but we haven't been able to achieve that. Passwordless authentication is part of the identity functionalities, particularly when it comes to enforcing passwordless for on-premises workloads. In terms of improvements, you can't create OUs on Azure AD. Regarding giving users privileges on what they can do across different OUs, I haven't seen that feature on Microsoft Defender for Identity. Microsoft Defender for Identity needs to be able to plug into third-party applications that are not Microsoft. For instance, with a human resource application used to manage users and leave requests, when staff leaves the organization, they are first exited from that application before AD. Integration between Azure AD and third-party applications would allow automatic syncing when removing staff. The initial setup of Microsoft Defender for Identity is not hard. However, setup is one thing, and getting value from the application end-to-end is another. It can be set up and running from the first day but not functioning optimally. Initially, when we did the setup, it wasn't optimal. Over time, with continuous improvement, which we're still doing, we've gotten to a comfortable level, but there's still room for improvement.

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Karthik Ekambaram

Director at Scybers

Have consistently built secure internal environments while implementing compliance tools for diverse customer needs

The customizable alerts system needs improvement. The detection rules are not extensive enough. There should be more possibilities for creating alerts based on additional criteria. While rules can be customized, the available criteria for creating detection rules should be expanded. Microsoft's pricing is very expensive. The Business Premium offering should be extended to enterprise customers, as it's currently limited to 300 users. There should be a tier below E5 that includes Microsoft Purview and other features. Currently, E5 licensing costs approximately 6,000 INR per user per month including taxes. Competitive solutions offer similar functionality at about 50% of Microsoft's cost. Email DLP is included in Business Premium or P1 licenses, while P2 licenses cover endpoint DLP and additional channels. Microsoft should introduce an intermediate tier below E5 that covers all P1 licenses, as customers often need coverage across the entire M365 suite.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution has advanced a lot over the last few years."

"Microsoft Defender for Identity provides excellent visibility into threats by leveraging real-time analytics and data intelligence."

"The most valuable feature is its hybrid artificial intelligence, which gathers forensic data to track and counteract security threats, much like the CSI series in effect."

"It is easy to set up. Based on the number of devices you would like to set up, you can use scripts, Group Policy, etc. It takes five minutes to set up."

"One of our users had the same password for every personal and company account. That was a problem because she started receiving phishing emails that could compromise all of her accounts. Defender told us that the user was not changing their password."

"It automates routine testing and helps automate the finding of high-value alerts."

"I would rate Microsoft Defender for Identity at nine out of ten."

"The most valuable feature is its hybrid artificial intelligence, which gathers forensic data to track and counteract security threats, much like the CSI series in effect."

More Microsoft Defender for Identity pros

"The best thing about Purview is that it's easy to integrate with our day-to-day environment. We have Active Directory, and Word and Excel. Using a third-party vendor and trying to integrate with our existing environment would be much more challenging."

"Insider Risk Management's graphing is highly specific and useful. You can see the last six months of data for the Microsoft tenant. You can easily find what you need. For example, you can filter for alerts about devices, emails, etc."

"Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management was helpful in performing investigations after alerts were received."

"The scoring mechanism is exceptional because it eliminates the need to reinvent criteria for identifying risks, misconfigurations, or vulnerabilities."

Cons

"There is no option to remedy an issue directly from the console. If we see an alert, we can't fix it from the console. Instead, we must depend on other Microsoft products, such as MDE. That is a significant drawback. It simply works as a scanner, which can sometimes put enough load on the sensors. Immediate actions should be possible from the dashboard because. It can prevent issues from spreading further."

"Defender for Identity gives us visibility, but we often get false positives from Azure that take us down the garden path. We go through 30 incidents each day and most of those are false positives or benign positive alerts. Occasionally, we get true positive alerts."

"Microsoft should look at what competing vendors like CrowdStrike and Broadcom are doing and incorporate those features into Sentinel and Defender. At the same time, I think the intelligence inside the product is improving fast. They should incorporate more zero-trust and hybrid trust approaches. They need to build up threat intelligence based on threats and methods used in attacks on other companies."

"We observe a lot of false positives. Sometimes, when we go for a coffee break, we lock our screens. Locking the screen has a separate Windows event ID and sometimes I see it is detected as a failed login."

"The solution could be better at using group-managed access and they could replace it with broad-based access controls."

"I would like to be able to do remediation from the platform because it is just a scanner right now. If you onboard a device, it shows you what is happening, but you can't use it to fix things. You need to go into the system to fix it instead."

"And when you are working in a priority IP address, Identity is not able to know that those IPs are from the company. It sees that the IPs are from Taiwan or from Hong Kong or from India, even though they are internal IPs, resulting in a lot of false positives."

"The solution should provide more detailed data regarding anomaly detections."

More Microsoft Defender for Identity cons

"The user interface also isn't user-friendly. When we introduce Insider Risk Management to our clients, they often find it difficult to understand. There is too much information, and the UI is not scalable. Also, entry-level IT technicians are not always interested in learning something new. It should be clearer and easier to understand."

"For certain things, you need to install an agent. I understand it's for integrity, but if there could be a clientless solution for certain aspects, it would make life easier."

"The reporting capabilities sometimes leave a little to be desired. It could be improved in terms of producing reports to provide information to the C-suite or others."

"Microsoft's pricing is very expensive. The Business Premium offering should be extended to enterprise customers, as it's currently limited to 300 users."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Defender for Identity is a little more expensive than other Microsoft products. Identity and Microsoft Defender for Cloud are both a bit costly."

"Microsoft Defender for Identity comes as part of the Microsoft E5 licensing stack."

"It is very affordable considering that other SIEM solutions are much more expensive and have many more licensing restrictions and fees."

"You won't be able to change your tenants from where you deploy them. For example, if you select Canada, they will charge you based on Canadian pricing. If you are also in London, when you deploy in Canada, the pound is higher than Canadian dollars, but your platform resources are billable in Canadian dollars. Using your pounds to pay for any of these things will be cheaper. Or, if you deploy in London, they will charge you based on your local currency."

"The product is costly, and we had multiple discussions with accounting to receive a discounted rate. However, on the open market, the tool is expensive."

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

37%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	14

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Identity?

Microsoft Defender for Identity provides excellent visibility into threats by leveraging real-time analytics and data intelligence.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Identity?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Identity?

I've used Microsoft Defender for Identity primarily for provisioning users on Azure AD and Microsoft authentication. For hybrid scenarios, I integrate on-premises AD to Azure AD. We use AD Connect ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?

We are a cybersecurity consulting and implementation organization. We implement solutions to our customers for Microsoft Intune, Google Workspace, and other platforms. We also use Microsoft Intune ...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?

I would recommend Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management to others. I would rate the overall solution as a nine.

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Entra ID Protection vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 16% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 13% of the time

BloodHound Enterprise vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Identity Competitors

Splunk User Behavior Analytics vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

Compared 39% of the time

Netskope Advanced Analytics vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

Compared 20% of the time

Exabeam vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

Compared 5% of the time

IBM Security QRadar vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

Compared 4% of the time

Proofpoint Insider Threat Management vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Identity

October 2025

Download Microsoft Defender for Identity product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

October 2025

Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management report

Download Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management product report

Also Known As

Azure Advanced Threat Protection, Azure ATP, MS Defender for Identity

Microsoft Insider Risk Management

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Identity integrates with Microsoft tools to monitor user activity, providing advanced threat detection and analysis using AI. It enhances proactive threat response and security visibility, making it essential for securing on-premises and cloud environments like Active Directory.

Microsoft Defender for Identity offers comprehensive monitoring and AI-driven user behavior analysis. It detects threats through real-time alerts and identifies lateral movements and entity tagging, ensuring robust security management. With excellent visibility via its dashboard, it supports customized detection rules and seamlessly integrates with SIEM platforms. While SecureScore and SecureScan provide robust environment security, there is room for improvement in cloud security, on-premises application integration, and remediation capabilities. Azure integration is limited, and the administrative interface could be more user-friendly. Users experience frequent false positives, affecting threat detection efficiency.

What key features stand out in Microsoft Defender for Identity?

Integration with Microsoft Tools: Ensures comprehensive protection across environments.
AI-driven Behavior Analysis: Uses artificial intelligence to analyze user actions.
Real-time Threat Detection: Provides immediate alerts to potential threats.
Lateral Movement Identification: Detects unusual lateral access among users.
Dashboards with Visibility: Offers insights into security issues with customization options.
SIEM Integration: Works seamlessly with security information and event management systems.

What benefits should users look for when reviewing Microsoft Defender for Identity?

Enhanced Threat Prioritization: Helps in effective identification and tackling of threats.
Improved Proactive Responses: Facilitates a prompt and efficient response mechanism.
Security Across Environments: Protects both on-premises and cloud-based infrastructures.
Optimized Conditional Access: Manages policies to enhance security protocol efficacy.

In specific industries such as education and finance, Microsoft Defender for Identity is crucial for securing on-premises Active Directory and Azure Active Directory environments. It effectively detects suspicious activities and manages conditional access policies, offering user and entity behavior analytics, endpoint detection and response capabilities. This helps prevent unauthorized access and strengthens overall security, making it an invaluable asset for organizations aiming to safeguard their digital infrastructure.

Microsoft

Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management helps organizations identify and manage potential internal threats by utilizing advanced analytics and insights to minimize risk.

With a focus on addressing internal threats, Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management employs sophisticated analytics to proactively detect and manage risks. It offers context-rich insights to protect data, helping businesses maintain compliance and safeguard their information. By implementing mechanisms to predict potential risks, it aids in preventing data loss and ensures that sensitive information remains secure.

What are the most important features of Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?

Advanced Analytics: Provides in-depth analysis to detect suspicious activities within the organization.
Data Protection: Ensures sensitive data security with robust preventive measures.
Risk Insights: Delivers actionable insights to help mitigate potential insider threats.
Compliance Support: Assists organizations in maintaining compliance with industry regulations.

What benefits should businesses expect from Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?

Efficient Risk Mitigation: Streamlines identifying and addressing insider threats, saving time and resources.
Enhanced Data Security: Protects sensitive data, reducing the likelihood of data breaches.
Better Decision Making: Offers insights that help organizations make informed decisions about security protocols.

In industries like finance and healthcare, where data sensitivity is critical, adopting Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management can be crucial. For example, financial institutions utilize this tool to detect and mitigate fraudulent activities, while healthcare providers leverage its capabilities to protect patient data, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations. Its implementation varies across industries but consistently focuses on securing valuable information and reducing risk exposure.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Identity is trusted by companies such as St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and more.

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

September 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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