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Microsoft Defender for Identity vs Vectra AI comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 5, 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
6.7
Microsoft Defender for Identity improves incident management, reduces costs, enhances ROI, and saves time despite unclear financial benefits.
Sentiment score
7.1
Vectra AI enhances security efficiency, reduces threat response times, and offers cost-effective risk management compared to other solutions.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.4
Microsoft Defender for Identity's support receives mixed feedback, with users praising premium service but noting poorer lower-tier support responses.
Sentiment score
8.2
Vectra AI's customer service is responsive, knowledgeable, and generally praised, though complex issues might experience occasional delays.
The quality of support is very good, but troubleshooting can take time due to complex setups and the need to provide many logs.
Generally, the support is more effective than other providers like Oracle.
The support is quite reliable depending on the service engineer assigned.
When I create tickets, the response is fast, and issues are solved promptly.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.6
Microsoft Defender for Identity is scalable, efficiently supports large networks, and integrates well into Microsoft-centric environments with minimal effort.
Sentiment score
7.5
Vectra AI is scalable and flexible, easily integrating with cloud platforms, but may require planning and can be costly.
In a Microsoft-centric organization, especially with Azure infrastructure and Office 365, Microsoft Defender for Identity is scalable.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Defender for Identity is stable and reliable, though occasional sensor restarts occur, generally scoring 6-9/10 in stability.
Sentiment score
8.0
Vectra AI is praised for stability, requiring minimal maintenance, with efficient updates and quick issue resolution ensuring reliable performance.
Microsoft Defender for Identity is quite robust and built on Azure hyperscale infrastructure, with a 99% availability.
Having recently started using it, reliability is affirmed, but manual investigation is often performed to verify if alerts identified by auto-remediation are accurate.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender for Identity needs better integration, usability, and support, with improved detection and cost efficiency highlighted by users.
Vectra AI needs better visibility, integration, flexibility, reporting, and customization, plus improved UI, detection accuracy, and endpoint coverage.
If Microsoft could develop a feature that indicates when impossible travel is caused by VPN connections, it would prevent unnecessary password resets and session disruptions, especially for VIP users in organizations.
One improvement I would recommend is the integration of an admin application within Teams, allowing easy access to attack information on a mobile platform.
Reducing false positives is something we've been working on with Microsoft.
ExtraHop's ability to decrypt encrypted data is a feature that Vectra AI lacks.
You need to have a Linux server, and from the Linux server, you must perform AI tasks, and there is a lot to be handled in the back end.
Neither Vectra nor Darktrace have a function like a status health check on my log sources and traffic sources.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender for Identity is cost-effective within E5, offering flexibility compared to standalone purchases or E3 add-ons.
Vectra AI's pricing varies; it's seen as costly yet competitive for quality, with complex licensing needing simplification.
If they can reduce the costs, organizations will be happy, and it will compensate for using the Azure environment, which is more expensive on the infrastructure as a service side.
From an organization perspective, using E5 licenses is value for money, especially if Azure and Office 365 are already in use.
Ensuring a fair price according to market standards.
Vectra is cheaper in terms of pricing and features compared to Darktrace.
It is very acceptable when you compare it with Darktrace, for example.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Identity excels in integration, real-time detection, privilege management, AI analytics, and comprehensive security monitoring features.
Vectra AI excels in threat detection, risk management, and seamless integration, enhancing security operations with AI-driven insights.
We receive an advance report of risky users, allowing us to take preemptive action before an attack causes damage to organization details.
The integration into the Microsoft Defender ecosystem is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Identity.
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.
There are extensive out-of-box detection capabilities.
The main feature of Vectra AI that I find valuable is its focus on the user interface and its approximately two hundred algorithms based on artificial intelligence and machine learning.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Iden...
Ranking in Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
Vectra AI
Ranking in Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (4th), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (2nd), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (14th), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Identity is 17.1%, down from 26.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Vectra AI is 1.6%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR)
 

Featured Reviews

ROBERT-CHRISTIAN - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration within the ecosystem enhances collaboration and automates functionalities
The integration into the Microsoft Defender ecosystem is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Identity. It fits very nicely with all the other Defender tools, allowing for excellent collaboration among them. It also fits seamlessly into Microsoft Sentinel SIEM. Furthermore, Microsoft security solutions can save time as they allow the automation of numerous functionalities, and the reporting inside the Microsoft ecosystem is commendable.
Mohammad Alkurdi - PeerSpot reviewer
Innovative detection features enhance monitoring
The advantages of the integration are not entirely out-of-the-box. You have to do it manually. When I'm doing tier response, an out-of-the-box solution is not available. You need to have a Linux server, and from the Linux server, you must perform AI tasks, and there is a lot to be handled in the back end. This is a major consideration about them. The recall feature, if it can be placed in some areas instead of the cloud, and charged for, would be better. Recall the storage where you watch all the traffic, and you can recall it and try to analyze it in the back end. It’s cloud-based. If they offer it on-prem, it would be better. I think they have a solution, but I have never tested it, to be honest with you.
report
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859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Identity?
In Microsoft Defender for Identity, I would appreciate improvements in providing information on conditional access. They have added more control that can be put in place, which was not present year...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Identity?
The main use cases for Microsoft Defender for Identity involve working with security and signing risk aspects. I work with conditional access, though I have not implemented this task yet.
What is the biggest difference between Corelight and Vectra AI?
The two platforms take a fundamentally different approach to NDR. Corelight is limited to use cases that require the eventual forwarding of events and parsed data logs to a security team’s SIEM or ...
What do you like most about Vectra AI?
The solution is currently used as a central threat detection and response system.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Vectra AI?
It is very acceptable when you compare it with Darktrace, for example.
 

Also Known As

Azure Advanced Threat Protection, Azure ATP, MS Defender for Identity
Vectra Networks, Vectra AI NDR
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Identity is trusted by companies such as St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and more.
Tribune Media Group, Barry University, Aruba Networks, Good Technology, Riverbed, Santa Clara University, Securities Exchange, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Vectra AI and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,129 professionals have used our research since 2012.