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Microsoft Defender for IoT vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 IoT
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
27th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
IoT Security (5th), Operational Technology (OT) Security (6th)
Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (1st), Email Security (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for IoT is 0.6%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 3.3%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Office 3653.3%
Microsoft Defender for IoT0.6%
Other96.1%
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

William Tuleja - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration with existing tools boosts management efficiency
The only improvement I see is that some detection explanations are vaguely provided by Microsoft, resulting in generic IoT detections that alert me to an issue yet don't specify what's wrong. Often, it just links back to a generic KB article without additional information. When it happens, it requires extra detective work. This issue doesn't occur often but can be annoying.
Tolu Omolaja - PeerSpot reviewer
Great URL scanning and attachment scanning, but I would like more proactive threat analysis
The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning. URL scanning involves an automatic scan of links and emails. When a user clicks on a link within an email, the system promptly checks the link's safety. If the link is deemed safe, access is granted automatically. However, if it is flagged as unsafe, we receive feedback and notification to caution us about the potentially harmful link. At this point, we are presented with the option to proceed or return. I have personally witnessed the system identify a few unsafe links, making this the primary advantage of using the solution. The second crucial aspect is the scanning of attachments. When an email containing an attachment arrives, we receive a notification of the new email, along with information that the attachment is being scanned for threats. This additional layer of security provides peace of mind for our organization. While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers numerous features, these two stand out as particularly impressive and valuable to us.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Mainly, it is manageable and integrates with other Microsoft products, which is crucial for me."
"I believe it is best suited for cloud services and is unmatched by other cloud security solutions."
"It is manageable and integrates with other Microsoft products, which is crucial for me."
"I find Microsoft Defender very effective in vulnerability management and it provides good attack reduction, making it a next-generation protection solution."
"The graphics and analysis in Microsoft Defender for IoT are very representative."
"As a cybersecurity consultant, the best part of Microsoft Defender for IoT is the capability to integrate with other tools such as Microsoft Sentinel and receive real-time alerts from the product."
"Some advantages of Microsoft Defender for IoT are that it's easy to install on any OS, and you can create any custom use cases easily."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365's most valuable feature is its performance."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is the ease of use."
"The most valuable aspect of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is its ability to protect us from malware."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 facilitates efficient management and updates through the cloud. We do not have to worry about incompatibilities. It just works."
"The DLP feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is valuable, and we also use the DLP feature for email real-time detection."
"It also gives the vulnerability status according to the versions you have selected. Let's say you have Google Chrome. It mentions the versions it has, and it updates. Within two hours of an update, it is reflected in the dashboard. That's really nice to have."
"I would say that 90% of the spam and phishing attack emails get blocked right off the bat."
"The product's scalability is good."
 

Cons

"The only improvement I see is that some detection explanations are vaguely provided by Microsoft, resulting in generic IoT detections that alert me to an issue yet don't specify what's wrong."
"The documentation for Microsoft Defender for IoT is lacking. There are no clear steps or guidance, and updates are frequent, which adds to the confusion."
"The only improvement I see is that some detection explanations are vaguely provided by Microsoft, resulting in generic IoT detections that alert me to an issue yet don't specify what's wrong."
"The primary area that needs improvement is compatibility with the latest IoT technologies."
"There are a few limitations with Microsoft Defender for IoT. We raised concerns with the product team because they don't capture all the information regarding command execution or processes executed on certain endpoints."
"Microsoft Defender for IoT is not scalable. If you want to monitor another industrial network, you need an additional server, making it less scalable."
"Customer service and support from Microsoft are costly. The execution by engineers is expensive, and the service is neither free nor toll-free, making it less accessible for customers."
"Too many false positives and lacks an accurate capability to detect malicious SharePoint sites."
"There's room for improvement regarding the time frame for retrieving emails."
"We need to be able to whitelist data at the backend."
"Microsoft should provide more documentation for users so they can self-educate. I would like to see more documentation for advanced security features."
"This product's effectiveness could be improved, in terms of detecting unwanted spam or even malware between the emails, compared to other products."
"There needs to be an improvement in integrating the product to work across multiple operating systems, and to have better support for non-Microsoft file types."
"You should be able to deploy Defender for every subscription without the need to add servers."
"Microsoft could improve by offering recommendations for domain spoofing attacks, especially scenarios where DNS records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are not properly published."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"The product is expensive."
"From the pricing point of view, like any other product in the market, there is scope for negotiation."
"I know that the product is incredibly expensive."
"The pricing has become expensive."
"It is much more expensive than using another solution because we have had to include some options and upgrade our license."
"The pricing is normal. Considering its popularity, it's not overpriced."
"The product is very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Energy/Utilities Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for IoT?
I don't think I have any recommendation on improvements for Microsoft Defender for IoT because we don't use it too extensively. There are a few limitations with Microsoft Defender for IoT. We raise...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for IoT?
Clients mainly use Microsoft Defender for IoT for unfamiliar sign-in attempts and Microsoft Defender EDRs. We are using use cases for unfamiliar sign-in and malicious activity, such as user sign-in...
What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the indi...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Microsoft is quite affordable with a lot of features available for any size organization.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
I think that Microsoft Defender for Office 365 could be improved if it could use VirusTotal to compare the programs or anything that I download. VirusTotal helps to identify viruses, malware, troja...
 

Also Known As

Azure Defender for IoT
MS Defender for Office 365
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for IoT vs. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,513 professionals have used our research since 2012.