No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Microsoft Entra Workload ID 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 Offi...
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (1st), Email Security (2nd), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
Microsoft Entra Workload ID
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
31st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
4.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (21st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 3.7%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra Workload ID is 0.6%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Office 3653.7%
Microsoft Entra Workload ID0.6%
Other95.7%
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

Emeka Ndulu - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Improves threat visibility and response while reducing manual tasks and training users against phishing
I appreciate the attack simulation feature whereby I get to train users and educate them on how to identify phishing emails and spam emails, as well as the anti-spam protection. It gives me visibility into my threat environment and threat landscape to ensure that I am one step ahead of any likelihood of threats within my environment. I get to detect it and respond, so the threat intelligence is very effective. Microsoft security solutions save my time. It saves money because once I protect my environment, I don't lose money. It has decreased my detection time and my time to respond.
reviewer2772159 - PeerSpot reviewer
Postdoctoral Researcher at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Have experienced ongoing challenges integrating with existing workflows despite strong foundational capabilities
I don't know how I would assess the impact of AI-powered threat detection for us. It has helped with security operations in general; I'm being very cagey here, Damian. You can understand why. Where I work, there is a directory services team. There is a security team. The security team may have several different departments in there. I think they are behind the times. That's about as far as what I would say. We may have the modern firewalls and detections and all the rest of it, but I think from a modern way of working, which the identity is a user which is any device, any place, anywhere, from anything, okay, securely, they're not quite up with that concept, in my opinion. The review rating is 8.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Defender enables us to secure all 365-related activity from a single place. It gives us visibility into everything happening in Outlook, protecting us against phishing and other email-based threats. Defender helps us detect any suspicious behaviors."
"The email protection is excellent, especially in terms of anti-phishing policies."
"The DLP feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is valuable, and we also use the DLP feature for email real-time detection."
"There are several features that I consider valuable."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is its spam filter."
"The feature of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 that I like the most is probably the email features specifically, because those are the ones that a typical end user will accidentally click on a link not knowing what it is, and it'll catch it, and then it'll feed it over to Defender and stop the attack from happening before it actually can."
"The insights provided with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 are helpful because it comes with the E5 license, and by default, we can use a lot of capabilities."
"Defender has reduced the time our security team spends on tasks by 10 to 15 percent, allowing us to focus on other areas."
"We have various options available with Microsoft Entra, such as B2B cross-tenant guest member accesses, and we can invite users and perform activities from that area, while we are also dealing with Azure IaaS, infrastructure as a service, which has different IAM platforms existing with resources or subscriptions."
"I would evaluate the customer service or technical support with Microsoft for Entra products as well; we are a strategic partner, so we're one of 500 companies that can talk to them directly."
"I would evaluate the customer service or technical support with Microsoft for Entra products as well; we are a strategic partner, so we're one of 500 companies that can talk to them directly."
"I would evaluate the customer service or technical support with Microsoft for Entra products as well; we are a strategic partner, so we're one of 500 companies that can talk to them directly."
"The product enables organizations to synchronize users to Microsoft 365 products."
"I would evaluate the customer service or technical support with Microsoft for Entra products as well; we are a strategic partner, so we're one of 500 companies that can talk to them directly."
"I would evaluate the customer service or technical support with Microsoft for Entra products as well; we are a strategic partner, so we're one of 500 companies that can talk to them directly."
 

Cons

"In some situations, it has not been able to pick impersonated emails having no attachments. Technical support definitely has a scope for improvement."
"In the areas of improvement for Microsoft Defender for Office 365, the console is the biggest challenge for me."
"I think Microsoft Defender for Office 365 can be improved by creating more educational pieces about not just looking for malware."
"I assess the stability and reliability of the solution as seven out of ten."
"Sometimes I have to recategorize things when it takes the wrong step and I do not want it to classify something as suspicious."
"Its price should be improved. Its cost is a major concern for us."
"It is not up to the mark in comparison with Wiz or Palo Alto."
"I am generally satisfied with how it currently is. If I could improve anything, I would reduce the cost."
"Integration with existing IAM solutions has not helped our identity management processes; it's all of the things that are in front of Directory and Entra, such as SalePoint and other toolsets, give us one of the worst identity experiences I think I've ever come across, which is why I'm trying to change it."
"In my opinion, Microsoft Entra Workload ID can be improved in several ways."
"Integration with other products must be made easier."
"Integration with existing IAM solutions has not helped our identity management processes; it's all of the things that are in front of Directory and Entra, such as SalePoint and other toolsets, give us one of the worst identity experiences I think I've ever come across, which is why I'm trying to change it."
"Integration with existing IAM solutions has not helped our identity management processes; it's all of the things that are in front of Directory and Entra, such as SalePoint and other toolsets, give us one of the worst identity experiences I think I've ever come across, which is why I'm trying to change it."
"Integration with existing IAM solutions has not helped our identity management processes; it's all of the things that are in front of Directory and Entra, such as SalePoint and other toolsets, give us one of the worst identity experiences I think I've ever come across, which is why I'm trying to change it."
"Integration with existing IAM solutions has not helped our identity management processes; it's all of the things that are in front of Directory and Entra, such as SalePoint and other toolsets, give us one of the worst identity experiences I think I've ever come across, which is why I'm trying to change it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comes with Microsoft Windows. It is free with the operating system."
"The product is very expensive."
"Microsoft Defender is expensive. I typically recommend it only if clients have the budget. Otherwise, I would suggest an alternative."
"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."
"It is much more expensive than using another solution because we have had to include some options and upgrade our license."
"The solution could be better by simplifying the business model of their licensing. It was hard to figure out how to get the licensing done for the environment, initially."
"It's a user-base subscription."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Microsoft Security Suite solutions are best for your needs.
885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise31
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
The inbuilt analysis of false positives can be faster. It's not slow, but it can be faster.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
My use case for Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is for email protection, safe links, protection of links, documents, protecting my documents, and protecting attachments. I also use it to conduct ...
What do you like most about Microsoft Entra Workload ID?
The product enables organizations to synchronize users to Microsoft 365 products.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Entra Workload ID?
In my opinion, Microsoft Entra Workload ID can be improved in several ways.Particularly about Microsoft Entra Workload ID, I think they still could improve categorization, which still has some room...
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs. Microsoft Entra Workload ID and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
885,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.