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Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Red Canary comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 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
7.4
Organizations saw increased productivity, cost savings, and enhanced security with Microsoft Defender for Office 365's advanced features.
Sentiment score
8.5
Red Canary improved security ROI by efficiently detecting threats, reducing incident response times, and offering detailed alerts and cost savings.
It has also decreased our time to detection and response by about 15 to 20 percent.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 support is praised for responsiveness but has inconsistencies, especially in first-level assistance.
Sentiment score
8.6
Red Canary offers exceptional, proactive customer support with regular check-ins and emergency on-call services, enhancing user satisfaction.
Any issues are addressed quickly by Microsoft's support.
Customer service and support have been fantastic.
In emergencies, there is an on-call person available to resolve issues immediately.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scales effectively, seamlessly expanding capacity with minimal maintenance, suitable for large and growing organizations.
Sentiment score
6.7
Red Canary excels in scalability, seamlessly managing large data sets, integrating with systems, and maintaining performance in growing operations.
We have never faced scalability problems, and Microsoft manages it effectively.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is reliable, with 99.9% availability and efficient bug fixes, offering seamless performance and stability.
Sentiment score
8.4
Users praise Red Canary for its stability and smooth, reliable performance, even within a short two-month usage period.
The solution is stable, as we have been using it for the past two years.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 needs enhanced threat detection, integration, support, usability, documentation, and transparent pricing to address customer concerns.
Red Canary users seek on-premise versions, language support, firewall improvements, summary features, and pricing adjustments for smaller institutions.
Microsoft could improve by offering recommendations for domain spoofing attacks, especially scenarios where DNS records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are not properly published.
The main area for improvement is simplifying the implementation and rollout process.
I would reduce the cost.
Red Canary's pricing spectrum may not be ideal for smaller financial institutions.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender for Office 365, often pricey for SMEs, offers extensive security features with complex user-based licensing.
Enterprise users find Red Canary's pricing fair at $100 per device annually, though some prefer lower costs.
Money-wise, it is a part of the Office 365 suite, making it slightly more expensive compared to Trend Micro.
Microsoft is quite affordable with a lot of features available for any size organization.
The services are higher priced.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers integrated protection with features like anti-malware and threat detection, enhancing security through AI.
Red Canary integrates with EDR software for real-time threat detection, automation, and compliance support in banking and security.
It ranks the threats and allows us to prioritize those hitting us the hardest, such as email threats.
It provides end-to-end visibility on email threats such as phishing, extending beyond Exchange Online Protection.
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is now part of a centralized tenant for my entire group.
Red Canary detects threats and attack patterns, allowing us to assess any significant damage caused to the banking environment, particularly if protected data has been damaged or corrupted.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (11th)
Red Canary
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
24th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (40th), Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (13th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 8.8%, down from 14.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Canary is 0.5%. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Sagar Shekhar - PeerSpot reviewer
An open-source tool that offers great automation capabilities
Red Canary MDR generates a lot of output, so it would be good if, in the end, it generates a summary of all the previous attacks and what was the outcome of a single attack, especially so that it becomes easy for the user to see the summary and analyze the whole thing. In general, the solution currently fails to provide a summary to its users.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Educational Organization
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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?
Money-wise, it is a part of the Office 365 ( /products/office-365-reviews ) suite, making it slightly more expensive compared to Trend Micro. Although Defender is free, you have to pay separately f...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
The main area for improvement is simplifying the implementation and rollout process. There are many conditions to be met, making it challenging to ensure every system is protected. Troubleshooting ...
What do you like most about Red Canary MDR?
The most valuable feature of the solution is its automation part.
What needs improvement with Red Canary MDR?
Red Canary's pricing spectrum may not be ideal for smaller financial institutions.
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
Red Canary Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
DuPont, Quanta Services, Microchip Technology, Hopkins Public Schools, Henny Penny, Schumacher Homes
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs. Red Canary and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.