Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs Skybox Security Suite comparison

Microsoft and Tufin are both solutions in the Vulnerability Management category. Microsoft is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.9, while Tufin is ranked #39 with an average rating of 7.0. Microsoft holds a 2.1% mindshare in VM, compared to Tufin’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 81% of Tufin users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 14, 2025

Skybox Security Suite and Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management compete in the cybersecurity space, focusing on vulnerability management and network assurance. Skybox may have an advantage in large-scale deployments due to its comprehensive suite, but Microsoft Defender stands strong within Microsoft's integrated ecosystem.

Features: Skybox Security Suite offers robust firewall management, network modeling, and integration with tools like Nessus and Qualys. It provides an attack simulation feature, valuable for offline scenarios, and supports multiple vendors for data collection. Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management integrates seamlessly within Microsoft’s ecosystem, leveraging tools like Microsoft Security Scorecard and asset discovery. It benefits from threat intelligence integration and prioritizes vulnerabilities with detailed insights into remediation.

Room for Improvement: Skybox Security Suite could improve risk analytics and diversify dashboards. Integration with non-top-tier tools and broader firewall support is needed. Microsoft Defender is noted for expensive licensing and requires improvements in report customization and real-time updates, with specific attention to dashboard refresh rates.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Skybox Security Suite usually runs on-premises, though hybrid cloud options exist. Customer support experiences vary, often needing escalation. Microsoft Defender offers cloud-based deployment options, supported by a generally well-regarded tech support team integrated into Microsoft's environment, although some complexities in service tiers are noted.

Pricing and ROI: Skybox Security Suite is considered expensive, with high upfront and licensing costs favoring large organizations aiming for a beneficial ROI through detailed network understanding. Microsoft Defender is priced more competitively, often bundled with other Microsoft services, providing better value for firms within Microsoft's ecosystem. Its ROI is strengthened by integration capabilities, making it attractive for businesses already utilizing Microsoft products.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Skybox Security Suite Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Skybox Security Suite

December 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 881,114 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

Zafran Security

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Zafran Security is 1.1%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is 2.1%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Skybox Security Suite is 0.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Vulnerability Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management	2.1%
Zafran Security	1.1%
Skybox Security Suite	0.6%
Other	96.2%

Vulnerability Management

Featured Reviews

Reviewer6233

Works at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

Has become an indispensable tool in our cybersecurity arsenal

While Zafran Security is already a powerful tool, there are areas where it could be further improved to provide even greater value. One key area for enhancement is the searching capabilities within its vulnerabilities module. By incorporating the ability to create Boolean searches, users would gain the ability to apply more complex filters and customize their search criteria. This would greatly enhance the precision and efficiency with which security teams can identify and prioritize vulnerabilities. Having such tailored search capabilities would save time and resources by narrowing down vast lists of vulnerabilities to those that meet specific parameters relevant to our unique risk environment. Additionally, integrating more robust reporting and visualization tools would be advantageous. Enhanced dashboards that offer customizable visual representations of risk configurations and threat landscapes would facilitate better communication with stakeholders, making it easier to explain vulnerabilities and the rationale behind certain security measures. This would also aid in demonstrating the improvements and value derived from existing security investments to leadership and non-technical team members.

Read full review

Okhan BABUCCU

Microsoft Solutions Manager at Self-Employed

Ensures strong threat and vulnerability management with continuous risk assessment

The major priority is identity, which is crucial; we have lots of companies in manufacturing, energy, or various sectors, and it varies from one to another. I assess Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management as very effective in continuously assessing vulnerabilities without requiring scans. We use automatic investigation and remediation features, safe attachments, safe links, and real-time reports, which are also very effective. For Active Directory, Defender has threat intelligence, and we are using that. The risk-based prioritization within Vulnerability Management affects my ability to manage vulnerabilities, particularly in relation to the Zero Trust Model utilized by our customers. The end-users often do as they please in their systems.

Read full review

reviewer2697804

Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Tool identifies vulnerabilities and monitors connectivity effectively

Skybox Security Suite was a very good tool for my organization. I used it for monitoring connectivity between internal and external sites, monitoring our AWS instances, and ensuring workstations and Layer 3 devices met security specifications. The tool successfully helped in preventing vulnerabilities and breaches, but unfortunately, operations ceased before completing a migration to SaaS.

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

"Overall, we have seen about eighty-seven percent reduction of the number of vulnerabilities that require urgency to remediate, specifically the number of criticals."

"We saw benefits from Zafran Security almost immediately after deploying it."

"We are able to see the real risk of a vulnerability on our environment with our security tools."

"With Zafran Security, it integrates with your security controls, allowing you to take that risk score and reduce it based on the controls in place or increase the risk based on different factors, such as if the issue is internet reachable or if there's an exploit in the wild."

"Zafran is an excellent tool."

"Zafran has become an indispensable tool in our cybersecurity arsenal."

"Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management has streamlined our threat management processes and provided region-specific customization for our healthcare operations."

"The product’s most valuable features are compliance, recommendations, and inventories."

"The solution is highly scalable."

"One valuable feature is the Microsoft Security Scorecard."

"The integration with Sentinel has been one of the most valuable features for my organization."

"Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is versatile and assesses vulnerabilities, providing detailed information on CVEs, their categories, and exploit statuses."

"The product's stability is very high...The scalability of the product is amazing."

More Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management pros

"It's given us more visibility in terms of what are the kinds of configurations that are on these devices, and how many of these are stale rules. So it's helped greatly in terms of cleaning up of rules, for sure. And it has definitely given us a more secure way of backing up the configuration on these devices."

"Key features for us include the firewall change audit every week. Also, being able to track firewall ACL usage, so that we can produce semiannual reports on ACL usage and shadowed and redundant rules on the firewall."

"The firewall management feature in Skybox Security Suite was quite good and was what we primarily used."

"Security review is the most important feature, because it offers a single pane of glass to analyze multiple firewalls."

"The most valuable feature is firewall management."

"The most valuable feature is the compliance, whether it's access compliance or the configuration compliance, to make sure that all of our devices are configured as they're supposed to be, to limit access as much possible, to follow least-access guidelines."

"The ability to appropriately prioritize vulnerabilities inside the environment, and then to have visibility into the traffic and rule sets of an organization, are two of the top capabilities that I recommend. Skybox is the only one that does both of those in a single platform."

"The most valuable features are Firewall Assurance and Vulnerability Control."

More Skybox Security Suite pros

Cons

"The dashboarding and reporting functionality of Zafran Security is an area that definitely could use some improvements."

"I think the ability to have some enhanced reporting capabilities is something they can improve on, as they have good reports but we have asked for some specific reporting enhancements."

"Initially, we were somewhat concerned about the scalability of Zafran due to our large asset count and the substantial amount of information we needed to process."

"It is expensive."

"There should be risk scoring added to Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management; specifically, they call it quantification of the risk."

"Integration can be improved."

"The product is not stable; it is very resource-intensive, consuming a lot of memory and CPU, which makes it slow."

"The documentation from Microsoft needs significant improvement. The documents are disorganized, with one document linking to another, making the steps unclear and difficult to follow."

"The technical support takes too much time to resolve tickets."

"Probably my only criticism would be the cost. It is expensive."

"The setup phase of the product is not that easy and needs a person to have a certain level of expertise."

More Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management cons

"It's expensive."

"There is room for improvement in the product's user interface. It could be more user-friendly."

"The tool does not offer options for customization."

"The solution was quite technical. It would be easier to manage if the solution was more specific about aspects of the solution and provided more advisory around how to use it effectively. It would help users a lot if they were more clear about everything."

"Change Manager can be improved. If they can improve Change Manager so that whatever we want to do on a firewall, we are able to do it through Change Manager, it will be helpful for us. Whenever we are doing a change, it only does them at an L3 and L4 level, but all the firewalls are at the application layer. So, whatever needs to be done on the firewall, we aren't able to get it done through Change Manager. Currently, this functionality is not there because of which we are sometimes losing customers. I can create a role on Layer 3, Layer 4, but when it comes to the application layer, such as configuring and defining URLs or other things at the application level, it can't be done through Change Manager. Customers demand that they should be able to do everything through Change Manager. They don't want to do it through some other mechanism to accomplish their complete change management policy. They don't want to use a firewall manager because sometimes, they don't have any manager. They ask if they can use our solution so that a manager is not required. If Change Manager can do all the management automatically without involving any other manager, it will be great. They can also provide better integration with other managers so that everything can be done through a central point."

"The price could be cheaper."

"Modifications and the deletion of existing policies are currently unavailable."

"They are not satisfied with the complexity of the solution and the price."

More Skybox Security Suite cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The licensing costs are reasonable."

"The licensing model follows a per-user per-month structure."

"I rate the product's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price, and ten is a high price."

"The product’s pricing is medium."

"The tool is a bit costly."

"The price is not expensive."

"The solution is based on a subscription model for annual licenses."

"The pricing has increased exorbitantly in the last few years, so now it is questionable. Now, it makes me want to review other products."

"Skybox comes with extra licenses and has a change management license. The licenses are expensive, but they come with extra value."

"Pricing is on the higher side. In terms of licensing, you should buy the complete suite rather than buying only the Change Manager. I think Change Manager with Vulnerability Control is something that would be interesting to look at."

"I think for the cost, what we got definitely is worth it. The only caution I would give is that whenever you license for Firewall Assurance at the same time, for some weird reason, you have to get one Network Assurance license, just to manage one firewall. That's a little bit of overkill. But otherwise, in general, the pricing is fairly okay."

"With licensing, the number of network nodes becomes very expensive to the point where you have to rationalize if the tools are warranted anymore."

"The pricing is high, and the licensing model needs more flexibility."

More Skybox Security Suite pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Vulnerability Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Energy/Utilities Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	21
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	21

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zafran Security?

Since we stood Zafran Security up in our private cloud, we handle the maintenance on our side. As we opted not to use...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Zafran Security?

In terms of areas for improvement, Zafran Security is doing a really great job as a new and emerging company. Oftenti...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Zafran Security?

My use cases for Zafran Security revolve around two primary areas. One is around vulnerability management and priorit...

See all answers

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?

The solution helps identify threats and vulnerabilities.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?

We are open to discounts on the pricing.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?

The documentation from Microsoft needs significant improvement. The documents are disorganized, with one document lin...

See all answers

What do you like most about Skybox Security Suite?

Overall, the tool has helped us reduce risks. If any step is missing, it's easier for my team or engineers to identif...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Skybox Security Suite?

From a commercial perspective, AlgoSec is more expensive compared to Skybox Security Suite. Skybox Security Suite is ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Skybox Security Suite?

The features that I appreciated the most in Skybox Security Suite were not comparable with Tufin, as Tufin was far ah...

See all answers

Comparisons

Wiz Code vs Zafran Security

Compared 24% of the time

Tenable Vulnerability Management vs Zafran Security

Compared 10% of the time

Vulcan Cyber vs Zafran Security

Compared 10% of the time

Nucleus vs Zafran Security

Compared 8% of the time

Qualys VMDR vs Zafran Security

Compared 6% of the time

More Zafran Security Competitors

Qualys VMDR vs Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management

Compared 16% of the time

Tenable Nessus vs Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management

Compared 15% of the time

Rapid7 InsightVM vs Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management

Compared 11% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security vs Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management

Compared 4% of the time

Tenable Vulnerability Management vs Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management Competitors

AlgoSec vs Skybox Security Suite

Compared 25% of the time

Tufin Orchestration Suite vs Skybox Security Suite

Compared 24% of the time

FireMon Security Manager vs Skybox Security Suite

Compared 14% of the time

Qualys VMDR vs Skybox Security Suite

Compared 4% of the time

ManageEngine Firewall Analyzer vs Skybox Security Suite

Compared 3% of the time

More Skybox Security Suite Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Zafran Security

January 2026

Download Zafran Security product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management

January 2026

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management report

Download Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management product report

Buyer's Guide

Skybox Security Suite

January 2026

Download Skybox Security Suite product report

Overview

Zafran Security integrates with existing security tools to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities effectively, proving that most critical vulnerabilities are not exploitable, optimizing threat management.

Zafran Security introduces an innovative operating model for managing security threats and vulnerabilities. By leveraging the threat exposure management platform, it pinpoints and prioritizes exploitable vulnerabilities, reducing risk through immediate remediation. This platform enhances your hybrid cloud security by normalizing vulnerability signals and integrating specific IT context data, such as CVE runtime presence and internet asset reachability, into its analysis. No longer reliant on patch windows, Zafran Security allows you to manage risks actively.

What are the key features of Zafran Security?

Threat Exposure Management: Utilizes existing tools to prioritize vulnerabilities and manage threats.
Integrative Analysis: Combines security data with IT context for precise vulnerability management.
Real-time Risk Reduction: Enables immediate risk management without waiting for patches.
Hybrid Cloud Compatibility: Functions across diverse cloud environments for comprehensive security.

What benefits can users expect from Zafran Security?

Improved Security: Enhances protection by efficiently identifying and mitigating risks.
Cost Efficiency: Reduces unnecessary patching expenses by confirming non-exploitable vulnerabilities.
Time Savings: Frees developers to focus on root causes by handling immediate threats.
Comprehensive Insight: Offers a holistic view of security threats and vulnerabilities.

In industries where security is paramount, such as finance and healthcare, Zafran Security provides invaluable protection by ensuring that only exploitable vulnerabilities are addressed. It allows entities to maintain robust security measures while allocating resources efficiently, fitting seamlessly into existing security strategies.

Zafran Security

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management enables organizations to identify vulnerabilities, manage patches, and fortify threat detection. It offers endpoint assessments, cloud incident management, and dynamic security through Microsoft's Security Scorecard integration.

Organizations leverage Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management for advanced threat detection and response. It provides robust tools for vulnerability assessment and cloud incident management, integrated with Microsoft's Security Scorecard to enhance dynamic security profiling. Key features include automatic patch deployment, security configuration management, and seamless integration with Microsoft platforms, benefiting both on-prem and cloud environments. Organizations can track vulnerabilities with severity-based reports, helping manage outdated software and minimizing threat exposure.

What are the key features of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?

Compliance: Ensures adherence to security regulations.
Recommendations: Provides actionable advice for security enhancements.
Inventories: Offers detailed inventory tracking for software and hardware.
Threat Identification: Detects potential threats proactively.
Vulnerability Assessment: Evaluates system vulnerabilities comprehensively.
Zero-day Protection: Shields systems from newly discovered exploits.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Integration: Facilitates seamless integration with Microsoft and diverse platforms.
Risk Mitigation: Assists in mitigating risks through accurate assessments.
Prioritization: Helps prioritize vulnerabilities for efficient patch management.
Up-to-date Protection: Ensures systems remain secured and current.

In healthcare, Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management helps manage compliance with health regulations, while in finance, it aids in securing sensitive data from cyber threats. Manufacturing sectors benefit from its patch management, keeping operational technology systems less vulnerable to disruptions.

Microsoft

Skybox Security Suite provides comprehensive tools for network and firewall compliance, vulnerability management, and change management, with a focus on risk reduction and network optimization.

Skybox Security Suite supports over 130 vendors with massive scalability and seamless integration, notably with Nessus and Qualys. Its features include network path analysis and offline attack simulation, which enhance management effectiveness. Despite its robust offering, improvements are needed in its UI, web interface, reporting detail, and customization. Automation, orchestration, and device policy provisioning require better support, and integration with tools like Rapid7 could be improved. Enhancements in firewall configuration checks, cloud connectivity, pricing, and marketing awareness are also called for, alongside a transition from Java GUI to a consistent web-based system.

What Are Key Features of Skybox Security Suite?

Network Assurance: Enhances visibility and optimization of network paths.
Firewall Assurance: Facilitates firewall rule set audits for compliance.
Vulnerability Management: Offers path detection and risk prioritization.
Compliance Management: Ensures adherence to standards like PCI.
Change Management: Simplifies management across extensive infrastructures.

What Benefits and ROI Can Users Expect?

Scalability: Supports numerous vendors and large-scale deployments.
Integration: Seamlessly connects with tools like Nessus and Qualys.
Risk Reduction: Improves security across network infrastructures.
Simplified Management: User-friendly interface and reporting tools enhance usability.
Network Optimization: Streamlines processes and improves performance.

Skybox Security Suite is commonly used in industries requiring strict compliance like finance and healthcare. Firms employ it for firewall audits, enhancing network visibility, and managing configurations against standards such as PCI, ensuring security and policy compliance across expansive networks.

Tufin

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

ADP, Blue Cross Blue Shield, BT, USAID, Delta Dental, EDF Energy, EMC, HSBC, Johnson & Johnson

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Skybox Security Suite

December 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Skybox Security Suite

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Skybox Security Suite and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Skybox Security Suite report.

See our list of best Vulnerability Management vendors.

We monitor all Vulnerability Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.