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Microsoft Defender XDR vs Microsoft Purview Audit 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 XDR
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
101
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (5th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (3rd)
Microsoft Purview Audit
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
33rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Log Management (42nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 6.2%, down from 7.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Audit is 0.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

Gabor Nyerd - PeerSpot reviewer
Includes four services and four products, which can help organizations a lot
We found that sometimes integrations work, but testing them can take some time. Sometimes, configurations take much longer than expected. We have a configuration in place that needs to be synchronized with another server. However, the servers are four hours apart, so this can cause delays. In general, I believe that the time it takes to configure and test a service should be shorter. Sometimes, it can take a couple of hours to test a single configuration setting. Other times, it is only ten or fifteen minutes, which is normal. However, sometimes, even immediate actions can be triggered by configuration changes, and some settings can take up to eight hours to complete. I believe that this time can be improved. Microsoft is making a lot of improvements to its services in a short period of time. This is a good thing, as it means that the services are constantly being updated and improved. However, it can be challenging for customers to keep up with the changes. For example, a customer may read about an update, understand it, and share it with their colleagues and boss. However, it may take days or weeks to test the update and get the necessary approvals. This can be especially challenging for large customers with many users or machines. In some cases, Microsoft may change a service before the customer has had a chance to implement the previous update. This can be frustrating for customers, as it means that they have to constantly learn new things and adjust their workflows. On the one hand, it is important for Microsoft to keep updating and improving its services. This helps to ensure that the services are meeting the customers' needs and that they are staying ahead of the competition. Microsoft should also be mindful of the challenges that these changes can create for customers. One way to address this challenge is to provide customers with more time to implement changes. Microsoft could also provide more information about upcoming changes so that customers can plan ahead. Ultimately, Microsoft needs to strike a balance between keeping its services up-to-date and providing customers with a smooth transition to new features.
Nagendra Nekkala - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables us to create a user in the cloud and give them access to resources through a single workflow
The PAM for Active Directory is good. ActiveOps is quite useful as a feature. The One Identity active role enables us to create a user in the cloud and give them access to resources through a single workflow. We can create rules-based access. It helps us control audit management and IT access management. We can decide what people can access and detect job functions. It enables zero trust security with hybrid AD, find delegation, and role-based access control. It provides all certificates and provides secure authentication, call-based access control, et cetera. It's really important for my critical applications. We can see who's using what, whether they are authorized, and other information to decide what access to offer. With the active role console, I can find out the obvious issues and also perform a decent setup. The One Identity active roles enable us to reduce password reset times. We can handle tasks in a matter of a minute. It simplifies AD and Azure AD management, efficiency, and security overall. The password manager is very secure and is a self-service password manager solution. It is considerably decreasing my help desk tasks. Our engineering users can reset forgotten passwords, and it can implement a stronger password. The management around access to enterprise resources keeps my data and systems secure. We're easily saving at least one hour per day using this solution. The migration from AD to Azure AD is very easy. There are simple configurations, and the migration goes rather smoothly. We use the solution support for SaaS apps through Cloud Delivered SCIM connectors. There are controls that can be configured and we can add and set permissions easily.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I like Defender XDR's automation capabilities. XDR isn't automated by default, but you can automate it to respond. If an attack is performed anywhere within the organization, you can isolate that instance from the network. This is what I can figure out for it. When integrated with Sentinel, you can set up playbooks to automate all the alerts gathered on Sentinel from different Microsoft solutions. Sentinel has a wider range of capabilities than XDR."
"It provides a single pane of glass within the 365 admin interface, streamlining our experience by consolidating information in one place and eliminating the need to navigate through multiple interfaces."
"The integration with other Microsoft solutions is the most valuable feature."
"The Endpoint Manager is incredible; it has a very straightforward interface and is exceedingly easy to use. Pulling out and deploying different tags or resources is a simple task across various departments with different levels of security. The notifications are also simple and satisfying; it's great to see the bubble informing us which devices are compliant and which are waiting to update."
"From an attack chain perspective, Defender XDR handles phishing and spam emails easily, while Defender for Endpoint manages endpoints effectively. We've drastically improved our user experience."
"On the Windows side, Microsoft Defender XDR is definitely integrated into the operating system. Once we have it on the security dashboard, we can see a real-time storyline."
"From the perspective of Microsoft 365 XDR, the main benefit is a single, centralized dashboard offering the holistic visibility organizations crave."
"A crucial aspect for our team is the inclusion of identity and access management tools from the vendor."
"The platform has significantly enhanced our operational insight into the overall Microsoft 365 environment."
"We're easily saving at least one hour per day using this solution."
 

Cons

"The solution does not offer a unified response and standard data."
"The improvements to Microsoft Defender XDR would probably go on the Linux side. There's still some more work to be done there."
"The console is missing some features that would be helpful for a managed services provider, like device and user management."
"The Defender agent itself is more compatible with Windows 10 and Windows 11. Other than these two lines, there are so many compatibility issues. Security is not only about Microsoft. The core technical aspects of it are quite good, but it would be good if they can better support non-Microsoft solutions in terms of putting the agents directly into VMware and other virtualization solutions. There should be more emphasis on RHEL and other operating systems that we use, other than Windows, in the server category."
"There are other SIEM solutions that are easier to use, mainly based on the creation of rules, use cases, and groups."
"Improving scalability, especially for very large tenants, could be beneficial for Microsoft Defender XDR."
"Microsoft Defender XDR is not a full-fledged EDR or XDR."
"Defender also lacks automated detection and response. You need to resolve issues manually. You can manage multiple Microsoft security products from a single portal, and all your security recommendations are in one place. It's easy to understand and manage. However, I wouldn't say Defender is a single pane of glass. You still need to switch between all of the available Microsoft tools. You can see all the alerts in one panel, but you can't automate remediation."
"Areas for product improvement include enhancing customization options and integrating more comprehensive compliance features."
"We do have a Denial of Access happening."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"365 Defender is billed per account. I don't know the exact price, but my supervisor told me that Microsoft Defender is cheaper than the alternatives. It's bundled, so you get all the features in one place."
"The licensing fee for Microsoft 365 Defender is fair."
"The bundling of software makes it easier to manage our setup, but Microsoft purposefully obfuscates this through marketing ploys to hide costs."
"Microsoft Defender XDR is priced high."
"Defender XDR is included in the E5 license, but it's a bit too expensive."
"It is 15 dollars per server per month. It is worth it, but it can be costly. It depends on the company's size."
"The product is fairly priced for what we get from it."
"While the standalone price of Defender XDR might seem high, its value becomes clear when considering the ease of implementation and smooth integration with our existing Microsoft infrastructure, especially when bundled with other Microsoft products."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
13%
Educational Organization
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft 365 Defender?
Microsoft Defender XDR provides strong identity protection with comprehensive insights into risky user behavior and potential indicators of compromise.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft 365 Defender?
The pricing for Microsoft Sentinel operates on a pay-as-you-go model based on data ingestion. I recall that Defender XDR pricing is based on the number of endpoints.
What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?
For Microsoft Defender XDR ( /categories/extended-detection-and-response-xdr ), there is currently no ability to reset passwords for on-premises accounts, which is a key challenge. Incident managem...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Audit?
Areas for product improvement include enhancing customization options and integrating more comprehensive compliance features.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Audit?
We utilize Microsoft Purview Audit for monitoring security and compliance aspects.
 

Also Known As

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Microsoft Purview Audit and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.