Microsoft Defender XDR vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management comparison

Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

Download the complete report

Helped 869,513 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

Microsoft Defender XDR

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

4th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

102

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (5th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (2nd)

Microsoft Purview Insider R...

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

29th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Insider Risk Management (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 6.6%, up from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management is 1.9%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender XDR	6.6%
Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management	1.9%
Other	91.5%

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

MohtesanShaikh

Business Development Executive at TechnoFirrm

Experience improves security management and simplifies threat protection

I have created automated investigations, and while they work, they operate rather slowly in the Microsoft portal. If I automate something, it takes considerable time; if I do it manually, I can complete it in a quarter of the time. The automation response being slow is the main concern; when an incident occurs or if I run a remediation, it takes significant time to complete the remediation. There are some limitations regarding the scalability of Microsoft Defender XDR with specific licensing. For SMB customers, there is only Microsoft Defender for Business, and if they want more features such as XDR features and automation investigation or incident response, they need to purchase Defender for Endpoint. We are currently using the EDR.

Read full review

Karthik Ekambaram

Director at Scybers

Have consistently built secure internal environments while implementing compliance tools for diverse customer needs

The customizable alerts system needs improvement. The detection rules are not extensive enough. There should be more possibilities for creating alerts based on additional criteria. While rules can be customized, the available criteria for creating detection rules should be expanded. Microsoft's pricing is very expensive. The Business Premium offering should be extended to enterprise customers, as it's currently limited to 300 users. There should be a tier below E5 that includes Microsoft Purview and other features. Currently, E5 licensing costs approximately 6,000 INR per user per month including taxes. Competitive solutions offer similar functionality at about 50% of Microsoft's cost. Email DLP is included in Business Premium or P1 licenses, while P2 licenses cover endpoint DLP and additional channels. Microsoft should introduce an intermediate tier below E5 that covers all P1 licenses, as customers often need coverage across the entire M365 suite.

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

"The common and advanced security policies for threat hunting and blocking attacks are valuable."

"Microsoft Defender's most critical component is its CASB solution. It has many built-in policies that can improve your organization's cloud security posture. It's effective regardless of where your users are, which is critical because most users are working from home. It's cloud-based, so nothing is on-premise."

"Based on what I've seen with Microsoft Defender XDR and the large amount of threat data Microsoft has access to, I'm confident I would trust Microsoft Security to handle the majority of all our threats from any threat actor who's essentially putting our company at risk."

"I like how Microsoft XDR and the other Microsoft products are integrated into a single unified security stack covering identity access management, endpoint protection, email, cloud applications, etc."

"Having a single pane of glass for all Microsoft security services makes everything much easier. A security analyst can go to a single portal and see everything in one view. The integration of everything into one portal is a huge benefit."

"The most valuable features are spam filtering, attachment filtering, and antivirus protection."

"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."

"We can use Defender to block and monitor for security purposes without needing multiple other products to do different tasks."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pros

"The best thing about Purview is that it's easy to integrate with our day-to-day environment. We have Active Directory, and Word and Excel. Using a third-party vendor and trying to integrate with our existing environment would be much more challenging."

"Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management was helpful in performing investigations after alerts were received."

"Insider Risk Management's graphing is highly specific and useful. You can see the last six months of data for the Microsoft tenant. You can easily find what you need. For example, you can filter for alerts about devices, emails, etc."

"The scoring mechanism is exceptional because it eliminates the need to reinvent criteria for identifying risks, misconfigurations, or vulnerabilities."

Cons

"There's still some more work to be done there. Additionally, the limited terminal live access an analyst has is very restricted."

"The only problem I find is that the use cases are built-in. There is no template available that you can modify according to your organization's standards. What they give is very generic, the market standard, but that might not be applicable to every organization."

"The management features could be improved, particularly in terms of better integration with Intune, Microsoft's cloud-based management solution."

"The support from Microsoft could improve. There are times I have to wait for a response from a qualified specialist."

"There are other SIEM solutions that are easier to use, mainly based on the creation of rules, use cases, and groups."

"Microsoft frequently changes the names of its products, sometimes even renaming entire portals or features."

"What could be improved in Microsoft 365 Defender is its licensing, e.g. it should be more consolidated and would be good if it has some optimizations. Improving the alerts and notifications, in terms of adding more details, would also be good for this solution."

"While the XDR platform offers valuable functionalities, it falls short of other solutions in its ability to deliver a cohesive identity experience."

More Microsoft Defender XDR cons

"The reporting capabilities sometimes leave a little to be desired. It could be improved in terms of producing reports to provide information to the C-suite or others."

"For certain things, you need to install an agent. I understand it's for integrity, but if there could be a clientless solution for certain aspects, it would make life easier."

"Microsoft's pricing is very expensive. The Business Premium offering should be extended to enterprise customers, as it's currently limited to 300 users."

"The user interface also isn't user-friendly. When we introduce Insider Risk Management to our clients, they often find it difficult to understand. There is too much information, and the UI is not scalable. Also, entry-level IT technicians are not always interested in learning something new. It should be clearer and easier to understand."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"I believe the pricing is fair and acceptable. I consider it to be reasonable and satisfactory."

"Its licensing and pricing are handled by someone else. My role is limited to incidents or issues with the portal, but you get what you pay for. It is worth the cost."

"The price of the solution is high compared to others and we have lost some customers because of it."

"It can be complex to navigate since customers have varying licensing agreements across Microsoft. If they go straightforward with E5 for all users, it's simple, but combinations based on budget constraints can complicate things."

"We've managed to navigate it effectively through our enterprise agreement, and Microsoft's academic discounts have proven to be quite generous."

"They have moved from a licensing model to pay-per-use... The question is: What happens if, for any reason, there's not enough budget to accept this model? That could be a great problem."

"Microsoft Defender XDR is already included in our Office 365 licensing. It is better because we're saving money by using it."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pricing and cost advice

Information not available

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Microsoft Security Suite solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

869,513 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

37%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	46
Midsize Enterprise	23
Large Enterprise	37

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?

What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?

The reporting capabilities sometimes leave a little to be desired. It could be improved in terms of producing reports to provide information to the C-suite or others.

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?

The primary use case for Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management was data loss prevention. This was my main objective.

What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?

I would recommend Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management to others. I would rate the overall solution as a nine.

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Comparisons

Compared 11% of the time

Wazuh vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

Trend Vision One vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Defender XDR Competitors

Splunk User Behavior Analytics vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

Compared 39% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Identity vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

Compared 23% of the time

Netskope Advanced Analytics vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

Compared 20% of the time

Exabeam vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

Compared 4% of the time

IBM Security QRadar vs Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Defender XDR

Download Microsoft Defender XDR product report

Insider Risk Management

Download Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management product report

Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management report

Also Known As

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender

Microsoft Insider Risk Management

Overview

Microsoft Defender XDR is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect against threats in the Microsoft 365 environment.

It offers robust security measures, comprehensive threat detection capabilities, and an efficient incident response system. With seamless integration with other Microsoft products and a user-friendly interface, it simplifies security management tasks.

Users have found it effective in detecting and preventing various types of attacks, such as phishing attempts, malware infections, and data breaches.

Watch the Microsoft demo video here: Microsoft Defender XDR demo video.

Microsoft

Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management helps organizations identify and manage potential internal threats by utilizing advanced analytics and insights to minimize risk.

With a focus on addressing internal threats, Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management employs sophisticated analytics to proactively detect and manage risks. It offers context-rich insights to protect data, helping businesses maintain compliance and safeguard their information. By implementing mechanisms to predict potential risks, it aids in preventing data loss and ensures that sensitive information remains secure.

What are the most important features of Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?

Advanced Analytics: Provides in-depth analysis to detect suspicious activities within the organization.
Data Protection: Ensures sensitive data security with robust preventive measures.
Risk Insights: Delivers actionable insights to help mitigate potential insider threats.
Compliance Support: Assists organizations in maintaining compliance with industry regulations.

What benefits should businesses expect from Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management?

Efficient Risk Mitigation: Streamlines identifying and addressing insider threats, saving time and resources.
Enhanced Data Security: Protects sensitive data, reducing the likelihood of data breaches.
Better Decision Making: Offers insights that help organizations make informed decisions about security protocols.

In industries like finance and healthcare, where data sensitivity is critical, adopting Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management can be crucial. For example, financial institutions utilize this tool to detect and mitigate fraudulent activities, while healthcare providers leverage its capabilities to protect patient data, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations. Its implementation varies across industries but consistently focuses on securing valuable information and reducing risk exposure.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.

Information Not Available

Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management