Microsoft Defender XDR vs Rapid7 InsightIDR comparison

Microsoft and Rapid7 are both solutions in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category. Microsoft is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.4, while Rapid7 is ranked #25 with an average rating of 8.1. Microsoft holds a 3.0% mindshare in EDR, compared to Rapid7’s 1.2% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Rapid7 users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Defender XDR

Read 102 Microsoft Defender XDR reviews

11,697 Views
6,199 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Rapid7 InsightIDR

Read 32 Rapid7 InsightIDR reviews

7,194 Views
1,870 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender XDR

Rapid7 InsightIDR

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 2024

Rapid7 InsightIDR and Microsoft Defender XDR are leading security solutions. Users prefer Rapid7 InsightIDR for pricing and support, while Microsoft Defender XDR excels in features.

Features: Users praise Rapid7 InsightIDR for its robust incident detection and response capabilities, user-friendly setup, and automated workflows. Microsoft Defender XDR is highly rated for its comprehensive threat intelligence, integration with other Microsoft products, and advanced analytics.

Room for Improvement: Rapid7 InsightIDR needs better scalability, enhanced reporting, and faster query performance. Microsoft Defender XDR could improve interoperability with non-Microsoft environments, more intuitive alert management, and better integration with third-party tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Rapid7 InsightIDR is praised for straightforward deployment and responsive customer support, with quick setup times and helpful resources. Microsoft Defender XDR has mixed reviews on customer service, with some users experiencing slower response times but is also straightforward to deploy.

Pricing and ROI: Users find Rapid7 InsightIDR's pricing competitive with a higher perceived ROI due to effective threat detection and ease of use. Microsoft Defender XDR is seen as more costly but justified by its extensive features and integrations.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR

August 2025

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Helped 867,370 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 Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

5th

Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

102

Ranking in other categories

Microsoft Security Suite (5th)

Rapid7 InsightIDR

Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

25th

Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

16th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (14th), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (5th), Threat Deception Platforms (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 3.0%, down from 4.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 InsightIDR is 1.2%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender XDR	3.0%
Rapid7 InsightIDR	1.2%
Other	95.8%

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

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

Asim Naeem

Principal IT Security & Compliance at IBEX Holdings Ltd

Providing comprehensive insight into alerts while working towards AI enhancement

I definitely recommend Rapid7 InsightIDR. It is becoming better, with improvements being continuously made to the product. Right now, I do not have any advice about Rapid7 for other users because every organization or user has different criteria or multiple use cases, so I refrain from commenting on that. I rate the overall solution seven out of ten.

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 best feature is probably the alert generation. When I do a security reset, the other session triggers instantly from the Defender console, and I can work on it. The policies are three times, but they are also ready to install it."

"The Email Explorer feature has proven invaluable, offering a broader perspective than automated alerts and incidents alone."

"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."

"As a reseller and partner, the advantages of Microsoft Defender XDR are numerous; I have stopped many threats for many organizations using Defender alone, and I have saved significant IT management time by avoiding manual updates and manual work."

"All of the security components are valuable including, antiphishing, antispam, and stage three antivirus."

"I like that it's fully integrated with Windows, Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, and Outlook. It is better than other antivirus solutions because it's fully integrated with all Microsoft products. It's easy to integrate them and onboard all Windows devices from SCCM."

"The ability to isolate and address viruses is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender XDR."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pros

"Features for user behavior analytics and the rules for attack review are good."

"The solution is very stable and works very well for what I need it to do."

"Dashboards, including the main screen, provide much-needed information at a glance, without hours of coding and sifting through logs to find it. In case of an actual security incident, I have faith that insightIDR has retained all logs in a secure manner that prevents log tampering as well."

"It is a very stable solution."

"It improves because several sensors are deployed within the on-premise environment. It can be very efficient if the customer implements and operates it effectively."

"User behavioral analytics allows us to pinpoint abnormal or suspicious behavior among millions of events every day."

"InsightIDR has allowed us to find potential security issues that we did not know existed, and get remediation quickly."

"The UI is very good."

More Rapid7 InsightIDR pros

Cons

"365 Defender has multiple subsets, including Defender for Cloud Apps. When integrating Defender for Cloud Apps with apps on third-party cloud platforms like AWS or GCP, there are limitations on our ability to control user activities. If Microsoft added more control over third-party products, that would be a game-changer and help us quite a lot."

"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."

"The management and automation of the cloud apps have room for improvement."

"There is no comprehensive visibility, making it less user-friendly."

"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."

"The licensing process needs improvement and clarification, as it is currently difficult to understand which features are licensed to which users."

"Stability could be improved by avoiding frequent changes to the interface."

"The solution can improve the rules and privileges it offers."

More Microsoft Defender XDR cons

"The reporting is the weakest aspect. There needs to be multi-level grouping for events (for example, group by user and destination). Right now, we can do a group by user and a separate table or group by destination. But I'd be more interested in where a person was logging into instead of who was logging in or where he was logging in."

"Tenable Nessus is easier to deal with. It's more efficient and accurate. InsightIDR is heavier than Tenable in terms of performance and scanning. Rapid7 would be much easier to use if it had a network connector like Tenable. Tenable's connector allows continuous monitoring over the B caps."

"It would be useful to import threat intelligence in YARA format along with known incorrect email addresses."

"The product allows us to make only 30 custom rules."

"The searching feature in Rapid7 InsightIDR needs to evolve"

"The main problem lies in the processes within the client's operating systems."

"I feel it would greatly benefit from more supported log sources."

"Customised alert recipients need to be added to allow better first-line action and quicker response. Configurable honeypots would be a welcome addition."

More Rapid7 InsightIDR cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While Microsoft Defender XDR carries a higher cost, its ease of use compared to Defender may justify the investment."

"The solution is affordable, and we haven't been hit with any hidden costs. The subscription model is straightforward, and it's easy to understand how much additional features cost. If we need to cancel a license or feature, we do that well in advance to avoid being charged for it, but overall, the pricing and licensing are simple and easy."

"Microsoft Defender XDR is priced high."

"It is fairly priced because we get complete integrated services with the E5 license."

"The license cost for a year is approximately forty-four thousand, and this annual saving is a significant factor in our decision to switch."

"Defender XDR is included in the E5 license, but it's a bit too expensive."

"The functionality is fantastic, but for medium and small-sized companies it's overpriced. It would be better if it were a little bit cheaper."

"Microsoft 365 Defender offers competitive pricing."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pricing and cost advice

"The team is very willing to work with companies. My suggestion is to call the Rapid7 sales department and see how they can help."

"It is on a yearly basis. For our own company, for about 250 users, it was 16,000 euros a year."

"Rapid7 InsightIDR's pricing is reasonable but we have challenges with the Minimum Order Quantity. It is not reasonable for customers who have less than one hundred devices. If they can reduce Minimum Order Quantity, it is good. You have to pay around 5000-6000 dollars per year for the product. The pricing includes maintenance and support costs."

"Rapid7 InsightIDR is priced very well and is cost-effective."

"It is more reasonably priced than other vendors."

"Rapid7 InsightIDR is a cheaply priced product. On a scale of one to ten, where one is very expensive, and ten is very cheap, I rate the product's price at seven or eight."

"The pricing and licensing are competitive."

"Rapid7 InsightIDR charges us based on the endpoints we connect to."

More Rapid7 InsightIDR pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	6

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What SOC product do you recommend?

For tools I’d recommend: -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is asking to miss details that are critical, and ending up a statistic. Also, rememb...

See all answers

What do you like most about Rapid7 InsightIDR?

During simulations or demonstrations, the tool generates alerts, providing details such as the specific application, its origin, and potential threats. For instance, it can identify if an applicati...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rapid7 InsightIDR?

The product pricing is very cheap.

See all answers

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Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager vs Microsoft Defender XDR

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Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Sentinel vs Rapid7 InsightIDR

Compared 8% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Rapid7 InsightIDR

Compared 5% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Rapid7 InsightIDR

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR

August 2025

Download Microsoft Defender XDR product report

Buyer's Guide

Rapid7 InsightIDR

August 2025

Download Rapid7 InsightIDR product report

Also Known As

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender

InsightIDR

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

Parsing hundreds of trivial alerts. Managing a mountain of data. Manually forwarding info from your endpoints. Forget that. InsightIDR instantly arms you with the insight you need to make better decisions across the incident detection and response lifecycle, faster.

Rapid7

Sample Customers

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

Liberty Wines, Pioneer Telephone, Visier

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR

August 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR and other solutions. Updated: August 2025.

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See our Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR report.

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