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Microsoft Defender XDR vs Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 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
6.7
Microsoft Defender XDR provides high ROI by consolidating security tools, streamlining operations, and enhancing security, despite licensing costs.
Sentiment score
1.0
Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response enhances security, reduces incident response time, saves costs, and increases productivity through its automated features.
We can quarantine and isolate a device within minutes.
Microsoft Defender XDR has saved me at least 50% of my time.
Ever since we turned on the M5 feature set back in June, we have seen a reduced number of potentially malicious clicks and faster alerting when incidents occur.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.2
Microsoft Defender XDR's support is timely and responsive, yet smaller organizations experience slower, less effective assistance than larger ones.
Sentiment score
6.0
Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response's support is mixed, with effective local help but issues with outsourced assistance post-Broadcom acquisition.
You get stuck in low-level support for way longer than you should, instead of them escalating the issue up the chain.
It's critical to escalate SEV B issues immediately to a domestic engineer.
Once issues are escalated to the second or third layer, the support is much better.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Defender XDR scales well for various organizations, efficiently supporting growth and flexibility despite some network deployment challenges.
Sentiment score
5.2
Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response is praised for scalability, global presence, and versatile deployment, despite some flexibility concerns.
Microsoft Defender XDR shows tremendous scalability, much more so than on-premises solutions.
Microsoft Defender XDR scales pretty well.
It is suitable for enterprise-level deployment but has room for improvement.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Microsoft Defender XDR is praised for high stability, reliable performance, minimal issues, frequent updates, and prompt issue resolution.
Sentiment score
6.2
Symantec EDR is mostly stable and reliable, with improved updates, minor bugs, and varying user ratings from seven to nine.
The service has remained consistently online, with any issues isolated to specific components, suggesting a well-designed and modular architecture.
The services within our ecosystem have been reliable, meeting their SLAs.
It provides high-fidelity signals.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender XDR requires enhancements in speed, integration, automation, AI, ease-of-use, and industry-specific threat intelligence.
Symantec EDR requires improvements in reporting, integration, user interface complexity, scalability, stability, support, and AI-driven analytics.
The licensing process needs improvement and clarification.
Improvements are needed in automated response capabilities.
Some inconsistencies exist between blades, which could be improved for a more seamless user and UI experience.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender XDR pricing is seen as complex but fair, with high costs alleviated in bundled Microsoft 365 packages.
Symantec EDR pricing varies, influenced by deployment type and endpoints, with mixed user opinions on affordability and value.
There are certainly savings when using Microsoft Defender XDR, which can range from 30%, 40%, and even up to 50%.
I would rate the pricing as eight out of ten, indicating it is a reasonable cost for the product.
Microsoft purposefully obfuscates this through marketing ploys to hide costs.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender XDR integrates tools for comprehensive security, offering threat detection, automation, identity protection, and enhanced efficiency.
Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response provides comprehensive, scalable, and user-friendly security features with integration, automation, and effective threat protection.
With Microsoft threat intelligence information, it detects various types of threats, including insider attacks, malicious content, and data exfiltration.
This allows us to secure our systems in advance and proactively improve security, rather than waiting for incidents to occur.
Once we have it on the security dashboard, we can see a real-time storyline.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender XDR
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
102
Ranking in other categories
Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (2nd), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
Symantec Endpoint Detection...
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
29th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

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 Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response is 0.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender XDR3.0%
Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response0.6%
Other96.4%
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
 

Featured Reviews

MohtesanShaikh - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
YusufAhmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use and competitively priced
Honestly, the product needs to continue the way it is, and I feel that everything will be fine. I haven't had any reasons to complain about the product. The product doesn’t offer MDM functionality under its current licensing model. In the future, I want the product to offer MDM. It can allow me to manage my mobile device more efficiently and effectively. Currently, there is a need for a separate license to be added to Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response to be able to use the MDM part. If both are bundled up under the same license, the administration part can be made easier.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business46
Midsize Enterprise23
Large Enterprise37
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise9
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response?
I am not aware of the pricing details, as that falls under the management's responsibility.
What needs improvement with Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response?
While the prices for technical issues in Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response are good, as a partner of Symantec, it is very difficult to sell this product because they have a challenging partn...
 

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. Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.