Microsoft Defender XDR vs Symantec XDR comparison

Microsoft and Broadcom are both solutions in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category. Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.4, while Broadcom is ranked #43. Microsoft holds a 6.1% mindshare in XDR, compared to Broadcom’s 0.1% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Defender XDR

Read 102 Microsoft Defender XDR reviews

11,697 Views
6,667 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Symantec XDR

Read 1 Symantec XDR review

199 Views
197 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender XDR

Symantec XDR

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Defender XDR and Symantec XDR based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about CrowdStrike, Microsoft, SentinelOne and others in Extended Detection and Response (XDR).

To learn more, read our detailed Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

August 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 867,341 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 Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

102

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)

Symantec XDR

Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

43rd

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 6.1%, down from 8.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec XDR is 0.1%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender XDR	6.1%
Symantec XDR	0.1%
Other	93.8%

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

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

BILALRAZA

Cyber Security Consultant at I(TS)² Saudi Arabia

A scalable and stable solution with straightforward deployment

We can generate maps from the environment. For example, suppose there is a virus that has a zero-day attack and is publicly unknown. We can block that and keep it away from the network so it is not further replicated. It also has custom white and black lists. We can add a good reputation on both lists and use the sonar technology for Symantec and the online network for advanced reports.

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

"I rate Microsoft Defender XDR 10 out of 10."

"The integration, visibility, vulnerability management, and device identification are valuable."

"Setting up Microsoft 365 Defender is easy. It's a user-friendly solution that provides threat protection. It has good stability and scalability."

"I have found the ability to delete unwanted threats beneficial."

"The unified view of the threat landscape on a central dashboard is the most valuable feature."

"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that Microsoft Defender XDR is easy to integrate with other Microsoft platforms or products."

"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 EDR and the way it automatically responds to ransomware and other attacks are valuable features."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pros

"You can advise the solution and protect your environment."

Cons

"The documentation on their website is somewhat outdated and doesn't show properly. I wanted to try a query in Microsoft Defender 365. When I opened the related documentation from the security blog on the Microsoft website, the figures were not showing. It was difficult to understand the article without having the figures. The figures were there in the article, but they were not getting loaded, which made the article obsolete."

"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."

"Microsoft tends to provide too many features, which makes the solution prone to bugs."

"At times, there may be delays in the execution of certain actions and their effects."

"It would be helpful if the solution could scan faster when it comes to scanning attachments to emails."

"The abundance of sub-dashboards and sub-areas within the main dashboard can be confusing, even if it all technically makes sense."

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

"It would be beneficial to reduce the number of clicks required to navigate between blades, as the current navigation and breadcrumb system can be a bit confusing. Some inconsistencies exist between blades, which could be improved for a more seamless user and UI experience."

More Microsoft Defender XDR cons

"The solution should have better reporting."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"All I can say again is the E5 gives you all the capabilities that it offers. It also gives Office 365 and one terabyte of storage. All in all, the E5 license model makes sense. There are some people who say it's quite costly, but rather than paying different vendors, it makes sense to go all in with Microsoft if you've got that licensing. From that perspective, it's cost-effective, but I can't comment much on that."

"Microsoft purposely makes its license combinations complex and includes combinations like Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5, Office 365 E3, Office 365 E5, and Office 365 E1, so you get confused. Microsoft tries to sell you a bundle of a lot of things together."

"Defender plan 1 is tenant-wise, and Defender plan 2 is per-user, which makes it more expensive. To have certain features, you would need to purchase the E5 license. For all of the capabilities that the tool provides, the price, though it can be high, is fair."

"There are no issues with pricing, but sometimes, the clarity in licensing is a concern."

"365 Defender can get expensive because you pay per gigabyte of data ingested. On the other hand, much of the data available in the other Microsoft security solutions are made available relatively cheaply—sometimes at cost or for free. Integrating only a limited set of third-party solutions with Sentinel would be cost-effective. It's much more affordable if companies only have Microsoft stuff."

"On average, we pay around 55 euros per user for the services and features we receive."

"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."

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 Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

867,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

No data available

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.

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

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 10% 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

Trend Vision One vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Defender XDR Competitors

Wazuh vs Symantec XDR

Compared 100% of the time

More Symantec XDR Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR

August 2025

Download Microsoft Defender XDR product report

Buyer's Guide

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

August 2025

Download Symantec XDR product report

Also Known As

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender

No data available

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

Symantec Enterprise Security Products are now part of Broadcom. The consumer division of Symantec Corp. is now NortonLifeLock Inc. -- a standalone company dedicated to consumer cyber safety.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

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

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

August 2025

Download Free Report

Find out what your peers are saying about CrowdStrike, Microsoft, SentinelOne and others in Extended Detection and Response (XDR). Updated: August 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

867,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our list of best Extended Detection and Response (XDR) vendors.

We monitor all Extended Detection and Response (XDR) 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.