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Microsoft Defender XDR vs Trellix Active 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
7.3
Users reported enhanced productivity and cost savings with Microsoft Defender XDR, improving efficiency and security with unified features.
Sentiment score
6.5
Trellix Active Response improved threat detection, reduced incident response times, increased efficiency, and enhanced productivity with an intuitive interface.
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.
While we haven't yet quantified the financial benefits, we recognize that there has been a return on investment, particularly with operational efficiencies provided by the alerts.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.2
Microsoft Defender XDR's service is praised for promptness but criticized for slow responses and inconsistent support quality.
Sentiment score
8.5
Trellix Active Response's technical support is praised, though customer interactions have decreased and users see room for improvement.
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
8.0
Microsoft Defender XDR is highly praised for its scalability and adaptability in diverse organizational environments despite minor query challenges.
Sentiment score
7.2
Trellix Active Response is scalable, integrates easily, handles large data seamlessly, and maintains performance and security with minimal latency.
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.
The scalability of Active Response is satisfactory.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender XDR is highly stable and reliable, with occasional minor bugs, excellent communication, and consistent high ratings.
Sentiment score
8.3
Trellix Active Response is praised for reliability, efficient data handling, quick threat detection, adaptability, and stability with minimal downtime.
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 needs improved scanning, integration, AI enhancements, user interface, pricing, and documentation for better security and usability.
Trellix Active Response requires enhanced resource management, advanced features like AI, better support, and optimization for improved performance.
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.
We would like Trellix to optimize the technology for these systems similarly to how it is deployed for normal endpoints.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender XDR pricing varies by location and licensing, justified by features and bundled savings with certain Microsoft services.
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.
Based on our evaluations, Trellix Active Response's pricing was the most feasible from a cost perspective.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender XDR provides seamless integration, advanced threat detection, user-friendly interface, and real-time alerts for enhanced security management.
Trellix Active Response is praised for robust threat detection, real-time incident response, easy integration, and comprehensive reporting features.
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.
They notify us immediately of any vulnerabilities on the endpoints, allowing us to deploy a response quickly.
 

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
101
Ranking in other categories
Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (3rd)
Trellix Active Response
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
47th
Average Rating
6.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 3.2%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Trellix Active Response is 0.2%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
 

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.
ED
Operational efficiencies increase with immediate threat alerts for endpoints
We use Trellix Active Response primarily for our endpoints, including desktop computers. It monitors all the tools that our users use for their day-to-day work The alerts provided by Trellix Active Response are its most valuable feature. They notify us immediately of any vulnerabilities on the…
report
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850,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Government
17%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Comms Service Provider
11%
University
9%
 

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?
Licensing is somewhat confusing, particularly when presenting our pitch decks to stakeholders and leveraging key features in premium SKUs, but we managed with some assistance from Microsoft.
What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?
There is nothing I can think of at the moment that needs improvement. I am a contractor and finishing up soon, so I haven't encountered any issues requiring enhancements.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for McAfee Active Response?
Based on our evaluations, Trellix Active Response's pricing was the most feasible from a cost perspective. I rate the pricing between a six and an eight. It is justified.
What needs improvement with McAfee Active Response?
The only area for improvement is regarding operational technology devices, specifically the engineering automation systems. We would like Trellix to optimize the technology for these systems simila...
What is your primary use case for McAfee Active Response?
We use Trellix Active Response primarily for our endpoints, including desktop computers. It monitors all the tools that our users use for their day-to-day work.
 

Also Known As

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
McAfee Active Response
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Liquor Control Board of Ontario
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Trellix Active Response and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.