Microsoft Purview Audit vs Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention comparison

Microsoft Purview Audit vs. Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention

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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 Purview Audit

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

31st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Log Management (35th)

Microsoft Purview Data Loss...

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

12th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Purview Audit is 1.4%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is 2.8%, up from 2.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention	2.8%
Microsoft Purview Audit	1.4%
Other	95.8%

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

Oksana Kosukhina.

Cloud Solution Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Integrated auditing has strengthened data retention and improved incident investigations

I have seen areas for improvement, specifically in Microsoft Purview Audit or in general about Microsoft. I have had a situation with documentation. I had a customer who wanted to create alerts and they had Microsoft 365 Business Premium. In the documentation, it was noted that this license is enough for creating alerts. When we tried to make them, we noticed they cannot do it with Microsoft 365 E3 because the customer had limited features to manage alerts. The customer had to buy E3. We created Microsoft support requests, and they confirmed that the documentation displayed not the real situation and they have been going to update documentation. The same situation occurred now with implementing Microsoft Purview Audit in the last autumn. eDiscovery was combined with search and content search, and the documentation was not clear at the beginning. It was a little difficult to describe to customers that now it is a part of eDiscovery. Content search is a very simple functionality, while eDiscovery is a little difficult. I am not entirely sure why Microsoft is going in the way of combining these services because they are the same. However, for a customer who has never seen these services, it is difficult to understand quickly. The same situation occurs with litigation holds and some other holds. For any mail, I am trying to keep data. For example, emails are held for a year or two years, ten years, it does not matter. It is difficult to understand where to find this data and where these emails are being held. I need to use eDiscovery to find out all deleted data that was kept somewhere in some hidden folders of the mailbox. Regular customers and regular administrators know that on-premises Exchange, for example, allows them to find the data in some repository and review the list of kept data. However, with this hold, we do not have any functionality to review the list of kept data. It is difficult to understand for customers how to work with this. I had a case where I spent three or four hours working deeply with a customer to explain how to work with eDiscovery, why Content Search is not there when it was before, what is an eDiscovery case, and why we are talking about all of this just to review a list of kept emails. This is difficult.

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Rohit Jaiswar

Soc Anaylst at Softcell Technologies Limited

Integrated controls have reduced insider risk and now protect sensitive data across our workforce

One standout feature about Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is the tight integration with Insider Risk Management and Defender XDR, as it gives much better context during investigations instead of treating DLP as an isolated alerting tool. We also use endpoint DLP heavily to control USB, copy, print, clipboard, and browser upload activity, which has been very effective for remote workforce security. The best features Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention offers include real-time policy enforcement, endpoint DLP, and deep integration with Microsoft 365 plus Defender XDR. We also heavily rely on sensitive information type detection, adaptive policy tips, and insider risk integration to investigate suspicious user behavior with proper context. Another standout feature is the ability to control USB copy, browser uploads, print clipboards, and cloud sharing actions directly from endpoint policies. The integration with Microsoft Defender 365 and Defender XDR helps our team in day-to-day operations because DLP alerts are automatically correlated with endpoint identity, email, and user activity telemetry, which helps the SOC investigate incidents much faster from a single workflow. The sensitive information type detection makes a difference compared to other tools we have used because it is more effective than many legacy DLP tools. It understands context, exact data patterns, document labeling, and Microsoft 365 native content, reducing false positives while improving detection accuracy. Another strong feature of Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is auto-labeling and policy inheritance with Microsoft's Information Protection, which helps maintain protection even after files are shared or moved across workloads. We also value the user coaching or policy tip capability because it educates users in real time instead of only blocking actions, which reduces repeated DLP violations significantly.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The overall user experience with Microsoft Purview Audit is of higher quality than when it was branded as Compliance Center, and Microsoft consistently updates and evolves functionalities and the overall experience."

"The main Microsoft feature is that it offers common integration of services, of data, of identity, meaning user accounts, user access, and privileged access."

"We're easily saving at least one hour per day using this solution."

"The platform has significantly enhanced our operational insight into the overall Microsoft 365 environment."

"I rate Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention's stability a ten out of ten."

"We have not seen any sensitive files leave via email, which represents a significant improvement."

"The feature I appreciate most about Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is the native synchronization between the tool and all the Office applications that the customer already has."

"The policy customization feature is very useful, and we have successfully used the auto policy configuration."

"Insider risk management and data retention are beneficial."

"Microsoft Purview has helped improve our organization's ability to discover sensitive data significantly as we use eDiscovery Purview, which is incredibly helpful."

"My favorite feature about Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is actually quite simple: there's a handful of things that you do, you create a new batch, it'll give you a unique ID, you copy that unique ID, it's a URL, and then you can put that into a script that we wrote so we just paste that in our script and then it uses that URL to upload all of those mailboxes, and then we can use that to import."

"The impact of Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention's classification and policy controls on our productivity within our organization is significant, as it's helped our security team."

More Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention pros

Cons

"We are still in the early stages of leveraging Microsoft Purview Audit. Currently, it's primarily used for the audit function."

"We do have a Denial of Access happening."

"I had a case where I spent three or four hours working deeply with a customer to explain how to work with eDiscovery, why Content Search is not there when it was before, what is an eDiscovery case, and why we are talking about all of this just to review a list of kept emails."

"Areas for product improvement include enhancing customization options and integrating more comprehensive compliance features."

"The amount of false positives and the hash issue we had have brought down the score for me."

"The scalability, in terms of the portal, could be more user-friendly. Sometimes I have faced difficulties in identifying the options."

"The solution should provide better integration with other systems."

"The AI advancements can improve the false positives."

"Perhaps with the advent of AI, it can be enhanced, especially with organizations that handle and process huge amounts of data."

"We faced a performance issue with the tool when we didn't get alerts for file uploads."

"Because it's an academic institution, we got really excited about the level of granularity we could implement, but that granularity overwhelmed our users."

"The main disadvantages of Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention in comparison to the Netscope product are notable considerations."

More Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"The product has the best price-to-performance ratio."

"Though I am not a specialist, the tool is quite expensive."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"It is a part of our Microsoft licensing. We pay for a yearly renewal. Its price is reasonable for the size of the organization we are. It is fairly competitive, and you get what you pay for. We have an E5 license, and a part of understanding the E5 license is to see what all you get with it. If you really look at it from that standpoint, you get a lot of value. You have Defender and all its security features in there as well. Their licensing is fairly flexible. They have different programs. We've seen ones where you could pay for up to three to five years in advance. There is also a monthly pay-as-you-go type of deal, but we're doing a yearly renewal and fixing the budget."

"Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is part of a bundle and is not sold as a standalone product."

"The solution’s pricing is reasonable."

"I am satisfied with the tool's pricing."

"We are using the E3 license for Microsoft 365 with the E5 compliance license add-on."

More Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	17
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	15

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview Audit?

It is not so expensive in comparison with other products, but I can tell you about an example.

What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Audit?

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Audit?

I work with Defender for IoT by chance because I see that we have enough reviews for Defender for Office 365 today, and we need reviews for some Azure products. I work with Azure products such as L...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention?

The pricing for Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention was manageable for us because we already had Microsoft 365 and Purview-related licensing, but advanced DLP and insider risk features became ex...

What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention?

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention can be improved as the endpoint DLP policy tuning can be complex in large environments, especially when balancing security with user productivity. False posit...

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention?

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is used for monitoring and preventing sensitive data exfiltration across Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, and endpoints. From a SOC's perspective...

eSentire MDR for Log vs Microsoft Purview Audit

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Product Reports

Microsoft Purview Audit

Download Microsoft Purview Audit product report

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention

Download Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention product report

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention report

Also Known As

No data available

Microsoft Endpoint Data Loss Prevention, MS Endpoint DLP, Microsoft Endpoint DLP

Overview

Microsoft Purview Audit offers streamlined, user-friendly solutions for managing Microsoft 365 environments. It excels in security incident log management, privileged access control, and simplifying data access adjustments with integration between AD and Azure AD.

Key functionalities of Microsoft Purview Audit include capabilities tailored to monitor environment health, compliance, and security management within Active Directory and Microsoft ecosystems. Users can efficiently manage roles, access controls, and data retention protocols, making it a valuable resource for strategically-driven organizations with legal requirements. While the integration with Dataverse enhances its utility, user challenges arise due to complexity in certain aspects such as litigation holds and accessing hidden folder data. Additionally, users have reported issues with the precision of customization and compliance documentation, particularly when handling alerts and eDiscovery functions. Despite these challenges, Purview Audit remains a leading tool within the Microsoft suite for managing log retrieval and security oversight.

What are the key features of Microsoft Purview Audit?

User-friendly Dashboards: Easily track the health of Microsoft 365 environments.
Privileged Access Management: Efficiently manage and secure access to critical resources.
Log Management: Gain insights into security incidents through comprehensive log management.
Rules-based Access Control: Implement strict access protocols tailored to organizational frameworks.
Role-based Delegation: Streamline role delegation while adhering to security policies.
Zero Trust Security: Enhance security with a zero trust model for data protection.

What benefits should users look for?

Data Retention: Meet legal and compliance needs efficiently.
Easy Configuration: Simplify setup processes for quick implementation.
Seamless AD to Azure AD Migration: Transition effortlessly between directory services.
Detailed Audit Capabilities: Understand, monitor, and review security actions easily.

In industries with stringent data governance and compliance mandates, Microsoft Purview Audit is utilized to ensure a robust security posture. Users engage it for monitoring compliance within financial services, healthcare, and other sectors where data privacy is paramount. With its SaaS-based integration in Microsoft environments, organizations access refined log data leveraging platforms like Power Platform Admin Center, ensuring comprehensive oversight and operational efficiency.

Microsoft

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention helps businesses protect sensitive data through robust compliance automation and seamless multi-platform integration, supporting environments like Office 365, Azure, iOS, Android, and macOS.

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention focuses on identifying sensitive data and maintaining compliance through automation and integration with platforms such as Exchange email, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. Auto-labeling, classification controls, and monitoring capabilities ensure secure data management, reducing insider threat response times by 25%. While praised for its capabilities, improvements in system integration, endpoint handling, and incident management are needed. Licensing costs and limited language support pose challenges. Usability can be enhanced through interface updates and better documentation. OCR and scalability enhancements could improve policy propagation speed. More end-user training examples would be beneficial.

What are the key features?

Sensitive Data Identification: Detects confidential information across environments.
Compliance Automation: Streamlines regulatory requirements adherence.
Multi-Platform Integration: Supports Office 365, Azure, iOS, Android, macOS seamlessly.
Auto-Labeling: Automatically categorizes sensitive data for protection.
Classification Controls: Provides robust data classification options.
Alerts and Monitoring: Enhances data security with proactive alerting.

What benefits should users evaluate?

Efficient Threat Response: Reduces insider threat response times by 25%.
Enhanced Data Governance: Simplifies managing data privacy and compliance.
Comprehensive Protection: Integrates with multiple platforms for wide coverage.

In industries such as finance, healthcare, and legal, Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is crucial for safeguarding sensitive information due to strict compliance demands. It automates data classification and policy configurations, preventing accidental data leakage and ensuring security protocols align with regulatory standards.

Microsoft

Microsoft Purview Audit vs. Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention