We compared Check Point Antivirus and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint based on users' reviews in six categories. We reviewed all of the data and you can find the conclusion below.
Features: Check Point Antivirus impressed users with its diverse set of valuable features like sandboxing, real-time detection, and integration with analytics solutions and the cloud. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint excels in file protection, encryption, and ransomware defense. It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft security products. Users appreciate its user-friendly interface and scalability.
Room for Improvement: Check Point Antivirus requires quicker customer assistance, better performance of the graphical user interface, enhanced defense against zero-day attacks, and more budget-friendly pricing options. Users say Microsoft Defender for Endpoint should improve its central console and auto-recovery feature. Users also requested better reporting capabilities and integration with third-party platforms.
Ease of Deployment: Some users found Check Point’s setup process to be uncomplicated and fast, while others noted that it required several engineers and took around a week to finish. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's setup is straightforward, especially when it’s preloaded on Windows 10. While it can be more complex for larger organizations, it is generally considered simple, particularly for smaller companies or those familiar with Microsoft environments.
Pricing: The price of Check Point Antivirus may vary depending on partnerships and negotiations. Some users consider Check Point's pricing to be expensive but say it is cost-effective. However, it may not be affordable for small or medium-sized companies unless they have sufficient capital. Reviewers say Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is fairly priced, noting that it is typically included for free with Windows or Microsoft Office 365 subscriptions. However, some users believe that Microsoft's pricing could be more affordable, and others noted that their licensing models can be complex.
ROI: Check Point Antivirus provides added features like a sandbox and VPN licenses, enhancing its value. Users have experienced improved protection and promising growth with Check Point Antivirus, delivering a better ROI than other security options.
Service and Support: User reviews have provided no information about the customer service of Check Point Antivirus so far. Microsoft customer service garnered mixed feedback. Some praised the fast response times and expertise of the support engineers, while others were dissatisfied with slow replies and a lack of coordination among the support teams.
Comparison Results: Check Point Antivirus offers advanced features like sandboxing, real-time detection, and scalability. At the same time, some users say Check Point could be more affordable and improve its GUI performance. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides sophisticated protection against ransomware, easy deployment, and smooth integration with Microsoft solutions. However, Microsoft’s customer support has received middling reviews, and users would like better compatibility with third-party solutions.
"It has significantly bolstered our overall cybersecurity posture."
"It is a great, cost-effective, and stable security solution to opt for."
"Check Point Antivirus ensures our organization's security posture by ensuring that everyone accessing the internet does so securely. It performs packet inspection, enabling all security blades to monitor and filter traffic constantly. This includes URL filtering to prevent access to unwanted sites and to protect against any attempts to compromise our network."
"The initial setup is easy."
"What I like best about Check Point Antivirus is that it's a good solution against phishing, malware, etc. It can do a lot in terms of security. You can also manage all the endpoints or users from the Check Point Antivirus platform, which is another feature I found valuable in the solution."
"A very good and robust antivirus solution."
"It is very easy to manage the Antivirus blade, even for newcomers in our technical support team, which is a key area of interest for us."
"They have a better endpoint catchment rate due to their reliability."
"The most valuable aspect lies in its automation capabilities, particularly within security automation."
"The best part is that it is built into Windows, whether it is a server base or a desktop base, which gives more control over the operating system. Because Defender, the operating system, and the Office solution are by Microsoft, everything is working like hand-in-glove. Its administrative overhead is less because a desktop user has already got some experience of how to handle a Microsoft Defender notification or administer it."
"We can react to threats faster and stop them from spreading from one machine to another. It protects from suspicious email attachment downloads. It will lock down the SOC and the workstations."
"The integration with all variations of Microsoft Defender, for Endpoint, 365, and Cloud is valuable."
"It is stable and very easy to use."
"It comes included with the Windows license."
"I like that it's easy to deploy because it already comes with Windows 10. Overall, it has all the features that we need. Easy to deploy, comes with updates, and comes with Windows updates. You don't have to really manage or update the signature."
"This is not an inventory solution, but it helps you take count of how many workstations you have, as well as what software is installed on each of them."
"Filtering the websites that can be visited is important also as there's always a chance to come by sites that, just by clicking, will download malicious threats."
"Currently, you can only have general reports of the threats removed and the behavior of the database. You cannot get separate reports of the Check Point service-linked devices."
"We'd like to see better integration with other security tools."
"Check Point should always focus on emerging business requirements and should always be working proactively in meeting the requirements of clientele and users in a timely manner."
"The initial setup and configuration should be simplified."
"The technical support could be improved."
"We'd like to see some customized security roll-ups and scans for threat detection."
"There needs to be more internally connected systems in order to achieve real-time effectiveness."
"Something that is unique to Microsoft is its licensing model. When you go out and you buy McAfee or Symantec, you know what you're getting out of the box, but with Microsoft, often, when you're looking to achieve a certain set of capabilities, those capabilities are spread across different products. You might try to do something you could do with CrowdStrike, but then find out that you also need to purchase Microsoft Defender for Identity or Microsoft Defender for Azure. You realize that when they talk about what they can offer within the Microsoft platform, it's really the suite of investments. So, sometimes, you may find yourself buying Defender for Endpoint thinking that it matches CrowdStrike, but then you find that Microsoft really needs to sell you something else. One plus one will equal three, but when you have a very concise platform, such as CrowdStrike, you know what you're going to get."
"Some integration components for Mac should be added. We use both Windows 10 desktops and Mac desktops, but presently, the Mac component is still lagging a bit behind."
"The deployment of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Windows 10 is not quite so straightforward. This could be made easier."
"The product should reduce updates since it is hard to keep up."
"One thing that was lacking in Defender was web filtering. Its web filtering wasn't as comprehensive. Sophos was a little bit better than Defender for blocking URLs or installing programs."
"I would like Microsoft to have some kind of direct integration for USB controls. They have GPO and other controls to control the access of the USB drives on devices, but if there is something that can be directly implemented into the portal, it would be good. There should be a way to control via a cloud portal or something like that in a dynamic way. USB control for data exfiltration would be a good feature to implement. Currently, there are ways to do it, but it involves too many different things. You have to implement it via GPOs and other stuff, and then you move or copy those big files via Defender ATP. If there is a simple way of implementing those features, it would be great."
"Phishing and Malware detection could be better."
"I'm not too sure of its current capabilities, but I'm pretty sure they are doing a good job on Windows and Mac. However, I'm not sure whether they covered Linux. If I remember correctly, Microsoft Defender didn't have anything proper on Linux back then, but if they have improved it from that aspect, it would already be ticking all the boxes."
More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Pricing and Cost Advice →
Check Point Antivirus is ranked 6th in Anti-Malware Tools with 49 reviews while Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is ranked 1st in Anti-Malware Tools with 182 reviews. Check Point Antivirus is rated 8.6, while Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Check Point Antivirus writes "Compatible, cost-effective, and highly customizable". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint writes "Eliminates the need to look at multiple dashboards by automatically providing one XDR dashboard to show the security score of each subscription". Check Point Antivirus is most compared with CrowdStrike Falcon, ESET Endpoint Protection Platform, VirusTotal and Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), whereas Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is most compared with Symantec Endpoint Security, Intercept X Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity Complete, CrowdStrike Falcon and Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks. See our Check Point Antivirus vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint report.
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