AWS Security Hub vs Microsoft Defender XDR comparison

The compared Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft solutions aren't in the same category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #12 in CSPM , with an average rating of 7.8, and holds a 2.8% mindshare in the category. Microsoft is ranked #4 in XDR , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 4.5% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

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Executive Summary

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

Find out in this report how the two Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS Security Hub vs. Microsoft Defender XDR Report (Updated: May 2023).

Buyer's Guide

AWS Security Hub vs. Microsoft Defender XDR

May 2023

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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

Qualys TotalCloud

Mindshare comparison

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
AWS Security Hub	2.8%
Wiz	11.4%
Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks	8.3%
Other	77.5%

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)

Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender XDR	4.5%
CrowdStrike Falcon	9.4%
SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint	5.9%
Other	80.2%

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

Featured Reviews

Robert Orłowski

IT Security Expert at Alior Bank S.A.

Unified risk scoring has improved our cloud visibility and simplifies remediation priorities

Qualys TotalCloud provides unified vulnerability and threat assessment across both IAS and SaaS. This solution provides a single prioritized view of risk, which helps reduce the work I would have to do. We are no longer based on CVSS; we are based on Qualys risk scoring, which is based on CVSS plus internal findings made by Qualys, and then assigns its own score. The TruRisk insight feature has found a small number of assets with high vulnerability scores, though I am cautious since some information is classified. Qualys TotalCloud has positively impacted our bank's performance, and we have definitely seen benefits after implementing this solution.

Read full review

Karthik Ekambaram

Director at Scybers

Has helped identify misconfigurations and prioritize risks but lacks multi-cloud support and deeper integration features

AWS Security Hub cannot scale up to multiple different cloud environments; it only works for AWS. There are other products in the market for CSPM that can give you multi-cloud environment misconfigurations, even Microsoft for that matter. Regarding the integration of AWS Security Hub with third-party tools, I am not certain whether we can integrate them, but there is no need to do so. However, AWS Security Hub cannot integrate with other cloud providers, so it only supports the AWS environment. The compliance checks within AWS Security Hub are good, but we don't use them much. We utilize compliance frameworks such as CIS compliance frameworks and ISO 27017 framework, which are beneficial, but it can improve in other areas too, such as including NIST and other frameworks beyond just ISO and CIS. Improvements can be applicable for scalability, particularly on integration with multi-cloud environments, and compliance frameworks can be added for more variety as well. The unified dashboard in AWS Security Hub is adequate; I cannot say it is exceptional, but the content available in the dashboards is satisfactory for now.

Read full review

reviewer2812758

Infosec at a government with 10,001+ employees

Integrated defenses have unified threat hunting, phishing simulations, and identity investigations

I appreciate Microsoft Defender XDR's MDE, Microsoft Defender tool, which has Attack Simulator. Instead of doing a phishing campaign and getting a separate tool, Microsoft Defender XDR does it all. These features of Microsoft Defender XDR have helped us conduct a phishing campaign quarterly, which has been beneficial. I also appreciate the fact that it has Defender for Office integrated, Defender for Identity, and everything integrated together. I would describe the process of using Microsoft Defender XDR to prioritize incidents in my security operations as quite decent. I appreciate the automatic alerting system where any incidents or alerts we receive come directly to our email. From there, we can open the email, go directly to Microsoft Defender XDR, and start our investigations and remediations. I perceive the integration of security and identity access management in Microsoft Defender XDR as affecting my identity protection strategies very well because it is well integrated with Purview, integrated well with Entra ID, and integrated well with Exchange. I especially appreciate MDO, the Office product. If anything happens and I want to conduct an investigation, it takes me directly to Exchange, where I can also investigate any emails or phishing incidents. Instead of going to different portals, everything can be done from Microsoft Defender XDR. If necessary for further investigation, Microsoft Defender XDR then directs me to that environment. I would assess the integration of AI in guiding security actions within Microsoft Defender XDR as quite positive. Recently, Security Copilot went big, and it is beneficial that I can use that, especially to write KQL. I can do threat hunting features and intelligence all within using Microsoft's Security Copilot. It also has a nice AI feature for threat hunting. I know that all the Defender logs go to Sentinel, and I can pull it up from Microsoft Defender XDR or from Sentinel. The fact that I can actually do all that within Microsoft Defender XDR is a nice feature. In the top module, I can do threat lookups, and I can actually type KQLs in Microsoft Defender XDR and look up incidents. Predictive shielding has had a nice impact on my proactive security measures. It is beneficial that it has, similar to Entra ID, a secure score. For me to improve the product, the secure score helps me out. If I rate it from highest to lowest, I can see what things I can improve. Secure score helps me see what areas I can improve in Microsoft Defender XDR to increase my score and bring it to 80 or more. Knowing Microsoft Defender XDR from using it since 2019, before COVID days, I know that they have improved significantly. It is much more user-friendly and has a very nice vulnerability feature that I find handy and useful. The fact that this feature integrates into Intune is also very decent.

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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

"Vulnerability and threat detection and assessment of the criticality of the vulnerabilities exposed are most valuable."

"The agent and agentless scanning in TotalCloud, particularly the FlexScan method, is incredibly valuable. With traditional scanning approaches, we had to give IP ranges and whitelist IPs. All that is now simplified. FlexScan requires minimal intervention, and after configuration, it automatically collects data and performs necessary scans."

"Qualys TotalCloud's most valuable features are its cloud security posture management, Kubernetes, and container security capabilities."

"The dashboards are particularly valuable as they offer a comprehensive view of the environment, highlighting any misconfigurations."

"One of the most valuable features of Qualys TotalCloud is FlexScan, which is specifically for internet-facing VMs. We found this feature to be very useful. It was a key differentiator for us."

"The scalability is good as well. I would rate it ten out of ten."

"If someone were to ask me to review Qualys TotalCloud, I would summarize it as an end-to-end solution for cloud security with visibility and governance-grade controls without needing to manage multiple disconnected tools."

"Qualys TotalCloud is an excellent platform, and the beauty of the platform is that we can get all the vulnerabilities, see all the reports in a single dashboard, view them segregated, and easily learn about critical, high, and medium findings with appropriately provided remediation steps."

More Qualys TotalCloud pros

"This solution is for security posture management for the cloud, showing the security posture of your cloud infrastructure and giving you good insight into whether your infrastructure is secure or not."

"The advantage is that it is cloud-native, and we do not need to install agents or sensors to find findings."

"Very good at detection and providing real-time alerts."

"Though I'm still in the initial evaluation phase for AWS Security Hub, I would recommend it to others because it has good features."

"Finding out if your infrastructure is secure is a valuable feature."

"Easily integrates with third-party tools"

"The most beneficial aspect of Security Hub is its proactive capability, allowing us to identify potential security issues before they escalate."

"The most valuable feature of AWS Security Hub is the ability to track when monitoring is not enabled on any of my resources."

More AWS Security Hub pros

"The most valuable feature is the DLP because that's where we can have an added data protection layer and extend it not just to emails but to the documents that users are working on. We can make sure that sensitive data is tagged and flagged if unauthorized parties are using it."

"The most valuable feature depends on the scenario. For compliance, I like Microsoft Purview Information Protection and Data Loss Prevention. Sentinel is the most helpful feature for security. 365 Defender helps us prioritize threats across an enterprise. It's a crucial feature for the managed services team."

"Microsoft 365 Defender is a stable solution."

"A crucial aspect for our team is the inclusion of identity and access management tools from the vendor."

"Another noteworthy feature that I find appealing in Microsoft Defender is the credit-backed simulation. This feature enables organizations to train their users on effectively responding to phishing emails through a simulated training environment."

"Email protection is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender XDR."

"Microsoft Defender is stable."

"The product is very easy to use."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pros

Cons

"Although TotalCloud is a helpful tool, some of its advanced features are still under development."

"To improve the user experience, reporting could be simplified for better comprehension by end users and project managers, facilitating issue resolution."

"The main area needing improvement is integration. Although the team is strengthening TotalCloud, integration can be enhanced with SIEM, SOAR, ITSM, and other sources."

"Regarding technical support from Qualys, they respond, but the response time can be too long. Sometimes we need to wait weeks for solutions to simple questions."

"I would like the ability to disable certain default built-in policies as they can be misleading when creating dashboards. That is the top one."

"The response part of the Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) module can be improved."

"Qualys TotalCloud needs to improve its accuracy for non-Windows operating systems."

"The patching process with Qualys Patch Management, which is part of TotalCloud, does not cover installing certain prerequisites on the servers or workstations. This shortcoming means we must rely on SCCM when any service stack updates or additional prerequisites are needed."

More Qualys TotalCloud cons

"The telemetry doesn't always go into the control center. When you have multiple instances running in AWS, you need a control tower to take feeds from Security Hub and analyze your results. Sometimes exemptions aren't passed between the control tower and Security Hub. The configuration gets mixed up or you don't get the desired results."

"It is not flexible for multi-cloud environments."

"AWS Security Hub cannot scale up to multiple different cloud environments; it only works for AWS."

"One aspect that could be improved in the solution is its adaptability to different markets and geopolitical restrictions. In certain regions like Thailand, specific services from certain countries or providers, such as AWS or Azure, might be limited or blocked. It also needs improvement in would require configuring the solution more adaptable to AWS infrastructure and function."

"The user interface, graphs, and dashboards of the solution could improve in the future. They are not very sophisticated and could use an update."

"I would like a more fine-grained capability for creating custom rules and a more user-friendly experience programmatically in writing queries and configuring custom security rules, making it quicker and easier."

"We need more granular-level customizations to enable or disable the rules in AWS Security Hub."

"Security needs to be measured based on their own criteria. We can't add custom criteria specific to our organization. For example, having an S3 bucket publicly available might be flagged as a critical alert, but it might not be critical in a sandbox environment. So, it gets flagged as critical, which becomes a false positive. So, customization options and creating custom dashboards would be areas for improvement."

More AWS Security Hub cons

"The technical support from Microsoft Defender XDR has been disappointingly slow, to the point that I am considering not renewing my unified support contract."

"It would be beneficial to have a more seamless experience with everything consolidated in one place, particularly when dealing with aspects related to the Exchange console."

"We should be able to use the product on devices like Apple, Linux, etc."

"The console is missing some features that would be helpful for a managed services provider, like device and user management."

"Microsoft 365 Defender does not have a unique package with emerging endpoint security technologies, such as EDR and XDR."

"There's still some more work to be done there. Additionally, the limited terminal live access an analyst has is very restricted."

"Microsoft Defender XDR could be improved with a lower price."

"Improving scalability, especially for very large tenants, could be beneficial for Microsoft Defender XDR."

More Microsoft Defender XDR cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Although Qualys TotalCloud is relatively expensive due to its unique automation features, its cost-effectiveness is rated an eight out of ten, with ten being the most costly."

"Its price seems higher compared to other tools, but it is worth it. If they could adjust the pricing and make it comparable with other tools, that would be great."

"The cost is high, but it meets our organizational needs."

"The pricing is comparable. It is built into our other product, so I cannot piecemeal it. It is a part of our subscription."

"The pricing for TotalCloud is attractive and competitive in the market. Given the features, especially the dashboard, I have no concerns regarding pricing."

"Qualys TotalCloud offers competitive pricing given its comprehensive suite of features, including integration, assessment, remediation, and detection capabilities, all within a single platform."

"Qualys TotalCloud is expensive."

"Qualys TotalCloud offers good pricing that is affordable and competitive with the market. Our partnership also provides us with additional benefits."

More Qualys TotalCloud pricing and cost advice

"The price of the solution is not very competitive but it is reasonable."

"Security Hub is not an expensive solution."

"The cost is based on the number of compliances, core checks, and services required, and for more than 10,000 recommendations, the charge is just one dollar."

"The price of AWS Security Hub is average compared to other solutions."

"AWS Security Hub is not an expensive tool. I would consider it to be a cheap solution. AWS Security Hub follows the PAYG pricing model, meaning you will have to pay for whatever you use."

"AWS Security Hub's pricing is pretty reasonable."

"The pricing is fine. It is not an expensive tool."

"There are multiple subscription models, like yearly, monthly, and packaged."

"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."

"The price of the solution is high compared to others and we have lost some customers because of it."

"The license cost for a year is approximately forty-four thousand, and this annual saving is a significant factor in our decision to switch."

"We have a lot of problems in Latin America regarding the price of Microsoft 365 Defender, because the relationship between dollars and the money of the different countries, it's is a lot. Many customers that have small businesses say that they would like the solution but it is too expensive. However, large companies do not find the cost an issue."

"The solution is affordable, and we haven't been hit with any hidden costs. The subscription model is straightforward, and it's easy to understand how much additional features cost. If we need to cancel a license or feature, we do that well in advance to avoid being charged for it, but overall, the pricing and licensing are simple and easy."

"Purchasing Microsoft Defender XDR as part of a Microsoft 365 bundle can be cost-effective, but acquiring it as a standalone product may be more expensive."

"The solutions price is fair for what they offer."

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

More Microsoft Defender XDR pricing and cost advice

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Comparison Review

it_user186927

Director of Operations at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

Feb 16, 2015

Cybereason vs. Interset vs. SQRRL

Capture DB - they all use NoSQL db and hence solve the ad hoc query and 'go back in time' problem with current best of breed SIEM and DLP solutions that rely on real time analysis of incoming logs (and don't store them). This means deeper and quicker iterative threat analysis and assessment…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	28

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	14

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	46
Midsize Enterprise	29
Large Enterprise	41

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys TotalCloud?

The price is very expensive, actually.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?

Areas that need improvement in every solution include the remediation part. The remediation steps should be simple en...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?

Our use case involves the assets that we have under cloud, the assets exposed to the internet, and the internal appli...

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Which is better - Azure Sentinel or AWS Security Hub?

We like that Azure Sentinel does not require as much maintenance as legacy SIEMs that are on-premises. Azure Sentinel...

See all answers

What needs improvement with AWS Security Hub?

AWS Security Hub cannot scale up to multiple different cloud environments; it only works for AWS. There are other pro...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for AWS Security Hub?

The major use case for identifying misconfigurations within the AWS environment focuses on determining whether the ad...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft 365 Defender?

My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Microsoft Defender XDR is that we are on an E5 license,...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?

From my perspective, Microsoft Defender XDR can be improved with better visibility in certain areas where I can trigg...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Microsoft 365 Defender?

My main use cases for Microsoft Defender XDR are telemetry, advanced hunting, and the ability to perform host isolati...

See all answers

Comparisons

Wiz vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 13% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 9% of the time

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 6% of the time

Nucleus Security vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 5% of the time

Qualys VMDR vs Qualys TotalCloud

Compared 3% of the time

More Qualys TotalCloud Competitors

Microsoft Sentinel vs AWS Security Hub

Compared 33% of the time

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs AWS Security Hub

Compared 7% of the time

Wiz vs AWS Security Hub

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs AWS Security Hub

Compared 4% of the time

JupiterOne vs AWS Security Hub

Compared 1% of the time

More AWS Security Hub Competitors

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 10% of the time

Wazuh vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 6% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Defender XDR Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Qualys TotalCloud

May 2026

Download Qualys TotalCloud product report

Buyer's Guide

AWS Security Hub

May 2026

Download AWS Security Hub product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR

May 2026

Download Microsoft Defender XDR product report

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan

SQRRL

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender

Overview

Qualys TotalCloud enhances security posture across cloud environments with continuous monitoring, vulnerability management, and risk visualization, ensuring efficient threat assessment and automated remediation for improved cyber risk reduction.

Qualys TotalCloud offers a robust suite of security tools essential for organizations managing multi-cloud infrastructures. By integrating cloud accounts and automating workflows, it supports AWS, Azure, and GCP, offering comprehensive vulnerability management and zero-day detection. The platform's user-friendly design, combined with its extensive risk management and unified threat assessment capabilities, enables organizations to prioritize and remediate vulnerabilities effectively. TruRisk Insights provides clear insights on cyber risks, while the automation options streamline patch management and scanning processes. API integration across IaaS and SaaS environments further enhances resource allocation efficiency and saves time, addressing misconfigurations across cloud environments.

What are the most important features of Qualys TotalCloud?

Accurate Vulnerability Reports: Delivers precise and actionable insights for risk mitigation.
Zero-Day Detection: Identifies and addresses zero-day vulnerabilities proactively.
Unified Threat Assessment: Offers comprehensive evaluation of threats across the environment.
Extensive Risk Management: Manages risks effectively with advanced insights and prioritization.
Continuous Monitoring: Provides non-stop surveillance for vulnerabilities and threats.
Cloud-Native Automation: Streamlines processes and reduces manual efforts using automation.
FlexScan for Internet-Facing VMs: Scans external VMs efficiently to detect vulnerabilities.
Dashboard Risk Visualization: Clear visualization helps prioritize vulnerabilities.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Improved Security Posture: Enhances threat detection and response across clouds.
Time Savings: Automation reduces time spent on manual vulnerability management.
Resource Efficiency: Better allocation of resources through streamlined workflows.
Enhanced Risk Prioritization: Focus on critical vulnerabilities for effective mitigation.
Integrated Cloud Accounts: Facilitates seamless cloud management and security.

Qualys TotalCloud is deployed in sectors needing rigorous vulnerability management, such as finance and healthcare. Companies utilize it to secure multi-cloud environments like AWS, Azure, and GCP, focus on compliance, and integrate security into CI/CD pipelines to detect and remedy threats pre-deployment.

Qualys

AWS Security Hub provides multi-account management and compliance checks alongside integrations with AWS services and third-party tools. It centralizes vulnerability tracking and risk prioritization, delivering real-time alerts for proactive security management.

AWS Security Hub enhances cloud security management through a centralized dashboard that monitors infrastructure resources and compliance scores, ensuring adherence to AWS standards. With integrations for vulnerability detection and security posture management, users can streamline security operations. While the platform offers notable benefits, areas for improvement include customization options for findings suppression and integration with multi-cloud environments.

What are the key features of AWS Security Hub?

Multi-Account Management: Seamlessly manage security across numerous accounts.
Compliance Checks: Stay aligned with standards such as PCI through automated reviews.
AWS Integrations: Connect effortlessly with AWS and third-party services to enhance security posture.
Real-Time Alerts: Quickly respond to potential threats with immediate notifications.
Risk Prioritization: Focus on critical vulnerabilities to enhance resource allocation.

What benefits should users expect from using AWS Security Hub?

Proactive Security: Early threat detection enables quicker mitigation strategies.
Cloud-Native Functionality: Utilize tools tailored for cloud environments.
Compliance Insights: Simplified compliance management provides transparency.
Ease of Use: Streamlined interface facilitates efficient security management.

Industries implementing AWS Security Hub leverage its capabilities for comprehensive security across multiple accounts and regions. Health, finance, and retail sectors benefit by automating compliance checks and monitoring security infrastructures. This service aids in identifying misconfigurations, tracking alerts, and ensuring infrastructure integrity during cyber incidents.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

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

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Edmunds, Frame.io, GoDaddy, Realtor.com

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

Buyer's Guide

AWS Security Hub vs. Microsoft Defender XDR

May 2023

Free Report: AWS Security Hub vs. Microsoft Defender XDR

Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Security Hub vs. Microsoft Defender XDR and other solutions. Updated: May 2023.

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