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Check Point Harmony Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint 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
7.9
Check Point Harmony Endpoint users report increased ROI through cost savings, improved security, and enhanced productivity from fewer security incidents.
Sentiment score
7.2
Users report positive ROI from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, citing cost savings, improved security, and effective system integration.
The return on investment is primarily in time savings and better observability of what's happening.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.4
Check Point Harmony Endpoint's support is professional and knowledgeable but needs faster responses and clearer communication.
Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's support is generally reliable, with mixed reviews on response time and resolution quality.
Only email support is available, leading to delays in getting assistance.
Due to our size, we don't have access to direct technical support, but the knowledge base, Microsoft Learn, and the articles available are really good.
I rate Microsoft support 10 out of 10.
The level-one support seems disconnected from subject matter experts.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.8
Check Point Harmony Endpoint is scalable and highly rated, but some face hardware challenges and deployment timeline issues.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers scalable integration and cloud-based management, but customization may need extra tools in complex settings.
Check Point Harmony Endpoint is scalable, suitable for both small and large companies.
We managed to scale it out in a short amount of time, with two months of planning and three months of implementation on 10,000 computers.
It's pretty easy to scale with Microsoft, as they make it easy if you look into the documentation.
Defender's scalability is phenomenal, and it's going to be one of the keys to resolving issues for the SOC.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Check Point Harmony Endpoint is praised for reliability, stability, easy integration, with few occasional glitches noted by users.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is stable, integrates well with Windows, but occasionally has configuration and memory issues.
Defender for Endpoint is extremely stable.
I haven't seen any outages with Microsoft.
I rate Defender 10 out of 10 for stability.
 

Room For Improvement

Check Point Harmony Endpoint needs improved integration, user interface, resource efficiency, and affordability, addressing compatibility, deployment, and management challenges.
Users criticize Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's complex interface, limited integration, and request enhancements in analytics, protection, and support.
Better technical support would enhance the product's competitiveness.
Repeated interactions are necessary due to Level One's lack of tools and knowledge, hindering efficient problem-solving and negatively impacting our experience with Microsoft support.
We have multiple endpoints, and we want to look for signals across tenants.
An additional feature that could be included in the next release is free Copilot.
 

Setup Cost

Check Point Harmony Endpoint provides robust security with flexible licensing, despite higher costs compared to some alternatives.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers flexible, cost-effective pricing, especially in E5 bundles, adapting to various enterprise licensing needs.
Pricing is a bit expensive but justified by the product’s features, capabilities, and scalability.
Given our extensive Microsoft licensing, transitioning to Defender for Endpoint did not affect licensing costs.
The pricing, setup, and licensing were very easy and simple.
 

Valuable Features

Check Point Harmony Endpoint offers robust security with ease of use, including advanced threat detection and centralized management features.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides comprehensive cybersecurity with seamless integration, robust threat analytics, and efficient management across platforms without performance impact.
Endpoint protection is valuable.
Defender for Endpoint's coverage across different platforms in our environment is pretty good. We have devices running Linux, Mac OS, Windows, iOS, and Android. It covers all of them.
Attack surface reduction and limiting attack surface vectors are valuable features.
Web filtering is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint because it effectively maintains security for website access.
 

Categories and Ranking

Check Point Harmony Endpoint
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
7th
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
9th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
112
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
1st
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
190
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of Check Point Harmony Endpoint is 2.6%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 11.3%, down from 15.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

Alejandro Flores. - PeerSpot reviewer
Good visibility with cloud centralized management and several layers of security
There are some "weak points" that have to be mentioned, including: 1) If the IT department is used to "cloning" endpoints (making images) you are going to have a hard time trying to install the product and you are going to end up reading a lot of Check Point documents. 2) If you are used to the granularity of roles features in Check Point Quantums products you are going to be a little bit disappointed. You can't set customized roles with customized read/write permissions. 3) You need a mature security team to manage this solution in order to get the most value from it.
AnuragSrivastava - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides detailed visibility into threats but the ability to add exceptions needs improvement
One major item for improvement is the ability to add exceptions. We can add some exceptions, but not at the level we need to. The second major area for improvement involves enhanced capabilities for different operating systems or platforms. That is, even though we have coverage for different operating systems or platforms such as Linux, we don't get all of the controls and enhanced capabilities that are available with Windows devices. Reporting could also be improved because, at present, we get limited results at times. For example, in an environment with more than 100,000 devices, you may just get 10,000 results when you run a report.
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Educational Organization
27%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Check Point Harmony Endpoint?
The platform's most valuable features are the ability to build API, which meets our business requirements, and the VPN client, which provides VPN access from a single client.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point Harmony Endpoint?
Pricing is a bit expensive but justified by the product’s features, capabilities, and scalability. It is suitable for enterprises but can be challenging to position for small to medium customers.
What needs improvement with Check Point Harmony Endpoint?
Support needs improvement. Currently, support is primarily via email, which leads to longer response times. Fine-tuning for applications and better support from Harmony would be helpful, especially...
How is Cortex XDR compared with Microsoft Defender?
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface, applies behavioral-based endpoint protection and response, and includes risk-ba...
Which offers better endpoint security - Symantec or Microsoft Defender?
We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior solution. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security s...
How does Microsoft Defender for Endpoint compare with Crowdstrike Falcon?
The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never push your machine hardware to "test", you don't have the usual "scan now" feature ...
 

Also Known As

Check Point Endpoint Security, Endpoint Security, Check Point SandBlast Agent
Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
 

Interactive Demo

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Boston Properties, Independence Care System, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), Courtagen Life Sciences, Carmel Partners
Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point Harmony Endpoint vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,020 professionals have used our research since 2012.