Cisco XDR vs Microsoft Defender XDR comparison

Cisco and Microsoft are both solutions in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category. Cisco is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.4, while Microsoft is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.4. Cisco holds a 1.9% mindshare in XDR, compared to Microsoft’s 4.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Cisco XDR

Read 9 Cisco XDR reviews

1,486 Views
1,397 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender XDR

Read 106 Microsoft Defender XDR reviews

10,352 Views
5,797 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Cisco XDR

Microsoft Defender XDR

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 22, 2024

Microsoft 365 Defender and Cisco XDR are powerful security solutions that excel in different areas. Microsoft 365 Defender is preferred for its seamless integration with other Microsoft products, while Cisco XDR stands out with comprehensive threat intelligence. Cisco XDR has an edge due to its broader scope of features.

Features: Microsoft 365 Defender offers robust threat protection, integration within the Microsoft ecosystem, and effective incident response capabilities. Cisco XDR provides extensive threat intelligence, advanced analytics, and cross-domain visibility features.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft 365 Defender could enhance threat detection accuracy, reduce false positives, and improve its non-Microsoft product compatibility. Cisco XDR needs to improve user-friendliness, provide better documentation, and streamline complex deployment processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft 365 Defender deployment is straightforward within Microsoft environments, with responsive customer service. Cisco XDR has a more complex deployment process but offers comprehensive support post-deployment.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft 365 Defender is favored for its competitive pricing and value within Microsoft-centric organizations. Cisco XDR's cost is higher, reflecting its extensive features and threat intelligence. Microsoft 365 Defender delivers better ROI in Microsoft setups, while Cisco XDR justifies its higher cost for broader-spectrum security needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco XDR vs. Microsoft Defender XDR Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco XDR vs. Microsoft Defender XDR

December 2025

Download the complete report

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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

Cisco XDR

Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

15th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Microsoft Defender XDR

Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

106

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (7th), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category, the mindshare of Cisco XDR is 1.9%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 4.9%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender XDR	4.9%
Cisco XDR	1.9%
Other	93.2%

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

Featured Reviews

Joseph Houghes

Cloud Architect at Pure Storage

flexible reporting and analytics boost data-driven security responses

The feature I appreciate the most about Cisco XDR is the flexibility for a user to be able to create their own reporting and dashboards. I would say I got to stop beta testing myself. I am testing what can be customized the most with it. Being able to ingest all the analytics and make it something that's either meaningful to them or to their own leadership is a big plus. It's not just what the product is at launch; you have the ability to customize and make it useful to your business to actually get real, purposeful information out of just a swamp of data. The features of Cisco XDR have actually benefited the organization significantly by allowing us to do the outputs of specific data and even filtered subsets of the data. We can do the same reporting but only deliver in either reports or dashboards the information about the systems that a specific team is responsible for, or the larger teams that multiple departments or IT silos roll up into. We're basically able to just modify the filters and have the same reports in the same dashboards where it's all the same; 99% of the work is the same.

Read full review

Kunle Oluwadiya

House security operator at Cypress Creek Renewables

Advanced threat hunting saves significant time in tracking and responding to incidents

Microsoft Defender XDR could be improved with a lower price. My main suggestion would essentially be what Copilot is providing, which is a single pane of glass, so I don't have to go to different windows. That's just a workflow consideration for me. It would be great to have all the information centralized into one particular data app. If I need to open up extra ones, I can, however, I would appreciate a future where everything I need is right there on one single pane of glass. Beyond that, there's really nothing else I see that I would want Microsoft to improve.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"My advice for other organizations considering Cisco XDR is that it offers proactive security measures that are really very helpful."

"I appreciate the granularity of what I get from Cisco XDR the most."

"The features of Cisco XDR benefit my company since time is money. When outages happen and when a customer can't reach the internet, they get agitated. Therefore, the quicker we can mitigate an issue, our customers get happier in a quicker fashion."

"The feature I appreciate the most about Cisco XDR is the reliability."

"Cisco XDR is appreciated as a SaaS-based platform for its user-friendliness with simple management tools that are easy for configuration."

"One of my favorite features of Cisco XDR is the automation tool, which saves a lot of time because we can craft these automations and workflows."

"The feature I appreciate the most about Cisco XDR is the flexibility for a user to be able to create their own reporting and dashboards, ingest all the analytics, and make it something meaningful to their business to actually get real, purposeful information out of just a swamp of data."

"Cisco XDR offers threat intelligence and links with the Firewall."

More Cisco XDR pros

"The feature I find most valuable is Defender for Endpoint."

"The threat intelligence is excellent."

"There is also one dashboard that shows us the status of many controls at once and the details I can get... It gives a great overview of many areas, such as files, emails, chats, and links. Even with the apps, it gives you a great overview. In one place you can see where you should look into things more deeply..."

"The integration, visibility, vulnerability management, and device identification are valuable."

"Among the most valuable features are the alert timeline, the alert story, which is pretty detailed. It gives us complete insight into what exactly happened on the endpoint. It doesn't just say, "Malware detected." It tells us what caused that malware to be detected and how it was detected. It gives us a complete timeline from beginning to end."

"Microsoft 365 Defender's most valuable feature is the ability to control the shadow IP."

"I rate Microsoft Defender XDR 10 out of 10."

"It gives a lot of flexibility in terms of configuration and customization as per the business requirements."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pros

Cons

"While Cisco XDR is robust, it could benefit from improvements on the AI side."

"If we have a list of domains we need to block, such as 4,000 domains, I can only block 100 domains at a time because if I put in more than 100 domains, I hit that 2,000 character max and can't continue with an investigation. Being able to put in all 4,000 domains, without a character limit or observable limit, would make doing those case books a whole lot easier and blocking those domains a whole lot easier too."

"The licensing of Cisco XDR is a bit complicated. The cost can depend on what it is, and the process can be a little complicated."

"Cisco XDR can be improved by addressing the upfront cost."

"They need to provide better pricing and bundle XDR licenses with products like Meraki solutions or Firepower Threat Defense."

"Regarding the pricing aspect of Cisco XDR, I think the price is a bit expensive."

"My only complaint about Cisco XDR is related to licensing, which is complicated."

"They need to provide better pricing and bundle XDR licenses with products like Meraki solutions or Firepower Threat Defense."

More Cisco XDR cons

"I'd like to see a wider solution that includes not only desktop devices but also other devices, such as servers, storage cabinets, switching equipment, et cetera."

"It would be helpful if the solution could scan faster when it comes to scanning attachments to emails."

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

"There is definitely scope for improvement in the automation area. Because the solution is a SaaS platform, we don't have the overall ability to automate stuff.... There is no direct way to go ahead because it's a SaaS platform."

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

"The only issue I've had is, when it comes to deployment, the steps I must take around policy setup. That is challenging."

"The solution could improve by having better machine learning and AI. Additionally, the interface, documentation, and integration could be better."

"Microsoft could improve on threat hunting and build more on threat detection and handling."

More Microsoft Defender XDR cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing of Cisco XDR is a bit complicated. The cost can depend on what it is, and the process can be a little complicated."

"Microsoft purposely makes its license combinations complex and includes combinations like Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5, Office 365 E3, Office 365 E5, and Office 365 E1, so you get confused. Microsoft tries to sell you a bundle of a lot of things together."

"The functionality is fantastic, but for medium and small-sized companies it's overpriced. It would be better if it were a little bit cheaper."

"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."

"For Defender, they have Endpoint Plan 1 and Endpoint Plan 2, but I don't know on what basis they have classified Endpoint Plan 1 and Plan 2, but it has given me enough pain to pick and design Endpoint Plan 1 or Endpoint Plan 2 for my organization. In fact, we are still struggling with it. Too many SKUs are confusing. There should not be too many SKUs, and they shouldn't charge for every new feature."

"Microsoft Defender XDR's licensing is complicated."

"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."

"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."

"Microsoft 365 Defender offers competitive pricing."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

University

Computer Software Company

13%

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	4
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	2

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	47
Midsize Enterprise	25
Large Enterprise	38

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco XDR?

My experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing has been intriguing. I used to work for a Cisco partner, and I still have friends there with whom I discuss comparisons regarding some hardwar...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco XDR?

Improvements in Cisco XDR revolve around performance. The less performance it utilizes to run at high configuration levels, the better it becomes, so all vendors need to continue working on keeping...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco XDR?

As a security consultant, I use multiple SIEM and XDR solutions, so cumulatively, I can say I have used Cisco XDR for around one year.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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

My experience with pricing, setup, costs, and licensing of Microsoft Defender XDR is tied to our E5 subscription, which is very straightforward for us. We also purchase the uplift for our mobile us...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?

I am not aware of a mobile app that would be available for my team. With a single analyst, if she is ever away, it would be beneficial to have easier access. While she can use the web portal, the e...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 19% of the time

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Compared 11% of the time

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Compared 11% of the time

Darktrace vs Cisco XDR

Compared 10% of the time

Rapid7 InsightIDR vs Cisco XDR

Compared 4% of the time

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CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 11% of the time

Wazuh vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

Huntress Managed EDR vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Defender XDR Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco XDR

January 2026

Download Cisco XDR product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR

January 2026

Download Microsoft Defender XDR product report

Also Known As

No data available

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender

Interactive Demo

Cisco

Demo not available

Microsoft

Overview

Cisco XDR delivers an advanced threat detection and response experience through integration with Cisco's security suite, offering enhanced visibility, intelligence, and automation for network protection and system evaluations.

Cisco XDR integrates with Cisco Meraki and Splunk, excelling in threat intelligence and zero-day attack detection. Its automated response features provide crucial support in managing extensive networks, while the comprehensive log management facilitates detailed troubleshooting. Dashboards assist in system evaluation for effective gap mitigation. Despite its licensing complexity and upfront costs, it remains a key tool for Security Operations Center analysts and internet service providers, helping isolate threats and ensuring consistent security monitoring.

What features make Cisco XDR stand out?

Threat Intelligence: Offers robust insights to identify and manage threats.
Integration: Seamlessly works with Cisco Meraki and Splunk.
Zero-Day Detection: Protects against unknown threats with innovative technology.
Automated Response: Automates tasks such as phishing email handling.
Comprehensive Log Management: Supports detailed troubleshooting and network visibility.

Which benefits should users look for?

Enhanced Network Visibility: Allows for better monitoring and protection.
Reduced Downtime: Reliable performance ensures minimal interruptions.
Ease of Training: Intuitive tools facilitate rapid adoption.
Gap Mitigation: Dashboards provide insights to strengthen system security.

Cisco XDR is widely implemented in sectors requiring robust network management and monitoring. Organizations use it alongside Cisco Firepower Threat Defense and Meraki for comprehensive security measures, benefiting global customers and internet service providers for traffic and routing insights across devices and data centers.

Cisco

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

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

Buyer's Guide

Cisco XDR vs. Microsoft Defender XDR

December 2025

Free Report: Cisco XDR vs. Microsoft Defender XDR

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