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CrowdStrike Falcon vs MetaDefender comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 11, 2026

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

CrowdStrike Falcon
Ranking in Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
139
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (5th), Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (1st), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (1st), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (1st), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (1st), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (1st), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (2nd)
MetaDefender
Ranking in Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP)
14th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (24th), Anti-Malware Tools (11th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) category, the mindshare of CrowdStrike Falcon is 4.5%, down from 9.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MetaDefender is 1.7%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
CrowdStrike Falcon4.5%
MetaDefender1.7%
Other93.8%
Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP)
 

Featured Reviews

Waleed Omar - PeerSpot reviewer
Information Security Specialist at Arab Open University
Provides effective real-time threat detection with potential for cost optimization
Some features such as device control, firewall management, and file analysis are standalone products that we need to purchase separately. If these features came out of the box within the product, it would be much more beneficial for us. Other providers such as SentinelOne include these features in their base product. We attended a CrowdStrike Falcon event where they discussed some shallow AI features, but we cannot see these in our panel yet. We work with different solutions such as Darktrace and SocRadar, where AI features are automatically displayed in our dashboards after release. However, for CrowdStrike Falcon, we cannot see these features.
reviewer2805510 - PeerSpot reviewer
Partner Account manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 51-200 employees
File sanitization has protected critical networks and prevents hidden malware from entering
In my experience, the best features MetaDefender offers include the number of different antivirus engines that can scan files through multi-file scanning, often using 20 to 30 engines, with the top premium package around 33 engines, capturing 80 to 90% of malware in all those files. If any engine detects malware, the file is blocked, which increases detection because different engines catch different malware. When dealing with central government and defense, we find that if there is any kind of malware on the network or the file, whether that is a software file, hard disk file, or a pen drive, it cannot be allowed on the network. This is when we put it into the sandbox and perform file sanitization to ensure that nothing malicious comes into the network. Whenever we are dealing with central government or defense contracts, MetaDefender's core philosophy of trusting no file means it scans files, rebuilds them, and verifies their reputation, ensuring they contain no malicious content. This positively impacts our organization by detecting malware and stopping any kind of data leaks through the network. In terms of measurable outcomes across central government and defense, we are seeing saved time when files go through the antivirus file scanners. In financial services, such as with mortgage applications, the process sends files straight into MetaDefender file scanning that cleans out any malicious content.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Falcon has the capacity to identify potential problems quickly. The administrator can deploy the agent, and the users cannot change it. This assures you that the agent remains on this device. Also, the agent can act preemptively to provide alerts about potential problems."
"Falcon's best feature is its detection and blocking of threats."
"When something is detected you can log into the GUI and you can get very specific details about what happened."
"Cyberattack detection is very good, we use it for detecting different vulnerabilities, such as ransomware, virus, and malware, and it is a good product today when compared to Symantec that we used previously."
"I value the overall behavior analysis of CrowdStrike. The engine of this product is what drew us to this solution."
"We rely on our environmental security and we haven't had any infections so that's valuable for us."
"The most valuable feature of CrowdStrike Falcon is its accuracy."
"Its integration capability is valuable. It integrates easily with any OS."
"Overall, MetaDefender is a strong solution for file security, especially for handling email attachments and downloadable files."
"MetaDefender is 100% stable, making it one of the best cybersecurity solutions we offer, which provides confidence in promoting and recommending it to others."
"For one of my clients, a major bank in Turkey, they reported saving approximately 30 percent of their SOC time on analyzing emails since implementing MetaDefender."
"OPSWAT is the best alternative."
"The best feature of MetaDefender is that it can isolate USB devices from the connected network, blocks malware and unsafe files, and ensures all endpoints follow security policy, so that my organization remains safe and reduces the risk of these threats."
"MetaDefender has positively impacted my organization by reducing the risk of file-based attacks, which has significantly improved our overall defense against phishing and malware delivery techniques."
"I like the simplicity, the way it works out of the box. It's pretty easy to run and configure. The integration of the network devices with the ICAP server was easily done."
"MetaDefender is 100% stable, making it one of the best cybersecurity solutions we offer, which provides confidence in promoting and recommending it to others."
 

Cons

"To simplify the budgeting process for our clients, CrowdStrike should consider offering bundled packages that include essential features."
"CrowdStrike Falcon's GUI requires improvement for user-friendliness."
"If we have a dashboard capability to uninstall agents, I think that would be great."
"The ability to receive text alerts natively in the console would be kind of cool."
"I have worked with their technical support on several problems that were never fully resolved."
"The management of the solution could improve."
"It is cloud-based, and this does make some weary of the data being held on the cloud. Privacy requirements must be taken into account."
"They respond quickly on the weekdays, but the weekend response times are slower."
"What I would like to see improved in MetaDefender includes reducing the high cost of the license, as the pricing is very high."
"The licensing cost is somewhat high for smaller organizations like ours, so these are my personal suggestions for improvement."
"The main improvement needed is pricing because, as an enterprise solution, smaller partners do not often receive the attention they deserve."
"Some capabilities are lacking in reporting because we do not have full statistics that are easy for users to understand."
"While MetaDefender's mail gateway already gives fewer false positives, there is still room for improvement in reducing those even further."
"The UI can be more user-friendly, and initial steps and policy tuning take some time."
"The documentation is not well written, and I often need to talk with support."
"The main improvement needed is pricing because, as an enterprise solution, smaller partners do not often receive the attention they deserve."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our licensing fees were between $50,000 and $60,000 per year, which was pretty expensive for a small business."
"It is expensive compared to SentinelOne, but as the market leader, it is worth it."
"There is no license required to use this solution."
"With respect to pricing, my suggestion to others is to evaluate the environment and purchase what you need."
"When comparing to Microsoft, CrowdStrike Falcon is more expensive."
"CrowdStrike is a reasonably priced tool."
"It is an expensive product, but I think it is well worth the investment."
"There are approximately a hundred different modules you have to purchase, depending on what you want to do. I have most of the modules. How it works is you buy the portfolio, you have to decide all the components you want in it, and then they price out a bundle for you. I have almost all of the package features in my bundle. You only need to pay for the modules you want."
"We bought a three-year license, and that was pretty expensive. We agreed that it was really worth buying. It could be cheaper, but we understand that quality comes at a price."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Healthcare Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business51
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise62
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

Comparing CrowdStrike Falcon to Cortex XDR (Palo Alto)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. CrowdStrike Falcon Both Cortex XDR and Crowd Strike Falcon offer cloud-based solutions that are very scalable, secure, and user-friendly. Cortex XDR by Palo Alto offers ...
How does Crowdstrike Falcon compare with Darktrace?
Both of these products perform similarly and have many outstanding attributes. CrowdStrike Falcon offers an amazing user interface that makes setup easy and seamless. CrowdStrike Falcon offers a cl...
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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MetaDefender?
Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing, I find the pricing for kiosks, cloud, deep CDR, and adaptive sandbox appropriate. We are seeking more service partners for Opswat's professional servic...
What needs improvement with MetaDefender?
I don't think there are many feature improvements needed; it's a great solution. The main thing is just the pricing because it's such a top-end enterprise product. For smaller partners with a custo...
What is your primary use case for MetaDefender?
MetaDefender serves as a file security gateway that scans, cleans, and sanitizes files before they are allowed on the network, which stops malware, ransomware, zero-day attacks, and any kind of mal...
 

Also Known As

CrowdStrike Falcon XDR, CrowdStrike Falcon Threat Intelligence, CrowdStrike Identity Protection, CrowdStrike Falcon Surface, CrowdStrike Falcon Platform
OPSWAT MetaDefender, MetaDefender Core
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about CrowdStrike Falcon vs. MetaDefender and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
886,719 professionals have used our research since 2012.