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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
6.3
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

"The threat intelligence is the most valuable feature."
"CrowdStrike Falcon helps with endpoint protection by having very low memory utilization and processor usage, so it doesn't impact the computer system performance, and the computer system works very fast compared to all other endpoint protection solutions."
"The most valuable features of CrowdStrike Falcon include Falcon Fusion workflows and endpoint detection capabilities."
"The most beneficial features of CrowdStrike Falcon are that it is easy to install, easy to manage, lightweight, and it can stop breaches."
"It's very easy to set up."
"The initial setup was straightforward."
"CrowdStrike provides a lot of visibility in their tool."
"My advice to others is this is a good solution that does not require a lot of attention."
"MetaDefender is 100% stable, making it one of the best cybersecurity solutions we offer, which provides confidence in promoting and recommending it to others."
"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."
"OPSWAT is the best alternative."
"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."
"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."
"Overall, MetaDefender is a strong solution for file security, especially for handling email attachments and downloadable files."
"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 is 100% stable, making it one of the best cybersecurity solutions we offer, which provides confidence in promoting and recommending it to others."
 

Cons

"In terms of features, I would like them to add detailed logging functionality in CrowdStrike. Currently, CrowdStrike detects the threats immediately based on the IOCs and the signature-based policies or many threat behaviors, but in terms of logging those threats, it is not very good. The information that they provide in the logs is very little. They can build more analytics into it."
"An improvement would be to extend support to legacy and unsupported servers."
"Basically, they don't cover legacy OS or applications. That's the only issue we're concerned about"
"We have had to open a case with the technical support to get some issues and bugs resolved."
"We would like to be able to perform on-demand scanning, rather than relying on the scheduler."
"Some of Falcon's features are a bit pricey."
"The price of CrowdStrike Falcon could be better. It is very expensive, we pay approximately $900 per month for the licenses."
"Improvement could be made in the number of false positives we get, there are more than there needs to be."
"Some capabilities are lacking in reporting because we do not have full statistics that are easy for users to understand."
"The documentation is not well written, and I often need to talk with support."
"While MetaDefender's mail gateway already gives fewer false positives, there is still room for improvement in reducing those even further."
"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 UI can be more user-friendly, and initial steps and policy tuning take some time."
"The main improvement needed is pricing because, as an enterprise solution, smaller partners do not often receive the attention they deserve."
"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

"The solution isn't very costly; it's affordable."
"The cost of CrowdStrike Falcon in Latin America seems high relative to the economic conditions in the region."
"The solution's pricing is great for us."
"The price is fixed with no room for negotiation."
"The price of CrowdStrike Falcon is expensive and should be reduced."
"I do not have experience with the cost or licensing of the product."
"It has an annual license, and it is not that expensive."
"Crowdstrike Falcon is relatively cheap."
"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
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Healthcare Company
10%
Construction Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business52
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise62
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
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.
886,858 professionals have used our research since 2012.