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CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 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
6.9
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager enhances security and reduces costs, despite challenges in quantifying precise ROI, with immediate benefits.
Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers cost savings, enhanced protection, and efficient threat management, with anticipated future benefits.
Deploying CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager has secured the infrastructure, which saves money, time, and resources.
The return on investment is primarily in time savings and better observability of what's happening.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager support varies; effectiveness depends on user experience, with inconsistent response times and complex contact methods.
Sentiment score
6.5
Support for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint varies, with premium tiers offering quicker responses, while basic support can be slow.
They respond immediately to our inquiries, resolve issues promptly, and provide valuable guidance, especially in critical situations.
We engage them when needed and receive prompt responses that typically resolve our issues.
Earlier, we received support for normal tickets within a day, but now it takes one or two days to resolve issues.
The level-one support seems disconnected from subject matter experts.
I rate Microsoft support 10 out of 10.
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.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager scales efficiently for small to massive deployments, supporting cloud and on-premise solutions with ease.
Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a scalable solution integrating smoothly with Microsoft, ideal for diverse organizational needs and configurations.
We can set permissions per team or department, allowing some teams to elevate specific applications while others have different permissions.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is quite scalable.
The available reports and other security tools assist in scaling it according to my organization's needs.
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.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is scalable enough to handle various devices across environments, whether they are laptops, Android devices, or operating in hybrid environments.
It's pretty easy to scale with Microsoft, as they make it easy if you look into the documentation.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is stable with high performance but occasionally experiences downtime during upgrades, especially on non-Windows systems.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is stable and reliable, with integration ease, despite occasional lags and minor update bugs.
It is a robust solution that has effectively supported our environment without major issues.
Since implementing it, we have not experienced any outages or stability issues.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager offers multiple options for creating and stopping policies.
I haven't seen any outages with Microsoft.
I rate Defender 10 out of 10 for stability.
Defender for Endpoint is extremely stable.
 

Room For Improvement

CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager needs user-friendly enhancements, better integration, faster support, pricing adjustments, and improved threat detection tools.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint needs frequent updates, improved integration, user-friendly interface, enhanced analytics, and better support documentation.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager could be improved by simplifying the administration process, specifically when setting up policies and applications.
Currently, no user-based policy option is available inside the EPM console.
Some features provided in the self-hosted version of EPM are not supported in the software as a service version, like connection to some analysis applied by Palo Alto.
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 use Microsoft partners to help govern the platform, and as part of an alliance, we want to gather data from each tenant and combine them for a complete view.
Providing more detailed information on how Microsoft Defender for Endpoint detects vulnerabilities.
 

Setup Cost

CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is costly, especially for small businesses, with potential discounts for large enterprises.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is cost-effective with bundled licenses, but advanced features may incur additional fees.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is slightly expensive, but costs can be negotiated to become more competitive.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is costly compared to other solutions.
Given our extensive Microsoft licensing, transitioning to Defender for Endpoint did not affect licensing costs.
It costs $15 per VM for the P2 plan, which is seen as affordable for customers.
The pricing, setup, and licensing were very easy and simple.
 

Valuable Features

CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager ensures security and compliance through admin control, ransomware protection, and advanced credential analytics.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers seamless integration, real-time threat detection, and efficient management, enhancing security with minimal system impact.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager effectively reduces malicious content in applications by allowing us to identify and block dangerous applications.
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager enhances computer security by providing minimal access, effectively preventing ransomware attacks.
The most valuable feature is the ability to control users with admin rights.
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.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides a unified management interface allowing customers to manage their on-premises and hybrid infrastructures from a single pane.
Web filtering is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint because it effectively maintains security for website access.
 

Categories and Ranking

CyberArk Endpoint Privilege...
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Compliance (4th), Privileged Access Management (PAM) (3rd), Application Control (5th), Ransomware Protection (7th)
Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
192
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Anti-Malware Tools category, the mindshare of CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is 2.2%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 17.0%, down from 22.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Anti-Malware Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Sumit Chavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps secure the infrastructure and control users with admin rights
There are many features that are currently missing. A customization option is required for certain policies. For instance, if we need to stop PowerShell scripting, we have to create a different policy for that. Being able to create a sub-level policy within a top-level policy would be good. Currently, no user-based policy option is available inside the EPM console. We can only create computer-based policies. The database is available, but there is a drawback in not being able to create local groups on the EPM console. We only have to depend on Active Directory. This limits infrastructure security as we depend on the Active Directory team to manage user groups. If they remove any users, we lose control. If we could create groups locally and block them or set specific policies, we would have more control. Local endpoint management is missing from the EPM site. Moreover, there is an issue with policies not running as expected when we make enhancements. We have to find multiple ways to whitelist applications or enhance policies.
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
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
8%
Educational Organization
27%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Looking for recommendations and a pros/cons template for software to detect insider threats
This is an inside-out --- outside-in --- inside-in question, as an insider can be an outsider as well. There is no short answer other than a blend of a PAM tool with Behavioral Analytics and Endpo...
What do you like most about CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager?
The most valuable feature of the solution is its performance.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager?
CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager is slightly expensive, but costs can be negotiated to become more competitive.
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

Viewfinity
Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Find out what your peers are saying about CyberArk Endpoint Privilege Manager vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,040 professionals have used our research since 2012.