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Darktrace vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

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
7.3
Darktrace's threat prevention boosts security, saves costs, and offers significant value, especially for online businesses, despite quantification challenges.
Sentiment score
7.2
Users report positive ROI from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, citing cost savings, improved security, and effective system integration.
Using this solution provides financial benefits by securing from server attacks, which offers indirect savings.
The return on investment is primarily in time savings and better observability of what's happening.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.6
Darktrace support is praised for its responsive and efficient service, though a few cite improvement areas for complex issues.
Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's support is generally reliable, with mixed reviews on response time and resolution quality.
Darktrace provides excellent technical support with a monthly meeting to review platform incidents, ensuring the system functions as expected.
The technical support from Darktrace is of high quality.
The response time and quality are satisfactory.
The level-one support seems disconnected from subject matter experts.
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.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Darktrace is praised for its scalability, efficiently managing large networks with flexible deployment despite cost concerns, excelling in diverse environments.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers scalable integration and cloud-based management, but customization may need extra tools in complex settings.
Darktrace has high scalability, and I would rate it a nine out of ten.
Since it's cloud-based, it expands easily.
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
8.5
Darktrace is highly stable, with users rating it 8-10, citing reliability despite rare minor issues like human error.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is stable, integrates well with Windows, but occasionally has configuration and memory issues.
The stability of Darktrace is excellent, rated ten out of ten.
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

Darktrace needs better integration, a simpler interface, automation enhancements, flexible pricing, improved documentation, and expanded notifications.
Users criticize Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's complex interface, limited integration, and request enhancements in analytics, protection, and support.
There is no dedicated salesperson in Egypt, and having one would help to improve focus on this market.
The management dashboards and the meter dashboards should be more user-friendly and simple to use for easy management.
There are still some issues with the network capturing or blocking traffic even after implementing exceptions.
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

Darktrace is costly for small businesses but offers flexible plans and pricing varies with devices and modules chosen.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers flexible, cost-effective pricing, especially in E5 bundles, adapting to various enterprise licensing needs.
The product is considered expensive compared to others.
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

Darktrace excels in AI threat detection, real-time monitoring, and autonomous response, offering seamless integration and an intuitive interface.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides comprehensive cybersecurity with seamless integration, robust threat analytics, and efficient management across platforms without performance impact.
The most valuable features are the AI and advanced learning tools that distinguish it from other products.
The features that are most valuable to me include detection, response with analytics, and network detection.
Darktrace is valuable since it offers full packet capture and detailed metadata.
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

Darktrace
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (9th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (1st), Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (1st), Network Detection and Response (NDR) (1st), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (5th), AI-Powered Chatbots (2nd), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (16th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (12th), Attack Surface Management (ASM) (3rd), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (2nd)
Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
190
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (2nd), Microsoft Security Suite (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Security Systems solutions, they serve different purposes. Darktrace is designed for Extended Detection and Response (XDR) and holds a mindshare of 9.9%, down 10.7% compared to last year.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, on the other hand, focuses on Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP), holds 11.2% mindshare, down 15.5% since last year.
Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

Peter-Murphy - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables proactive threat detection and immediate response through AI monitoring
The most valuable feature of Darktrace is its ability to detect and counter threats before they occur. The autonomous response capability is always enabled, blocking threats immediately without hesitation. Additionally, the Darktrace email platform is a significant asset since it addresses incoming threats before they reach the network, enhancing our security measures. Protecting the business is essential, and ensuring security through 24/7 AI monitoring is invaluable.
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
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions are best for your needs.
832,340 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
28%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
Which is better - SentinelOne or Darktrace?
Which solution is better depends on which is more suitable specifically for your company. Darktrace, for example, is meant for smaller to medium-sized businesses. It is also a good option for organ...
What do you like most about Darktrace?
A very useful feature in Darktrace for real-time threat analysis is the packet inspection that analyzes the packet traffic in real time.
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

No data available
Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Irwin Mitchell, Open Energi, Wellcome Trust, FirstGroup plc, Virgin Trains, Drax, QUI! Group, DNK, CreaCard, Macrosynergy, Sisley, William Hill plc, Toyota Canada, Royal British Legion, Vitol, Allianz, KKR, AIRBUS, dpd, Billabong, Mclaren Group.
Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Find out what your peers are saying about CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Wazuh and others in Extended Detection and Response (XDR). Updated: January 2025.
832,340 professionals have used our research since 2012.