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ESET PROTECT Enterprise 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
8.4
ESET PROTECT Enterprise delivers high ROI with robust protection, appreciated for its functionality, security benefits, and easy installation.
Sentiment score
7.2
Users report positive ROI from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, citing cost savings, improved security, and effective system integration.
The return on investment is excellent due to its functionality and ease of installation.
The return on investment is primarily in time savings and better observability of what's happening.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
8.8
ESET PROTECT Enterprise's customer service is praised for quick, helpful support, high satisfaction, and knowledgeable, approachable staff.
Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's support is generally reliable, with mixed reviews on response time and resolution quality.
The tech support from ESET is amazing, and I would rate it as ten out of ten.
They were helpful with billing inquiries and offered promotions and discounts.
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.
The level-one support seems disconnected from subject matter experts.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
ESET PROTECT Enterprise efficiently scales for thousands of endpoints, is user-friendly, and receives high ratings for scalability.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers scalable integration and cloud-based management, but customization may need extra tools in complex settings.
It can efficiently scale up to thousands of devices in an organization without issues.
It is better suited for workstations rather than server environments.
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.
Defender's scalability is phenomenal, and it's going to be one of the keys to resolving issues for the SOC.
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
ESET PROTECT Enterprise offers stable performance, maintaining reliability even with user loads, despite occasional manageable false positives.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is stable, integrates well with Windows, but occasionally has configuration and memory issues.
The solution is stable, and I have not encountered any glitches.
The solution is very, very stable.
Defender for Endpoint is extremely stable.
I rate Defender 10 out of 10 for stability.
I haven't seen any outages with Microsoft.
 

Room For Improvement

ESET PROTECT Enterprise needs simpler deployment, better interface, enhanced automation, improved documentation, and reduced system demands.
Users criticize Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's complex interface, limited integration, and request enhancements in analytics, protection, and support.
It takes a lot of processing power when the machine is initially booted.
They need to reduce the number of notifications on the endpoints.
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.
You have to go through tons of documentation to find what you want.
 

Setup Cost

ESET PROTECT Enterprise is affordable, offering good value and dependable performance, with licensing starting around $10 per license.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers flexible, cost-effective pricing, especially in E5 bundles, adapting to various enterprise licensing needs.
We recently paid fourteen dollars and thirty-six cents per unit for 20 users, which is reasonable.
The pricing is reasonable, and I would rate it five on a scale of ten where five is moderate.
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

ESET PROTECT Enterprise offers comprehensive security features, efficient management, low resource use, and advanced automation for effective network protection.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides comprehensive cybersecurity with seamless integration, robust threat analytics, and efficient management across platforms without performance impact.
It allows simple whitelisting and has a learning mode for new installations, which reduces false positives by adapting to typical user habits.
Its web component prevents infections from malicious websites, which enhances its anti-malware capabilities.
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.
The notification and reporting features are most valuable because we are part of a compliance project, and maintaining SOC 2 compliance is critical.
Web filtering is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint because it effectively maintains security for website access.
 

Categories and Ranking

ESET PROTECT Enterprise
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
11th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (20th)
Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
1st
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), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (2nd), Microsoft Security Suite (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Anti-Malware Tools category, the mindshare of ESET PROTECT Enterprise is 1.5%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 17.4%, down from 23.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Anti-Malware Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Cees Van Den Haak - PeerSpot reviewer
A reliable solution that offers enterprise protection
Our primary use case involves approximately 180 workstations, 180 laptops, and office protection in our environment ESET PROTECT Enterprise is reliable.  The tool is complex and expensive.  I have been using the product for 10 years.  The tool is stable.  The product is scalable. My company…
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
6%
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

What do you like most about ESET Protect?
The product enabled Zero-Day Protection for our environment. We never encountered any issues regarding threats.
What needs improvement with ESET Protect?
They need to reduce the number of notifications on the endpoints.
What is your primary use case for ESET Protect?
We are using ESET PROTECT on our workstations. We previously used it on the servers, but now it is mainly implemented on the workstations.
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

ESET Protect, ESET File Security
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 ESET PROTECT Enterprise vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.