


Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Huntress Managed EDR compete in the cybersecurity space, focusing on endpoint protection. While both have distinct strengths, Huntress Managed EDR holds an advantage due to 24/7 SOC, efficient detection capabilities, and ease of deployment, offering peace of mind and proactive protection.
Features: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is well-integrated with the Windows platform, offering anti-spam, URL syntax checking, and a unique Secret Surf feature. Users benefit from its large database and integration with Microsoft products, offering real-time protection. Huntress Managed EDR is praised for active alerts, honeypot ransomware detection, and a robust 24/7 SOC service, enhancing security posture and ensuring reliable protection.
Room for Improvement: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint needs to enhance customer service, connectivity, and processing speed. Ransomware protection, reporting, and third-party tool integration require improvement. Huntress Managed EDR can enhance its user interface, alerting systems, third-party integrations, and provide more intuitive dashboards with advanced reporting capabilities.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint benefits from seamless Windows integration, enabling easier deployment, though its customer service could be improved. Huntress Managed EDR is noted for minimal setup costs, straightforward deployment, and reliable support. Its 24/7 SOC expertise provides responsive and effective security, though third-party integration could enhance its offering.
Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is cost-effective when bundled with Windows or M365 subscriptions, though its standalone pricing can be high. It offers ROI by reducing the need for third-party solutions. Huntress Managed EDR has competitive pricing, providing good value against its features and comprehensive services. It ensures flexibility and affordability for small to medium businesses, making ROI clear in security enhancement.
They appreciate the rich telemetry data from the solution, as it provides in-depth threat identification.
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks helps to reduce my total cost of ownership significantly.
I have seen a return on investment with Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks, as this product is offered at a minimal cost, and we can find a good ROI from it.
We have to provide endpoint security as a core part of our service as an MSP and using Huntress Managed EDR has saved us approximately a thousand dollars a month over using other more expensive, less effective solutions.
My advice to others looking into using Huntress Managed EDR is that if they're looking for an easy-to-use and manage solution, Huntress Managed EDR is a good fit for a small to medium company.
I have seen a return on investment mainly through time savings, as we know all the endpoints are protected 24/7, and we understand the value of the SOC team, with the human SOC team being very valuable.
Without detection and protection measures, organizations would face substantial payments and reputational damage, including the necessity to inform customers about data breaches, potentially leading to loss of business.
We have seen a return on investment when using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, as it saves labor by reducing the need for staff to focus on it.
The biggest return on investment for me when using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is the time saving.
The technical support from Palo Alto deserves a mark of ten because they reach out within an hour whenever assistance is needed.
There is no back and forth, and they know what we are asking for and come up with the best resolution for a solution.
If any of these services are missed, it becomes a problem in terms of support tickets, follow-up, or special configuration that needs to be done in the system.
I felt it was important to raise awareness about this new technique where attackers use legitimate applications to gain remote access and control of computers.
They are thorough and ensure the problem is addressed without pushing responsibilities onto me unnecessarily.
For technical support, I would rate Huntress a ten out of ten, and in truth, they are better than that.
The Microsoft agent, who did not actually work for Microsoft, is one of the vendors that Microsoft uses for support, said, 'Just to set expectations, my lunch break is in an hour and I am going to go away then.'
The level-one support seems disconnected from subject matter experts.
I rate Microsoft support 10 out of 10.
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks can be expanded anytime by purchasing another license without any issues related to scalability.
I think scalability for Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is good.
I know other techs with thousands deployed, so scalability isn't an issue.
Scaling Huntress is simple; I can manage up to a thousand devices without issue.
I can easily scale from one machine to thousands without any fuss.
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.
Compatibility is its main feature.
Cortex remains fast and responsive, even with increasing data and alerts.
The thresholds we've seen on our firewall boxes at some instances reached 80% to 85%, but even at that level of utilization, we don't observe any latency or any issues reported with respect to accessing the application.
Cortex XDR is stable, offering high quality and reliable performance.
About stability, we have not seen any lagging, crashing, downtime, or any sort of instability with Huntress Managed EDR.
We have not experienced any issues with lagging, crashing, or downtime.
I never experienced issues, but once there was an instance with false positives with their Rio service, which was quickly resolved by customer service.
I haven't seen any outages with Microsoft.
I rate Defender 10 out of 10 for stability.
Defender for Endpoint is extremely stable.
Improving reporting and dashboard customization, along with the addition of real-time and exportable reports, would help SOC teams greatly.
The inclusion of this feature would allow the application of DLP policies alongside antivirus policies via a single agent and console, making it more competitive as other OEMs often offer DLP solutions as part of their antivirus products.
If the per GB data could be provided at a certain level free of cost or at the same cost which the customer is taking for the entire bundle, that would be better.
A more transparent way for the support team at Huntress and our IT team to collaborate to make it faster and easier would be beneficial.
Huntress Managed EDR indicated this is a normal behavior, but I would prefer to be alerted whenever there is any incident involving Windows Defender on any machines, regardless of the status of the incident.
Since we support customers in different countries, expanding the language options for their training would be beneficial.
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.
In contrast, competing products offer reduced pricing for long-term commitments, which makes it difficult for us in that environment.
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.
The pricing on SentinelOne is far more reasonable and cheaper than Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks.
I would say it is definitely not a cheap product, considering how mature it is and how scalable all Palo Alto products are together.
Cortex XDR is perceived as expensive by some customers, yet offers dynamic pricing.
The savings from utilizing the included Windows Defender offset the cost of Huntress Managed EDR, making it an affordable solution overall.
It is not too expensive or too cheap. It is just right.
It can get expensive for small to medium businesses if large license quantities are not purchased.
That has been the trend we have seen with Microsoft lately—it is just getting more and more expensive.
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.
It incorporates AI for normal behavior detection, distinguishing unusual operations.
The product provides automation responses in case of a threat attack, severity assessments, centralized manageability, and comprehensive compliance features, resulting in reduced costs.
It includes machine learning to easily analyze data and detect complex threats across endpoints, networks, or clouds.
What stands out most is their human element: when faced with an unknown threat, real people, not just automated processes, are investigating it, and they're people we trust.
They provide detailed remediation steps, explaining why an issue is a problem and what steps to take.
Previously, I could not modify it unless I had special Microsoft licensing, so it was beneficial to control Windows Defender through a central console to add policies and things like that.
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.
One of the best features of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is its database for identifying zero-day attacks or malware attacks.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | 7.3% |
| Huntress Managed EDR | 3.2% |
| Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks | 3.4% |
| Other | 86.1% |



| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 42 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 21 |
| Large Enterprise | 47 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 55 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 3 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 80 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 40 |
| Large Enterprise | 92 |
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks provides advanced threat detection with AI-driven endpoint protection and seamless integration, ensuring multi-layered security and automatic threat response.
Cortex XDR is designed to safeguard endpoints against malware and suspicious activities. It offers advanced threat detection and response capabilities using behavioral analysis, AI, and machine learning. It seamlessly integrates with security infrastructures, providing endpoint security, firewall integration, and enhanced visibility in both cloud-based and on-premises environments.
What are the key features of Cortex XDR?Organizations in diverse sectors deploy Cortex XDR to protect against malware, leveraging its advanced threat detection capabilities. Its integration with existing security infrastructures appeals to those seeking comprehensive protection in both cloud and on-premises environments, providing enhanced visibility and threat intelligence.
Huntress Managed EDR provides round-the-clock threat detection, incident response, and remediation services. It offers a cost-effective security solution tailored for small to medium businesses, integrating seamlessly with Microsoft Defender to bolster cybersecurity without needing extensive security personnel.
Huntress Managed EDR specializes in comprehensive threat-hunting and proactive defense, designed to operate alongside existing antivirus tools like Microsoft Defender. It delivers continuous monitoring and advanced threat detection to protect endpoints from threats beyond traditional antivirus capabilities. The platform features a user-oriented interface enabling efficient endpoint management and security. While valued for its 24/7 security operations and threat response, Huntress faces certain challenges such as enhancing reporting capabilities, expanding integration with third-party systems, and advancing its XDR functionalities. Users seek improved API capabilities, streamlined report generation, and broader Macintosh support to elevate their experience with the tool.
What are the key features?Industries leverage Huntress Managed EDR to enhance security frameworks and integrate with existing security measures, like Microsoft Defender. Its deployment spans financial, healthcare, and SMB sectors, where the need for robust endpoint protection and threat-hunting capabilities is paramount. Organizations benefit from its flexible deployment options, adapting Huntress to their specific cybersecurity strategies.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a comprehensive security solution that provides advanced threat protection for organizations. It offers real-time protection against various types of cyber threats, including malware, viruses, ransomware, and phishing attacks.
With its powerful machine-learning capabilities, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks before they can cause any harm. The solution also includes endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities, allowing organizations to quickly investigate and respond to security incidents. It provides detailed insights into the attack timeline, enabling security teams to understand the scope and impact of an incident.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint also offers proactive threat hunting, allowing organizations to proactively search for and identify potential threats within their network. It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft security solutions, such as Microsoft Defender XDR, to provide a unified and holistic security approach. With its centralized management console, organizations can easily deploy, configure, and monitor the security solution across their entire network.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a robust and scalable security solution that helps organizations protect their endpoints and data from evolving cyber threats.
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