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Intercept X Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender XDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 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
7.1
Intercept X Endpoint is valued for strong antivirus features, despite mixed financial return experiences due to varying costs.
Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft Defender XDR offers cost savings, enhanced security, and efficiency by consolidating measures, reducing cyberattack losses, and streamlining processes.
Ever since we turned on the M5 feature set back in June, we have seen a reduced number of potentially malicious clicks and faster alerting when incidents occur.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Intercept X Endpoint's support is praised for knowledge but criticized for slow response times, affecting timely issue resolution.
Sentiment score
6.3
Microsoft Defender XDR support varies; larger organizations benefit more, with issues in responsiveness and knowledge sharing for smaller companies.
Technical support from Sophos is rated as nine out of ten, which represents high quality.
There are issues with onboarding technical engineers to resolve problems, which causes delays.
It's critical to escalate SEV B issues immediately to a domestic engineer.
You get stuck in low-level support for way longer than you should, instead of them escalating the issue up the chain.
The technical support from Microsoft Defender XDR has been disappointingly slow.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Intercept X Endpoint is scalable for various enterprise sizes, offering easy setup, adaptability, and seamless expansion for growing companies.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Defender XDR offers scalable solutions for diverse organizations, with strengths in cloud setups and dashboard management despite some challenges.
The tool's scalability is good, and I would rate it an eight out of ten.
Microsoft Defender XDR shows tremendous scalability, much more so than on-premises solutions.
It is suitable for enterprise-level deployment but has room for improvement.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Intercept X Endpoint is stable and reliable; occasional compatibility issues arise, but users consistently report high satisfaction scores.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Defender XDR is praised for stability and reliability, with minor issues quickly resolved and high user satisfaction.
In terms of stability, I would rate Intercept X Endpoint an eight out of ten.
The service has remained consistently online, with any issues isolated to specific components, suggesting a well-designed and modular architecture.
The services within our ecosystem have been reliable, meeting their SLAs.
 

Room For Improvement

Intercept X Endpoint needs improved third-party integration, resource efficiency, reporting, and better interoperability, with high pricing concerns.
Microsoft Defender XDR needs faster scanning, better integration, simpler licensing, and improved automation for user-friendly threat management.
Intercept X Endpoint sometimes slows down machines due to high CPU utilization and significant RAM consumption during scanning.
I would inquire why it is not sold directly to end users.
Improvements are needed in automated response capabilities.
The licensing process needs improvement and clarification.
Some inconsistencies exist between blades, which could be improved for a more seamless user and UI experience.
 

Setup Cost

Intercept X Endpoint offers robust features at reasonable pricing, with discounts and flexible payments making it a worthwhile investment.
Microsoft Defender XDR is cost-effective with an E5 bundle but costly separately, influenced by complex licensing and geographic factors.
The pricing of Intercept X Endpoint is a bit high.
I would describe it as economical, but not much cheaper than other solutions.
I would rate the pricing as eight out of ten, indicating it is a reasonable cost for the product.
Microsoft purposefully obfuscates this through marketing ploys to hide costs.
Licensing is somewhat confusing, particularly when presenting our pitch decks to stakeholders and leveraging key features in premium SKUs, but we managed with some assistance from Microsoft.
 

Valuable Features

Intercept X Endpoint is lauded for anti-ransomware, deep learning, and seamless integration with Sophos firewalls for comprehensive protection.
Microsoft Defender XDR offers seamless integration, advanced threat hunting, and AI protection, streamlining operations and reducing costs.
The stronger the AI/ML in an endpoint, the better the protection against unknown threats.
Intercept X Endpoint has been stable, and I appreciate the centralized management and the reporting feature.
With Microsoft threat intelligence information, it detects various types of threats, including insider attacks, malicious content, and data exfiltration.
The Email Explorer feature has proven invaluable, offering a broader perspective than automated alerts and incidents alone.
The email protection feature is the most valuable because our risks primarily lie there, and it seems to be the most popular target.
 

Categories and Ranking

Intercept X Endpoint
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
8th
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
104
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (8th), ZTNA (9th), Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (8th), Ransomware Protection (3rd)
Microsoft Defender XDR
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
5th
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
96
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category, the mindshare of Intercept X Endpoint is 1.5%, down from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 7.3%, up from 6.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
 

Featured Reviews

Khandokar Rabbi - PeerSpot reviewer
Used for endpoint security, ransomware protection, virus protection, and server security
Intercept X Endpoint is deployed on the cloud in our organization. Previously, we had two ransomware attacks when we were using Kaspersky as an endpoint security. We didn't face any ransomware attacks after using Intercept X Endpoint for endpoint security. Intercept X Endpoint has simplified our malware detection. Since we have already implemented the policies in the cloud, all the malware is automatically detected. The solution also detects and removes new malware that can also come from the cloud AI engine. Integrating Intercept X Endpoint with our current security infrastructure was very easy. In my opinion, Sophos is a better solution because we are using Sophos endpoint security and network security. These two things sync with each other and monitor the packets and network traffic. No other vendor has simultaneous devices to check everything. I would recommend the solution to other users. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Gabor Nyerd - PeerSpot reviewer
Includes four services and four products, which can help organizations a lot
We found that sometimes integrations work, but testing them can take some time. Sometimes, configurations take much longer than expected. We have a configuration in place that needs to be synchronized with another server. However, the servers are four hours apart, so this can cause delays. In general, I believe that the time it takes to configure and test a service should be shorter. Sometimes, it can take a couple of hours to test a single configuration setting. Other times, it is only ten or fifteen minutes, which is normal. However, sometimes, even immediate actions can be triggered by configuration changes, and some settings can take up to eight hours to complete. I believe that this time can be improved. Microsoft is making a lot of improvements to its services in a short period of time. This is a good thing, as it means that the services are constantly being updated and improved. However, it can be challenging for customers to keep up with the changes. For example, a customer may read about an update, understand it, and share it with their colleagues and boss. However, it may take days or weeks to test the update and get the necessary approvals. This can be especially challenging for large customers with many users or machines. In some cases, Microsoft may change a service before the customer has had a chance to implement the previous update. This can be frustrating for customers, as it means that they have to constantly learn new things and adjust their workflows. On the one hand, it is important for Microsoft to keep updating and improving its services. This helps to ensure that the services are meeting the customers' needs and that they are staying ahead of the competition. Microsoft should also be mindful of the challenges that these changes can create for customers. One way to address this challenge is to provide customers with more time to implement changes. Microsoft could also provide more information about upcoming changes so that customers can plan ahead. Ultimately, Microsoft needs to strike a balance between keeping its services up-to-date and providing customers with a smooth transition to new features.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

How does Crodwstrike Falcon compare with Sophos Intercept X?
I like that Crowdstrike Falcon allows me to easily correlate data between my firewalls. Its detection and machine learning are very valuable features. Crowdstrike Falcon also successfully prevents ...
What do you like most about Microsoft 365 Defender?
Microsoft Defender XDR provides strong identity protection with comprehensive insights into risky user behavior and potential indicators of compromise.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft 365 Defender?
Licensing is somewhat confusing, particularly when presenting our pitch decks to stakeholders and leveraging key features in premium SKUs, but we managed with some assistance from Microsoft.
What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?
It would be beneficial to reduce the number of clicks required to navigate between blades, as the current navigation and breadcrumb system can be a bit confusing. Some inconsistencies exist between...
 

Also Known As

Sophos Intercept X
Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Flexible Systems
Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Find out what your peers are saying about Intercept X Endpoint vs. Microsoft Defender XDR and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
842,194 professionals have used our research since 2012.