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Kaspersky Total Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Kaspersky Total Security
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
28th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
192
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of Kaspersky Total Security is 0.7%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 10.9%, down from 14.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

Ashford Asante - PeerSpot reviewer
A tool with an easy initial setup phase that can be centrally managed by users
What needs to be improved is what my company sends to Kaspersky's team when we are working with it, and then they work on it, which is why we always have updates to take care of the bugs and all those things. You can't have one thing in the solution that needs to be improved. The solution is affordable. For the solution itself, while you are working with it, you come across stuff, that Kaspersky's network helps you deal with since you can send your stuff to Kaspersky's team, and they have access to certain reports, and based on the reports and what what are we doing, the solution is always worked on, so that it can be made the best and efficient application. On a daily basis, the tool is being improved, and I am okay with it. Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business Select is automated. The cloud application for Kaspersky is automated. For the solution needed for individual systems, Kaspersky provides you with a platform that provides internet security. With Kaspersky, you have a platform that allows you to access www.kaspersky.com and see the systems that you have worked on in the past. If you need to do anything with your individual machines indirectly, you can manage it through a centralized system. The solution's automation capabilities is an area where certain improvements are required.
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.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I am satisfied with the solution's security features because we have been using it for years."
"Kaspersky Total Security is a light agent."
"It is a stable product."
"Kaspersky Total Security has valuable reporting features regarding visibility for trusted sites and safe browsing."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"The software is easy to install."
"The solution is useful for protecting laptops."
"The most effective feature is its scanning. When they scan the viruses, they come back with the records quite fast. They make sure that they rectify."
"Endpoint's most valuable feature is deep analysis."
"Defender works in the background monitoring the traffic for viruses."
"I enjoy using the live response feature, which allows me to remotely access different endpoints and investigate malicious files, such as malware that people may have downloaded, and other related issues."
"It automatically detects intrusion and malware."
"It can reach our applications and PC activities in the cloud."
"We apply the DLP policies across a range of endpoints and it is very accurate when reporting vulnerabilities, including those in email attachments."
"It's an enterprise solution that provides a centralized console and it supports all the platforms that we use, including Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, and Android."
"The solution integrates very well with Windows applications and Microsoft endpoint products."
 

Cons

"The solution’s stability could be improved"
"The system can be demanding on resources, making devices busy when running the client application. It would be beneficial if the resource usage could be reduced to lessen the burden on devices."
"Kaspersky has to improve its response when there is an incident. They need to respond faster."
"The tool could be cheaper."
"Kaspersky Total Security’s stability and performance need improvement."
"Kaspersky Total Security should be easier to manage and improve user interaction. Resetting often requires some experience, which can be a problem for generic users. Web users also encounter some issues that should be improved."
"Kaspersky Total Security is an expensive solution, and its pricing could be improved."
"The solution's automation capabilities is an area where certain improvements are required."
"It is using a large space in your memory all the time. While an antivirus will use some of your memory, if they could reduce the load of the antivirus to some extent that would be good."
"I think Microsoft needs to improve some of the security aspects of Defender. The email part, in particular, needs to be improved in terms of security effectiveness."
"I would like MDE to have the ability to isolate a certain amount of time on the timeline."
"Cortex... has good investigation capabilities, out-of-the-box, in case there is an event that you'd like to investigate. It's quite convenient. Microsoft has those capabilities as well, but you need a bit more training on the product to get the basic information that you can get out-of-the-box with Cortex."
"It's not quite a mature solution just yet. It needs more time to grow and develop."
"The scanning is slow when it is working with incoming emails."
"The documentation could be better. When they update their manuals, sometimes they refer to products by their old names, so it is a little confusing. For example, the documentation might still say "Advanced Threat Protection" instead of Defender for Endpoint."
"It is not very scalable from the eyes of an MSP because there is no dashboard that you can use to see all of your devices that have Windows Defender unless you have your own dashboard or an RMM tool to actually look at it. So, you might not get to know that a particular computer of a client is doing something, and it might have got a virus. That person might know that, but unless you set it up to actually send you the information, you won't get to know that. That's one of the things that is hard with Microsoft Defender. It is not made for the MSP world where you have one pane of glass to see all of your clients with Microsoft Defender on it unless your RMM tool already has that built-in and it can see the telemetry from Microsoft Defender."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Kaspersky Total Security is a cheap solution."
"We pay around $30 to $35 for the solution yearly."
"Kaspersky Total Security is an expensive solution."
"The product is not expensive."
"Kaspersky Total Security is not an expensive solution."
"I like this solution due to its cost-free nature"
"The pricing of the solution is good."
"The solution's pricing is cheap and better than that of Sophos."
"If we are acquiring everything in a single place, the front end becomes cost-effective."
"Microsoft has different plans for buying this product. The price depends on the configuration of the full set of products that you buy and on the licensing program in your contract."
"We went for Microsoft Defender once we were informed that it would be part of our Office 365 package. So, we combined the licensing for the OS with Office 365. Yeah. We thought it was a good bargain."
"We pay a yearly license for Microsoft Defender. We also have a support contract with them."
"It is so expensive. It isn't cheaper than McAfee or other solutions."
"We have seen ROI. Most of the other competing alternatives will cost up to around $30 per user device. We average 400 devices. Therefore, the amount that we save each year is 400 times $30."
"It's included with the Windows Operating System, I don't pay for any licensing fees."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comes with Windows 10, and it's free. But for you to be able to manage it in the cloud and use the console, you need to have either an Office 365 E5 subscription or a Microsoft M365 subscription. You need to buy an extra license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
25%
Comms Service Provider
9%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
26%
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 Kaspersky Total Security?
I am satisfied with the solution's security features because we have been using it for years.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kaspersky Total Security?
The pricing for Kaspersky Total Security is quite affordable, rated at eight out of ten, and all necessary licensing fees are included.
What needs improvement with Kaspersky Total Security?
The system can be demanding on resources, making devices busy when running the client application. It would be beneficial if the resource usage could be reduced to lessen the burden on devices.
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

Information Not Available
Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Find out what your peers are saying about Kaspersky Total Security vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,989 professionals have used our research since 2012.