Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Malwarebytes vs Microsoft Defender for Business comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

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

Malwarebytes
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender for Busi...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
19th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of Malwarebytes is 2.0%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Business is 2.0%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

George Tsepelis - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly stable and easy-to-deploy product that keeps organizations safe
The product keeps our company safe Recently, a user tried to open an unsafe link, and Malwarebytes stopped them. They kept trying and trying, but they could not open it. Later, it turned out to be a fake Microsoft account. So far, we have faced no issues with the product. It is doing what it…
Takayuki-Umehara - PeerSpot reviewer
Product deployment protects assets but needs improvement in system support
I am doing maintenance for Microsoft Defender for Business, and I'm currently working with it. We don't need to use the latest version of Microsoft Defender for Business. We still use the latest virus definition file that Microsoft Defender for Business has automatically updated. We implement a basic update mechanism. Our compliance division manages how many servers and PCs we have and whether those servers have antivirus solutions. I am not certain about how Microsoft Defender for Business helps with AI-driven security strategies. I just use it normally and don't know if it uses AI technology. I rate Microsoft Defender for Business a six out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Ten times a day, improved signatures will be downloaded, so it is very up-to-date in terms of malware experience."
"The most valuable features of Malwarebytes are the EDR and the complete feature set provided."
"The solution is very good at scanning."
"The technical support services are good."
"Provides successful ransomware shut down operations."
"I like the solution's ability to detect potentially unwanted programs. For some reason, it seems superior to other solutions, or at least in comparison to McAfee."
"This solution helps us by providing central management of anti-malware and anti-exploit functionality."
"The installation process is very easy, especially since it is on the cloud."
"Microsoft Defender for Business works well with the Microsoft Azure Security ecosystem, including Defender for Endpoint and Office 365 Cloud."
"I would recommend Microsoft Defender for Business to others, rating it as ten out of ten."
"The security features are valuable because they come with more capabilities that other licenses do not have, including the enterprise license like E3."
"I rate Microsoft Defender for Business a 10 out of 10."
"The interface is quite user-friendly."
"Microsoft Defender for Business stands out due to its ease of use, particularly due to the fact that many of my customers already use Microsoft and Azure."
"The security features are valuable because they come with more capabilities that other licenses do not have, including the enterprise license like E3."
"If you're an Intune user, you can bring in certain capabilities like system-hardening policies, which further enhances the security."
 

Cons

"I would like to see a little more detail in the log. So, when an event occurs, I'd like to know not just when it happened and on what device, but what activity was taking place on the machine at the time so that we can drill down. If we get a false positive, we have to do a lot of research and go back and forth with our end-users to know why it was a false positive. So, having a little more detail around detections and events would probably be my most asked feature."
"My clients have frequently encountered some tech support scams where when you go to a particular website, it throws up a fake warning to you and states that you need to call this number."
"Malwarebytes can improve its network database. Malwarebytes can scan the files and registry. It can scan the system with a light agent. It will not impact the performance of your PC. You can do the full scan and database scan using the EDR, and the RAM and CPU consumption will not increase."
"Every once in a while, it gets clobbered by updates from other places. I don't think this should happen."
"If they want to compete with bigger players, they should consider adding items like threat detection and website warnings."
"It would be better if updates could be downloaded, and deployed, on-premises to avoid low bandwidth causing issues."
"The product's stability needs improvement."
"A solution must be installed in the main gateway to give an overview of the incoming and outgoing traffic. The technical support team's response time should be faster."
"Talking with the tool's technician about any problem is very complicated."
"Defender's reporting is rather scattered, and its URL filtering mechanism doesn't really work."
"Customer service is not bad, yet not great either, and I would rate it maybe five or six out of ten."
"If I need logs and don't have local storage bundled with Defender, I need to add workspace and log analytics, which is costly for storing logs of 2 GB, 5 GB, 10 GB."
"Technical support could be faster to respond."
"The solution's AI is notorious for false positives, and the time you have to spend training it is ridiculous."
"We face a licensing issue with Windows 11 Enterprise not reflecting in our portal, which affects activation. Microsoft's support did not resolve this issue, even after sharing remote desktop and screen details."
"The user interface has a lot of features which can make it complex and hard to adapt to for some users."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would say that it's affordable. It costs much less than Sentinel One, CrowdStrike, or anything of that nature. But, at the same time, you are getting what you pay for. So I would say it's one of the best when you're comparing traditional NextGen AVs like Webroot that aren't the best in the bunch."
"I believe the retail price is between $40 and $50 per copy."
"The platform pricing is competitive with other antivirus products."
"Yearly, it is around $50 per client."
"Malwarebytes is a cost-effective product."
"Its cost is around $60 a machine. The cost of the total solution for 250 people is about $8,500 a year. If we add EDR to it, it will bring that cost up to about $15,000. The cost for Carbon Black is about $25,000, which is $10,000 more, but you get all AI functions with it."
"The price of Malwarebytes is in the middle range compared to other vendors."
"It is really expensive. We've got between 30 and 40 licenses every year, and for the number of licenses that we have, we're finding that Malwarebytes on average costs between $900 and $1,000 more per year than comparable options. We're paying about $3,300 per year for these licenses. There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee."
"Defender for Business is included by default with an Office 365 premium subscription."
"It has to get more competitive because we are starting to see some of the competitors providing better pricing, and some of it, of course, is to gain market share. The Defender product pricing is probably a little higher than the competitors."
"The tool's cost has been a little high, but I do not think it was terrible."
"The tool is cheap, while some other solutions are more expensive. I remember the tool cost about five euros for a workstation or for a user on a monthly basis."
"Since we're a nonprofit, we get pretty good discounts on the tool."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) solutions are best for your needs.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
University
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Retailer
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Malwarebytes?
Ten times a day, improved signatures will be downloaded, so it is very up-to-date in terms of malware experience.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Malwarebytes?
I really hate the automatic rebilling without officially confirming it with me. It's an annoyance and they should at least confirm with me, like a month before they bill me.
What needs improvement with Malwarebytes?
It takes up too much space when it's trying to run in the background.
What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Business?
A few things are valuable. One is the alerting we see when any kind of intrusion is happening, any kind of malware is being deployed across the endpoints, or any kind of suspicious activity is goin...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Business?
Our thoughts on the pricing for Microsoft Defender for Business are that we wish it could be better. If the pricing was a little better, we would definitely increase what we currently have.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Business?
Microsoft Defender for Business could improve by offering more of their offerings available in the basic tenants since not everyone has a budget for higher-level licenses, but everyone needs securi...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Knutson Construction
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Malwarebytes vs. Microsoft Defender for Business and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.