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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response 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

Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
192
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
Symantec Endpoint Detection...
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
30th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 10.6%, down from 14.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response is 0.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
 

Featured Reviews

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.
YusufAhmed - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use and competitively priced
Honestly, the product needs to continue the way it is, and I feel that everything will be fine. I haven't had any reasons to complain about the product. The product doesn’t offer MDM functionality under its current licensing model. In the future, I want the product to offer MDM. It can allow me to manage my mobile device more efficiently and effectively. Currently, there is a need for a separate license to be added to Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response to be able to use the MDM part. If both are bundled up under the same license, the administration part can be made easier.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Defender is integrated into the operating system. It's integrated with everything. You don't have to spend time analyzing what you have to do to be sure that the integration is okay between the security tool and all the other apps. This, from my point of view, is the main advantage."
"I like the fact that it has the ransomware solution in there. I'm glad that the ransomware solution is built into it. That's probably the biggest thing that I see in Microsoft Defender."
"I like the simplicity of the portal and the integration with Microsoft Intune. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easy to use and implement."
"You have endpoint security to keep your devices safe. That's the feature that we're interested in."
"Endpoint's most valuable feature is deep analysis."
"I like Defender's reporting and logging features. The email alerts are also helpful. It's hard sometimes to sift through the email, especially if you're an IT firm managing hundreds if not thousands of endpoints, but we find email reporting useful. For example, last Tuesday, we learned of new vulnerabilities that were discovered as a result of the previous patches. The endpoints without those patches triggered alerts in Defender."
"The intelligence mechanisms are good."
"This software is easy to use."
"The interface is quite easy to use."
"The most valuable features of Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response are its immediate response and investigation."
"The solution is stable."
"There are times when Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response tags an executable as malicious when it is trying to get executed on the machine. In this case, it prevents the execution and it gives you a process view of things where you can look into what has happened and whether it is a genuine process trying to access some system activities, or it's a malicious one. Depending upon the process, it gives you a clear identification, and we can do the containment from the interface itself and isolate the machine from the network. The process review on network isolation is good."
"The most valuable features of this product include network isolation for machines and the ability to work with a consistent and defined set of virtual machines."
"It is very simple to use."
"IPS and the user interface are good features."
"I've mainly found the antivirus and antispyware features valuable. The documentation is okay as well."
 

Cons

"Localization is always a challenge, especially with new products you typically want. Solutions are designed to be deployed where the most licenses are being consumed, such as in the United States. They focus on US products, devices, and networks. Specialized deployments for other countries would allow for a smoother experience in transition."
"The only issue I would say is our mobile endpoints do not have Defender installed for part of them. An additional feature that could be included in the next release is free Copilot."
"The UI for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint needs to be better. Integration with client dashboards is also lacking in this product, e.g. client dashboards shouldn't just be viewable from the cloud, because when the client's computer is offline, you won't be able to see the client dashboard."
"The GUI is very complex and could be more user friendly."
"The product development team makes frequent changes that affect the stability of the solution."
"Integration with third-party vendors could be better. It would be better if it integrates with other protection solutions or other products outside of Microsoft. Nowadays, anti-virus protection doesn't really have to be planned as overall protection for your environment in terms of security. There are really different avenues that bad actors can take to wreak havoc on your machine."
"With regards to the interface, a challenge I found was that there was not enough documentation on how to tune it. I had to read multiple sources on the internet to learn how to configure the tool appropriately."
"There are some areas in the proactive threats that are just overwhelming the SOC, so we've had to turn those off until we can figure out how to filter out the false positives."
"I would like to see better scanning capabilities."
"That's why I wouldn't recommend it for other systems. It works only with SAP clients. That's why I'm giving it a six. It would get higher if it worked on all networks without the help of SAP."
"The solution’s scalability and stability could be improved."
"The interface is very complicated."
"The solution can always be more stable and more secure."
"It would be good if it can anticipate zero-day attacks. I don't know how it can be done and if it is even a feature of this product."
"One potential area for improvement in Symantec EDR is the reporting engine."
"Technical support is not as good as we expect, and resolving problems should be more timely."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solutions price could be cheaper."
"The solution comes as part of Microsoft Windows."
"They are now doing it on an endpoint basis. It is based on the number of endpoints, which is good."
"The subscription is part of Windows, so we don't have to pay anything extra for this product."
"Microsoft Defender is an expensive product in my country."
"It is built into Windows 10. If our clients are using Microsoft Defender, the cost goes away for them."
"The price was a problem for me three years ago, but they improved their E3, E5, and a la carte licensing. In other words, you have to get all of E5. That used to be a problem because you had E3, Defender, and guardrails, but you needed an E5 license to get the management suite and the analytics. It's more flexible now. You can switch from a la carte to the entire suite when it starts to make sense. It's becoming more economically competitive to go that route."
"AV solutions are pretty expensive because they are necessary, not just for protection, but many businesses need them to comply with regulatory bodies and receive accreditation. We recently purchased an E5 license, which gives us access to the entire Microsoft suite. I would say the pricing is competitive; most tools of this kind are similarly priced. There are minor differences between the competitors, but they aren't spectacularly different. Defender for Endpoint makes sense because all our solutions are in the same place, paid for with a single license. The subscription price is around £50 per user per month, though it may have increased slightly."
"We have a yearly subscription, and the pricing is fair."
"We pay around $100,000 for 5000 licenses every year."
"It is an expensive solution."
"The price is really high and it should be lower."
"Of late, because of the Broadcom purchase, its price has been increasing."
"The product is cheap."
"The price is okay, but it really depends on the customer's requirements."
"The price is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
26%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response?
I am not aware of the pricing details, as that falls under the management's responsibility.
What needs improvement with Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response?
There are several areas where Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response can improve, including shell features, web control, asset management, and device control. Specifically, the application contro...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. Symantec Endpoint Detection and Response and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.