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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs WatchGuard EPDR 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
7.2
Users report positive ROI from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, citing cost savings, improved security, and effective system integration.
Sentiment score
7.0
WatchGuard EPDR delivers strong performance, enhancing security and productivity while offering cost-effective, comprehensive threat protection and efficient endpoint management.
The return on investment is primarily in time savings and better observability of what's happening.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's support is generally reliable, with mixed reviews on response time and resolution quality.
Sentiment score
8.6
WatchGuard EPDR support is valued for excellent technical assistance, effective forums, and reliable service with minimal issues reported.
The level-one support seems disconnected from subject matter experts.
I rate Microsoft support 10 out of 10.
Due to our size, we don't have access to direct technical support, but the knowledge base, Microsoft Learn, and the articles available are really good.
They create a case, tell me to refer to articles, and if not resolved, they take a remote session to solve the issue.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers scalable integration and cloud-based management, but customization may need extra tools in complex settings.
Sentiment score
8.3
WatchGuard EPDR is scalable, efficiently manages workloads, offers centralized deployment, easy licensing, and robustly supports expanding needs.
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.
Defender's scalability is phenomenal, and it's going to be one of the keys to resolving issues for the SOC.
It's pretty easy to scale with Microsoft, as they make it easy if you look into the documentation.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is stable, integrates well with Windows, but occasionally has configuration and memory issues.
Sentiment score
8.1
WatchGuard EPDR is praised for its stability, reliable performance, and efficiency in threat management, meeting user expectations consistently.
I haven't seen any outages with Microsoft.
I rate Defender 10 out of 10 for stability.
Defender for Endpoint is extremely stable.
It is very stable with no hanging problems.
 

Room For Improvement

Users criticize Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's complex interface, limited integration, and request enhancements in analytics, protection, and support.
WatchGuard EPDR requires competitive pricing, enhanced features, better integration, improved antivirus, and refined web filtering for Latin America.
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.
We have multiple endpoints, and we want to look for signals across tenants.
You have to go through tons of documentation to find what you want.
While I can create groups for VPN, SSL, IPSec, and others, I can't make groups for IPs.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers flexible, cost-effective pricing, especially in E5 bundles, adapting to various enterprise licensing needs.
WatchGuard EPDR pricing is seen as justified and competitive, offering value compared to alternatives like Palo Alto XDR.
Given our extensive Microsoft licensing, transitioning to Defender for Endpoint did not affect licensing costs.
The pricing, setup, and licensing were very easy and simple.
The pricing is slightly high, but the product quality justifies it.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides comprehensive cybersecurity with seamless integration, robust threat analytics, and efficient management across platforms without performance impact.
WatchGuard EPDR offers zero-trust security, AI alerts, patch management, and excels in ransomware handling and application-based configurations.
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.
The notification and reporting features are most valuable because we are part of a compliance project, and maintaining SOC 2 compliance is critical.
Web filtering is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint because it effectively maintains security for website access.
The cloud of WatchGuard lets me see all my devices, updating me to minute levels with detailed information, such as patch status and vulnerabilities.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
1st
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
190
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (6th)
WatchGuard EPDR
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
44th
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
39th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 11.3%, down from 15.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard EPDR is 0.4%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

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.
Phillip Evely - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides good reporting features, saves time, and protects endpoints
The setup is very easy. We have deployed the solution on-premise but can also do it on the cloud. It has a cloud functionality. I can push it from the cloud directly to the endpoint, or I can do it via a group policy. The enterprise-wide deployment takes a day. It is very simple. Once the agent is deployed in any subnet, it monitors the network traffic and informs me about endpoints that don't have the agent. I get alerted via a report. If I have a problem, I can manually deploy on those endpoints. The product is set to auto-update. It updates on its own.
report
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831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
27%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Comms Service Provider
16%
Computer Software Company
10%
Retailer
7%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 do you like most about WatchGuard EPDR?
The product's most valuable features are the zero-trust application service and its capability to detect threats and attacks.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for WatchGuard EPDR?
The solution's pricing is better compared to other products.
What needs improvement with WatchGuard EPDR?
WatchGuard EPDR does have areas for improvement. One significant gap is the lack of a virtual patching feature integrated into the endpoint security. This would be particularly useful for endpoints...
 

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. WatchGuard EPDR and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.