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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus comparison

Microsoft and WatchGuard are both solutions in the Anti-Malware Tools category. Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3, while WatchGuard is ranked #26 with an average rating of 8.0. Microsoft holds a 17.0% mindshare in Anti-Malware Tools, compared to WatchGuard’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of WatchGuard users who would recommend it.
Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Read 192 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint reviews
  • 9,125 Views
  • 6,975 Comparison Views
94% willing to recommend
WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus
Read 5 WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus reviews
  • 229 Views
  • 169 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint are both contenders in the cybersecurity market. Despite WatchGuard’s competitive pricing and robust support, Microsoft Defender takes the lead with its rich features and seamless integration with Microsoft products.

Features: WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus focuses on solid malware detection, real-time scanning, and strong integration capabilities for businesses prioritizing layered security. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint shines with advanced threat intelligence, automated investigation, and cross-platform security integration, providing an extensive feature set that ensures its competitive advantage.

Room for Improvement: WatchGuard could enhance its user interface and expand integration with third-party tools. Improvements in threat intelligence analytics and customization options are also areas to consider. Microsoft Defender could benefit from refining its support services, improving resource consumption efficiency, and enhancing detailed threat analytics for broader visibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: WatchGuard offers easy deployment with well-documented assistance, beneficial for businesses wanting minimal disruption. Microsoft Defender, with its seamless integration into the Microsoft ecosystem, offers easy adoption for organizations already utilizing other Microsoft services, aligning smoothly with existing systems.

Pricing and ROI: WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus presents a value-centric pricing structure for budget-conscious organizations, focusing on a reasonable initial cost and ROI. Microsoft Defender, possibly requiring higher initial investment, leverages its extensive security capabilities to justify the cost, offering long-term value by including comprehensive security features as part of its offering.

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To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus Report (Updated: March 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus
March 2025
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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 Anti-Malware Tools
1st
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), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
26th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Anti-Malware Tools category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 17.0%, down from 22.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus is 0.3%, down from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Anti-Malware Tools
 

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.
Read full review
PA
Reasonably priced and simple to use
During the product's installation phase, you just put the tool in the right place, and it works. The solution is deployed on an on-premises model. The solution can be deployed in a couple of minutes. The installation process is so basic that I don't even remember what you need to do. You just put the tick marks in the tool and ask the tool to use them. In the rules, where you see the files go through is where you can think over what to do with the files. With the tool, you just need to put it on, and then the default rules make sure that there is some indication that something is wrong.
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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One feature I like the most is vulnerability management, which shows any vulnerable software or OS present in my environment. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides a complete overview and also recommends the steps to mitigate the vulnerabilities or threats. Most of the other antivirus or EDR solutions generally don't provide vulnerability management. It is an add-on that Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides."
"It is quite stable. We have not had any cases, i.e., viruses, that would require a reboot, etc. We have never had a situation where we needed to reinstall the tools as a result of the Defender application or a feature being corrupt."
"The visibility into threats that the solution provides is pretty awesome... This is something that makes me think, "Wow, okay. If I had my own organization, I would probably get this too." It stops the threat before an employee gets phished or something gets downloaded to their computer."
"It is stable and easy to use. Everything is okay, and there are no performance issues."
"The solution integrates very well with Windows applications and Microsoft endpoint products."
"Technical support is good."
"I find the vulnerability management section of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to be very useful for organizations."
"Defender should be fine for home use. It has all the basic functionality you need. I can't speak to how well it works as an enterprise solution because I'm not in the space."
More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pros
"WatchGuard is easy to implement and inexpensive. When we get a bulk-off license, we get a very discounted price that is competitive with alternative or competitor solutions."
"I haven't a problem with anti-virus stability using WatchGuard for over two years."
"It is the most effective on non-encrypted traffic and it is able to determine some threats through deep packet inspection."
"The pricing of the solution is okay. It's not the most expensive option."
"It does its job very well, and it is quite easy to put to use."
 

Cons

"I would just like them to have more consistency, and that's a comment that's across the board with Microsoft. They change things a lot."
"I want Microsoft Defender to have the ability to deal with some issues automatically, so I don't need to address that issue manually."
"The initial setup can be a bit complex."
"This solution needs to move beyond relying on virus definitions alone and protect the system using behavioral analysis of the processes that are running."
"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."
"We encountered some issues when we were trying to enable automatic updates from our group policy."
"Defender's cloud integration could be improved."
"The reporting in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint should improve. The solution has limited features."
More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint cons
"Since WatchGuard acquired Panda, there may be synergies in consolidating both solutions under a single name to reduce customer confusion."
"The solution isn't what I would consider feature-rich."
"It doesn't offer the best protection and it's incompatible with a lot of China's websites. It makes a lot of mistakes when it is detecting items as it's not recognizing items correctly."
"There were a little bit of problems with the tool's updates, making it an area where improvements are needed."
"WatchGuard technical support requires a license."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is free and comes with Windows."
"We are required to pay for the data we ingest, and increasing the data amount incurs additional expenses."
"The license cost is around $35 per machine, which is not expensive compared to other products."
"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."
"I pay for it through the Windows Professional or Standard license. It is a one-time cost for me, and I use the same license."
"For most people, the price of the license is not something that they have to worry about."
"Buying individual point products would've cost us a lot more money than one integrated solution that also capitalizes on Teams Voice and things of that nature. Given our size, buying individual products would have easily cost us a million dollars."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is cost-effective because there's one unified license, and with this unified license, you get the capabilities for your cloud applications, servers, and endpoints as well. Therefore, it saves us a lot of money because the cost with other solutions is for just one piece of OS or maybe an urban environment. The licensing process is not complex as well."
More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pricing and cost advice
"For what we use, the tool's price has been reasonable, but it is not the cheapest. The tool has been quite reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
27%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
No data available
 

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...
See all answers
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...
See all answers
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 ...
See all answers
What needs improvement with WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus?
It is a basic tool tool, and it does very well for what it is supposed to do. It does simple checks against signatures. I think it is very much what it needs to be, and it is a basic tool that you ...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus?
The solution is used when you want to handle policies with the file. There are different ways you can use it, like in the firewall rules and in proxy rules, and to secure emails. The tool was used ...
See all answers
What advice do you have for others considering WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus?
It is the basic starting tool. We used different tools in the company. In our gateway, we used WatchGuard because we used WatchGuard's firewalls. It was very easy to set it up. It was used so that ...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Compared 8% of the time
Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Logo
Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Compared 5% of the time
Symantec Endpoint Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Logo
Symantec Endpoint Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Compared 5% of the time
F-Secure Total vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Logo
F-Secure Total vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Compared 4% of the time
HP Wolf Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Logo
HP Wolf Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Compared 4% of the time
More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Competitors
No data available
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
March 2025
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint reportDownload Microsoft Defender for Endpoint product report
Buyer's Guide
Anti-Malware Tools
January 2025
WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus reportDownload WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus product report
 

Also Known As

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

Interactive Demo

Microsoft
Demo not available
WatchGuard
 

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a comprehensive security solution that provides advanced threat protection for organizations. It offers real-time protection against various types of cyber threats, including malware, viruses, ransomware, and phishing attacks.

With its powerful machine-learning capabilities, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks before they can cause any harm. The solution also includes endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities, allowing organizations to quickly investigate and respond to security incidents. It provides detailed insights into the attack timeline, enabling security teams to understand the scope and impact of an incident.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint also offers proactive threat hunting, allowing organizations to proactively search for and identify potential threats within their network. It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft security solutions, such as Microsoft Defender XDR, to provide a unified and holistic security approach. With its centralized management console, organizations can easily deploy, configure, and monitor the security solution across their entire network.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a robust and scalable security solution that helps organizations protect their endpoints and data from evolving cyber threats.

Microsoft

Keeping your network free of malware is more challenging than ever before as an increasing number of new and ever-changing threats are emerging each day. Ensure your network and devices remain free of malware with WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus. It uses advanced, multi-layered threat detection engines to identify and block malware at the network gateway. Using industry-leading, high-performance scanning of traffic on all major protocols, WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus provides real-time protection against known viruses, trojans, worms, spyware, and rogueware.

WatchGuard
 

Sample Customers

Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Star Cargo
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus
March 2025
Free Report: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
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