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

Microsoft Defender for Endp...

WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus

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.

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

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

Information Security Engineering Lead at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

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

Petri Alhainen

Administrator at Sulbana Oy

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Coming from an organization where the EDR wasn't strong, it has always been a case of basically searching through the information you already have and looking for something. It was basically trying to find the needle in a haystack. What the Defender platform does is that it reduces the size of the haystack, and it'll say that the needle is over here. Minutes matter, and it certainly zeros you in on the events that are concerning. It also simplifies the effort of trying to get some kind of correlation of behaviors or actions you see in the environment and confirming if something is benign or a threat."

"The attack surface reduction rules are the most valuable. We're able to have unattended remediation actions when the solution works side by side with a local antivirus like Microsoft Defender or Kaspersky. The attack surface reduction rules help us to proactively block and stop threats."

"One of the valuable features of the solution is the small updates that keep my machine relatively clean from any infections."

"We can run the virus scan across our entire environment."

"Integration between Microsoft products is very easy."

"It depends on the licensing. Most of the customers have got at least a 365 E3 license, and they can use most of the features of Windows 10 Defender. So, anyone who has got an enterprise license can start using those features. Some of the customers have got E5 licenses, and they can use all advanced features. Customers with E5 licenses use the advanced site protection (ATP) features and web content filtering without going via a proxy, which gives the benefit of replacing the proxy. They can get the benefit of MCAS and integration with Intune and the endpoint manager. It is a kind of single platform for all 365 technologies. It helps customers in managing everything through a unified portal."

"It's absolutely free to use."

"I find the vulnerability management section of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to be very useful for organizations."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pros

"It is the most effective on non-encrypted traffic and it is able to determine some threats through deep packet inspection."

"I haven't a problem with anti-virus stability using WatchGuard for over two years."

"It does its job very well, and it is quite easy to put to use."

"The pricing of the solution is okay. It's not the most expensive option."

"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."

Cons

"There is a need for improvement in reducing false positives."

"I personally haven't experienced any pain points, but some of my coworkers feel that it isn't secure enough."

"Initially, I experienced performance issues that hampered our servers. However, after setting appropriate exclusions, everything seemed to work fine."

"Some integration components for Mac should be added. We use both Windows 10 desktops and Mac desktops, but presently, the Mac component is still lagging a bit behind."

"We'd like the stability to be better."

"The solution could be even more secure and provide an even higher level of security."

"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint does not provide much flexibility in terms of threats."

"More integration with different platforms is an area for improvement for this product, and should be included in its next release."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint cons

"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."

"WatchGuard technical support requires a license."

"The solution isn't what I would consider feature-rich."

"Since WatchGuard acquired Panda, there may be synergies in consolidating both solutions under a single name to reduce customer confusion."

"There were a little bit of problems with the tool's updates, making it an area where improvements are needed."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We mostly use Microsoft products. We use Office 365, and we use Azure. We're also a Microsoft partner. So, the licensing was much cheaper for us, and at the same time, a lot of the features that we were looking for were included in Defender."

"Microsoft Defender ATP is expensive."

"The normal, standalone model, is not expensive, but the enterprise model that includes the bundle with email and some web protection, is a bit more expensive."

"The license for Microsoft Windows covers Microsoft Defender for Endpoint."

"Pricing can always be lower."

"This solution is part of an enterprise license we have."

"It is an expensive solution. It would be nice if it could be included with the Microsoft Office package."

"I got it with the Microsoft Windows license."

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

Financial Services Firm

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...

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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...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 5% of the time

Symantec Endpoint Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 5% of the time

F-Secure Total vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 4% of the time

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

Download Microsoft Defender for Endpoint product report

Buyer's Guide

Anti-Malware Tools

January 2025

Download 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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