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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 #25 with an average rating of 8.0. Microsoft holds a 17.4% 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 190 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint reviews
  • 9,470 Views
  • 7,292 Comparison Views
94% willing to recommend
WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus
Read 5 WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus reviews
  • 216 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: January 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus
January 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
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
190
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (2nd), Microsoft Security Suite (6th)
WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
25th
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 February 2025, in the Anti-Malware Tools category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 17.4%, down from 23.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus is 0.3%, down from 0.6% 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

"This is not an inventory solution, but it helps you take count of how many workstations you have, as well as what software is installed on each of them."
"One of the features which differentiates it from other EDR providers is the Automated Investigation and Response, which reduces the workload of SOC analysts or engineers. They don't have to manually investigate each and every alert on the endpoint, since it does so automatically. And you can automate the investigation part."
"The solution's latest features for threat analysis are updated to provide us with future protection against the latest threats worldwide."
"It's free. There is no additional cost. It's part of Windows."
"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 comes included with the Windows license."
"It is easy to use because it is already pre-installed in Windows 10. We don't have to do anything to configure it. You can also configure the firewall by using a group policy so that it can be easily adopted in an environment."
"The protection that it provides is quite good."
More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pros
"It does its job very well, and it is quite easy to put to use."
"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."
"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."
"The pricing of the solution is okay. It's not the most expensive option."
 

Cons

"Monitoring can always be better, onboarding can be a little bit faster, log collection could be easier, they could streamline the dashboard. They could maybe split it up into different workspaces and have the ability to segment groups a little bit more."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is effective for validating work, but not ideal for investigations."
"I would like to have additional features such as DNS lookup, which would help for detecting malicious sites."
"Lowering the price would be an improvement."
"We encountered some issues when we were trying to enable automatic updates from our group policy."
"Sometimes the software doesn't work the way we expect it to, and in those cases, we can't communicate with a device because it may be infected."
"The solution could be more friendly for end-users, with different type of scans or scheduled scans for it."
"The solution has minimal customization options, especially compared to Mandiant, so we want to see more scope for customization. A single portal for customization would also be a welcome addition."
More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint cons
"WatchGuard technical support requires a license."
"There were a little bit of problems with the tool's updates, making it an area where improvements are needed."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have the E5 security license, and the solution comes with that."
"We have been using the free version."
"The price for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is about three euros, which is considered reasonably priced."
"Licensing models of Microsoft are renowned for being complex. We just purchased the whole E5 stack. With E5 licenses for users, we get access to a bunch of features that are not just related to security. I would rate them a three out of five in terms of pricing."
"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."
"The solution is free with Windows."
"There is an annual license required."
"The cost is high, compared to other products in the market, if you look at it as a separate product. If you look at the cost where it is part of a bundle, the cost is okay."
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
28%
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

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Logo
CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Compared 8% 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
Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Logo
Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Compared 5% of the time
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Logo
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Compared 4% of the time
Trellix Endpoint Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Logo
Trellix Endpoint 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
February 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
January 2025
Free Report: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. WatchGuard Gateway AntiVirus
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