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Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

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
6.9
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers strong ROI through security enhancements, cost savings, and improved company productivity despite measurement challenges.
Sentiment score
6.4
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection offers cost-effective email security, reducing incidents and boosting productivity over competitors like Trend and AppRiver.
It has also decreased our time to detection and response by about 15 to 20 percent.
Technology support manager at Alfred State College
Overall, cost of owning and operating our system goes down.
Designation Chief Consultant at Avtow
It's hard to quantify the return on investment we've seen from Microsoft Defender for Office 365.
Chief Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.8
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 users rate support highly, praising its responsiveness and 24/7 availability, despite occasional documentation and communication issues.
Sentiment score
6.3
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection customer service is praised for availability but criticized for inconsistent response quality and speed.
Over the past two years, there have been no critical problems.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
we opened tickets, and they typically resolve them quickly.
Chief Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
With a subscription for Microsoft Defender for Office 365, it is an eight. Without it, it is a six.
Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft offers excellent 24/7 support.
System Administrator at Shubham housing finance
My team is able to get the help they need when necessary.
General Manager at Ambient iT
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers scalable, efficient protection for large enterprises, ensuring seamless growth across diverse industries.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection offers scalable security solutions despite some limitations, appreciated for ease of use and high satisfaction.
We have never faced scalability problems, and Microsoft manages it effectively.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scales transparently for us, as we grew from 1,000 users to 3,000 users, and we didn't notice much difference.
Chief Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 scales with the growing needs of my company well.
Senior Client Director and Advisory Service Leader at Crossfuze
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 provides 99.9% uptime with minor issues, ensuring reliable performance and seamless cloud integration.
Sentiment score
7.7
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is reliable, scoring high in stability, with issues mainly from configuration and occasional interface changes.
I would rate the stability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 as 10 over 10 because it's highly available, it works, and it does the job it is meant to do.
Cloud Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
I have not experienced any downtime, crashes, or performance issues because of Defender.
Technology Associate at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
The solution is stable, as we have been using it for the past two years.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
 

Room For Improvement

Users call for enhanced virus detection, cross-platform support, and pricing transparency in Microsoft Defender for Office 365.
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection needs better integration, enhanced security features, improved user experience, and competitive pricing for increased effectiveness.
The main area for improvement is simplifying the implementation and rollout process.
Infrastructure and Security Lead at Vedanta
Microsoft could improve by offering recommendations for domain spoofing attacks, especially scenarios where DNS records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are not properly published.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
There is a different console for different things; I just want one consolidated console.
Senior Director, Security Architecture & Engineering at a leisure / travel company with 10,001+ employees
Improving the search process by allowing searches with different types of parameters and facilitating searches within emails would be advantageous.
General Manager at Ambient iT
The user interface of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) has room for improvement.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 pricing is seen as flexible but potentially expensive, offering value in comprehensive security features.
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection offers tiered pricing, seen as high but justified by robust security and scalability features.
We've likely saved 30% of costs.
Designation Chief Consultant at Avtow
Money-wise, it is a part of the Office 365 suite, making it slightly more expensive compared to Trend Micro.
Infrastructure and Security Lead at Vedanta
Microsoft is quite affordable with a lot of features available for any size organization.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
The pricing is reasonable.
General Manager at Ambient iT
Microsoft Exchange is more expensive compared to other services like Gmail.
System Administrator at Shubham housing finance
I find the price of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) to be fairly reasonable, and I have no problems with it.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 enhances email security with anti-phishing, anti-malware, threat intelligence, and seamless integration for efficient management.
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection offers scalable, user-friendly security features with AI-enhanced threat management and seamless integration with Microsoft tools.
It ranks the threats and allows us to prioritize those hitting us the hardest, such as email threats.
Technology support manager at Alfred State College
It provides end-to-end visibility on email threats such as phishing, extending beyond Exchange Online Protection.
Solution Consultant at BIM Group of Companies
The value of the DLP feature is significant to us because we have internal data, sometimes sensitive, and the users may not always be aware of security and privacy, which might lead them to send out information mistakenly to external parties.
Chief Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
We've benefited from the anti-phishing features of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), as it has been quite accurate and has eliminated most of our phishing emails, making it really impressive.
Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The security features provided by Microsoft are robust.
General Manager at Ambient iT
It offers more features and better security, making it the best option for corporate environments.
System Administrator at Shubham housing finance
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Ranking in Email Security
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Email Archiving (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Microsoft Security Suite (10th), Secure Email Gateway (SEG) (1st)
Microsoft Exchange Online P...
Ranking in Email Security
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Anti-Malware Tools (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Email Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 9.6%, down from 13.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is 4.4%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Email Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Office 3659.6%
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP)4.4%
Other86.0%
Email Security
 

Featured Reviews

Emeka Ndulu - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Solutions Architect at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Improves threat visibility and response while reducing manual tasks and training users against phishing
I appreciate the attack simulation feature whereby I get to train users and educate them on how to identify phishing emails and spam emails, as well as the anti-spam protection. It gives me visibility into my threat environment and threat landscape to ensure that I am one step ahead of any likelihood of threats within my environment. I get to detect it and respond, so the threat intelligence is very effective. Microsoft security solutions save my time. It saves money because once I protect my environment, I don't lose money. It has decreased my detection time and my time to respond.
HP
Cloud Consultant at Ensono
Service provider benefits from effective email security management and seeks enhanced customer support
Reporting could be one of the areas for improvement, as they could put more reporting into Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) natively rather than requiring additional licensing or connecting to other parts of the Microsoft suite, but it depends on the license you have. There aren't significant concerns with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP), as it depends on what customers expect; if they expect more features, then it depends on what Microsoft 365 license they have. The important thing is to ensure they are using all the security features they get with their licensing. The basic one is Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP). While it's nice to have more functionality, that's available through other licensing programs with Microsoft. While we'd prefer more features, as a basic tool, it's fine, but more advanced features come with the add-ons from other parts of the Microsoft 365 licensing. One feature that could improve Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is automated malware detection, where it actually analyzes the file offline in a sandbox to determine if it's safe, potentially reducing false positives.
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879,425 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business23
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise31
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the indi...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
The inbuilt analysis of false positives can be faster. It's not slow, but it can be faster.
What do you like most about Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The initial setup was easy. The configuration process is very straightforward.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
The user interface of Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) has room for improvement, as at times it doesn't make sense where to go to access certain features.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
My use case for Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) is basically to protect ourselves from phishing emails and to improve our email security.
 

Also Known As

MS Defender for Office 365
Microsoft EOP, MS Exchange Online Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,425 professionals have used our research since 2012.