Microsoft Defender XDR vs Microsoft Entra ID comparison

Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Entra ID are both solutions in the Microsoft Security Suite category. Microsoft Defender XDR is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.4, while Microsoft Entra ID is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.7. Microsoft Defender XDR holds a 5.2% mindshare in Microsoft Security Suite, compared to Microsoft Entra ID’s 8.2% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Microsoft Defender XDR users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of Microsoft Entra ID users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Defender XDR

Read 89 Microsoft Defender XDR reviews

6,876 Views
5,158 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Microsoft Entra ID

Read 196 Microsoft Entra ID reviews

5,035 Views
3,810 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender XDR

Microsoft Entra ID

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Entra ID based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Microsoft Security Suite solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Microsoft Entra ID Report (Updated: October 2024).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Microsoft Entra ID

October 2024

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Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender XDR

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (5th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (5th)

Microsoft Entra ID

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

4th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

196

Ranking in other categories

Single Sign-On (SSO) (1st), Authentication Systems (1st), Identity Management (IM) (1st), Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS) (IAMaaS) (1st), Access Management (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 5.2%, down from 12.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID is 8.2%, up from 5.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

Desray Liu

Project Manager at Freedom Systems Inc.

Nov 28, 2023

A time-saving and easy-to-integrate product that needs to offer a control center to users

As a part of Microsoft's attempt to reduce costs, there has been a direct cut down of the local technical support team. Sometimes, you have to use the technical support offered by Microsoft from other countries, but at times, we speak different languages, just like how people speak in Chinese or Mandarin, but there are still some differences between them. The front-line support from Microsoft has only limited technical abilities or access to their internal system. Sometimes, my company cannot even escalate an issue to Microsoft's senior team members. The support team of Microsoft is nice as they attempt to solve the problems together with you, but I believe that due to some cost-related issues, they don't have enough permissions. Sometimes, users might feel blocked when trying to connect with the support team. I rate the technical support a seven out of ten.

Read full review

Vinod Survase

M365 Senior Consultant at Capgemini

Oct 31, 2022

Saves us time and money and features Conditional Access policies, SSPR, and MFA

I want better integration between Azure AD and the on-prem environment because there are currently limitations that can hamper employee experience. We use a feature called password writeback, that can be challenging to implement in a hybrid environment. Employees can change their passwords using a self-service password reset (SSPR) feature, which reflects from the cloud to the on-prem identity, but not the other way around. Currently, there is no way to reflect passwords from on-prem identities to the cloud. There are other similar limitations, such as a cap on the number of identities that can be synchronized in a particular time frame, which can be an issue for large enterprises with 300,000 employees or more.

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

"Microsoft 365 Defender is a good solution and easy to use."

"The advantage of Microsoft Defender XDR has over other XDRs in the market is that it's easy to use. You can quickly differentiate between alerts, incidents, devices, software, etc. It's easier to investigate an incident, and you have so many options. You can automate investigations and use playbooks. There's also the live response session, which is something you can't find in any other XDR."

"Defender XDR can stop advanced attacks, like ransomware or business email compromise."

"Microsoft 365 Defender is simple to upgrade."

"It's a very scalable tool that can be used in a very small environment or in a very large environment. Everything can be managed from a simple dashboard and can be scaled up or down depending on the customer's environment."

"We can use Defender to block and monitor for security purposes without needing multiple other products to do different tasks."

"The incident threat response and its ability to facilitate effective remediation against threats are the standout features."

"There is also one dashboard that shows us the status of many controls at once and the details I can get... It gives a great overview of many areas, such as files, emails, chats, and links. Even with the apps, it gives you a great overview. In one place you can see where you should look into things more deeply..."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pros

"The main valuable feature is the integration into a single console, which includes authentication service and endpoint security."

"The most valuable feature is the ease of scalability."

"Being able to use Azure AD means that you can use some of the Azure AD security features like Advanced Password Protection. As well as querying your normal password requirements like lengths and complexity, Azure AD has a feature in which you can put specific words. It can be words to do with your company, words to do with your company location, or words that a lot of your employees would otherwise use. You can disallow them. It's very good at making more obvious passwords, ones they're not allowed to use anymore. That's a good feature."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to set up conditional access, where you can enforce users to connect using multifactor authentication."

"The solution's ease of use is one of its most valuable features."

"Azure Active Directory is a very simple utility to use, it has very good visibility and transparency, and an easy-to-use panel."

"The solution has some great features, such as identity governance, and user self-service. The Outlook application is very good and is used by a lot of people even if they are using Google services."

"It's pretty easy to implement."

More Microsoft Entra ID pros

Cons

"Microsoft tends to provide too many features, which makes the solution prone to bugs."

"The documentation on their website is somewhat outdated and doesn't show properly. I wanted to try a query in Microsoft Defender 365. When I opened the related documentation from the security blog on the Microsoft website, the figures were not showing. It was difficult to understand the article without having the figures. The figures were there in the article, but they were not getting loaded, which made the article obsolete."

"Support is hit or miss. Microsoft wants you to buy premium support contracts. Though they call themselves professional support, it's almost like throwing questions into a black hole. You get an answer, but it's never helpful."

"The design of the user interface could use some work. Sometimes it's hard to find the exact information you need."

"The AI could be improved. As an analyst, I want to be able to interact more with AI. The AI simply sends summaries. I can't ask it, for example, if it has seen any suspicious activity with device two. I have to go and check device two for myself."

"In the future, it would be beneficial for Microsoft to consider making the product more user-friendly or simplified for those who are interested in using it. Currently, it requires a high level of technical expertise, making it challenging for beginners or less experienced individuals."

"It would be helpful if the solution could scan faster when it comes to scanning attachments to emails."

"The solution does not offer a unified response and standard data."

More Microsoft Defender XDR cons

"I would like to see improvements made when it comes to viewing audit logs, sign-in logs, and resource tags."

"For the end users, it can be confusing if they have worked for another company that had the Authenticator app. It is tricky if they have already had the Authenticator app and then work somewhere else. If they have to download it again and use it again on their phone, it is something that gets complicated. I know how to get through it. They just need to uninstall and reinstall the application, but for them, sometimes, it is confusing."

"There are issues using it with ADFS."

"The documentation, and the way that people are notified of updates, are things that can be improved. I'm a big fan of Microsoft products but the way they document is not that great."

"I would like to dive into some of the things that we saw today around the workflows at this Microsoft event. I cannot say that they need to make it better because I do not have much experience with it, but something that is always applicable to Microsoft is that they need to be able to integrate with their competitors. If you look at IDP, they do not integrate with Okta."

"Microsoft Entra ID should improve workload identities. It should set conditional access."

"The solution was difficult to scale because the group's configuration was complex. I would rate the scalability level of Azure Active Directory a five out of ten."

"The ease of use regarding finding audit information for users could also be improved."

More Microsoft Entra ID cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Understanding the subscription model has been a bit challenging, as every feature or requirement comes with an additional cost."

"All I can say again is the E5 gives you all the capabilities that it offers. It also gives Office 365 and one terabyte of storage. All in all, the E5 license model makes sense. There are some people who say it's quite costly, but rather than paying different vendors, it makes sense to go all in with Microsoft if you've got that licensing. From that perspective, it's cost-effective, but I can't comment much on that."

"The product is fairly priced for what we get from it."

"Sometimes 365 Defender is expensive, but it can be moderate, depending on the organization's size and the license type. We're satisfied with the cost because it gives us a product that protects our entire environment with DLP. To compromise some cost, of course, we are to complete the most secure environment."

"I find the pricing to be quite competitive, especially considering its inclusion in our E5 subscription, which provides a comprehensive set of functionalities."

"The licensing fee for Microsoft 365 Defender is fair."

"It has consistently offered highly appealing academic pricing, with distinct rates for higher education and general educational purposes."

"It is 15 dollars per server per month. It is worth it, but it can be costly. It depends on the company's size."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pricing and cost advice

"It's pretty good. We're using the native features. It's bundled with our Office 365 licenses. We aren't paying anything extra for Azure Active Directory. It's pretty good for us because it's complementary to Office 365. We're only paying for Office 365."

"Microsoft Authenticator is included in the package when we purchase a license from Microsoft."

"It's relatively inexpensive in comparison with third-party solutions. It's highly available and supported by Microsoft Azure in our enterprise agreements. With the addition of their B2C tenants, it's hard to beat from a cost perspective now."

"The price is affordable, and we pay around $100 per month."

"Microsoft Entra ID's pricing is reasonable."

"Everything needs to be considered for the requirements and if it is within the budget, then you can come up with a solution, whether it is SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS."

"I give the cost a three out of ten."

"Azure AD's pricing is comprehensive and affordable. The prices are easy to understand, and the licenses include a variety of security monitoring and additional features."

More Microsoft Entra ID pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Microsoft Security Suite solutions are best for your needs.

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815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Educational Organization

31%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft 365 Defender?

Microsoft Defender XDR provides strong identity protection with comprehensive insights into risky user behavior and potential indicators of compromise.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft 365 Defender?

The pricing is reasonable. It's cheaper than other options.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?

The solution could enhance the threat Intelligence feature by making it more relevant to specific industries. Much of the threat intelligence information isn't directly applicable to our environmen...

See all answers

How does Duo Security compare with Microsoft Authenticator?

We switched to Duo Security for identity verification. We’d been using a competitor but got the chance to evaluate Duo for 30 days, and we could not be happier. Duo Security is easy to configure a...

See all answers

What do you like most about Azure Active Directory?

It is very simple. The Active Directory functions are very easy for us. Its integration with anything is very easy. We can easily do third-party multifactor authentication.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory?

Initially, customers can get good prices for a three-year package, but renewal prices tend to increase significantly. If a customer looks for an alternative solution after three years, we often fin...

See all answers

Comparisons

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 37% of the time

Wazuh vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 8% of the time

Trend Vision One vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 5% of the time

Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Defender XDR Competitors

Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 11% of the time

Google Cloud Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 10% of the time

Okta Workforce Identity vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 8% of the time

CyberArk Privileged Access Manager vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 5% of the time

Auth0 vs Microsoft Entra ID

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Entra ID Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR

November 2024

Download Microsoft Defender XDR product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Entra ID

November 2024

Download Microsoft Entra ID product report

Also Known As

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender

Azure AD, Azure Active Directory, Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Authenticator

Learn More

Microsoft

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

Microsoft

Overview

Microsoft Defender XDR is a comprehensive security solution designed to protect against threats in the Microsoft 365 environment.

It offers robust security measures, comprehensive threat detection capabilities, and an efficient incident response system. With seamless integration with other Microsoft products and a user-friendly interface, it simplifies security management tasks.

Users have found it effective in detecting and preventing various types of attacks, such as phishing attempts, malware infections, and data breaches.

Watch the Microsoft demo video here: Microsoft Defender XDR demo video.

Microsoft Entra ID is used for extending on-premises Active Directory to the cloud, managing application access, enabling multi-factor authentication, and single sign-on. It facilitates policy enforcement and secure access, ensuring centralized identity management across cloud and on-premises resources.

Organizations utilize Microsoft Entra ID for robust user and group management, identity synchronization, and conditional access. Its seamless integration with third-party apps, scalability, and support for remote work make it a preferred choice. The admin center streamlines identity and access tasks, enhancing efficiency and security with features like privileged identity management and audit logs.

What are the key features of Microsoft Entra ID?

Single Sign-On: Simplifies user access to multiple applications with one login.
Multifactor Authentication: Enhances security by requiring additional verification.
Conditional Access: Establishes policies that determine how users' access cloud apps.
Integration: Easily integrates with various third-party applications.
User Identity Protection: Safeguards user identities from threats.
Privileged Identity Management: Manages elevated access to sensitive resources.
Audit Logs: Provides thorough activity logs for oversight and compliance.

What benefits should users look for in Microsoft Entra ID reviews?

Enhanced Security: Offers strong multifactor authentication and identity protection.
Administrative Efficiency: Simplifies identity and access management tasks.
Scalability: Supports growing user bases and remote work environments.
Integration Capabilities: Compatible with numerous third-party applications.
User-Friendly Interface: Makes managing user identities straightforward.

Microsoft Entra ID implementation varies across industries. Tech firms leverage it for secure, scalable access management, while healthcare organizations utilize its identity protection features to safeguard patient data. Educational institutions adopt Entra ID for streamlined user management and policy enforcement, ensuring secure access for students and staff across on-premises and cloud resources.

Sample Customers

Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.

Microsoft Entre ID is trusted by companies of all sizes and industries including Walmart, Zscaler, Uniper, Amtrak, monday.com, and more.

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Microsoft Entra ID

October 2024

Free Report: Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Microsoft Entra ID

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Microsoft Entra ID and other solutions. Updated: October 2024.

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