Microsoft Defender XDR vs Rapid7 InsightIDR comparison

Microsoft and Rapid7 are both solutions in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category. Microsoft is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.4, while Rapid7 is ranked #22 with an average rating of 7.8. Microsoft holds a 2.6% mindshare in EDR, compared to Rapid7’s 1.2% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Rapid7 users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Defender XDR

Read 106 Microsoft Defender XDR reviews

10,352 Views
5,487 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Rapid7 InsightIDR

Read 32 Rapid7 InsightIDR reviews

6,636 Views
1,924 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender XDR

Rapid7 InsightIDR

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 2024

Rapid7 InsightIDR and Microsoft Defender XDR are leading security solutions. Users prefer Rapid7 InsightIDR for pricing and support, while Microsoft Defender XDR excels in features.

Features: Users praise Rapid7 InsightIDR for its robust incident detection and response capabilities, user-friendly setup, and automated workflows. Microsoft Defender XDR is highly rated for its comprehensive threat intelligence, integration with other Microsoft products, and advanced analytics.

Room for Improvement: Rapid7 InsightIDR needs better scalability, enhanced reporting, and faster query performance. Microsoft Defender XDR could improve interoperability with non-Microsoft environments, more intuitive alert management, and better integration with third-party tools.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Rapid7 InsightIDR is praised for straightforward deployment and responsive customer support, with quick setup times and helpful resources. Microsoft Defender XDR has mixed reviews on customer service, with some users experiencing slower response times but is also straightforward to deploy.

Pricing and ROI: Users find Rapid7 InsightIDR's pricing competitive with a higher perceived ROI due to effective threat detection and ease of use. Microsoft Defender XDR is seen as more costly but justified by its extensive features and integrations.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR

December 2025

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Helped 881,036 peers since 2012

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 XDR

Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

7th

Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

4th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

106

Ranking in other categories

Microsoft Security Suite (5th)

Rapid7 InsightIDR

Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

22nd

Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

18th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (15th), User Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) (7th), Threat Deception Platforms (4th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 2.6%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rapid7 InsightIDR is 1.2%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender XDR	2.6%
Rapid7 InsightIDR	1.2%
Other	96.2%

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Featured Reviews

Kunle Oluwadiya

House security operator at Cypress Creek Renewables

Advanced threat hunting saves significant time in tracking and responding to incidents

Microsoft Defender XDR could be improved with a lower price. My main suggestion would essentially be what Copilot is providing, which is a single pane of glass, so I don't have to go to different windows. That's just a workflow consideration for me. It would be great to have all the information centralized into one particular data app. If I need to open up extra ones, I can, however, I would appreciate a future where everything I need is right there on one single pane of glass. Beyond that, there's really nothing else I see that I would want Microsoft to improve.

Read full review

SohailHyder

Head of Cyber Security at Super Secure

Has supported compliance needs for mid-sized organizations but lacks customization and advanced integration

If we pitch Rapid7 InsightIDR against solutions such as SIEMs from Splunk or LogRhythm, it is not as customizable as a SIEM solution is. This is where it can improve if we keep in front the feature sets of a complete SIEM solution. Most common in the market is QRadar, but it is depleting now. It has been taken over by some other products such as Splunk and LogRhythm. If we compare these things with Rapid7 InsightIDR, then there are definitely some gaps that need to be filled. Data retention is also one concern because Rapid7 InsightIDR is cloud-based and operates on a subscription model. Whatever data you want to retain, it has to be paid for separately or it has a cost. Other solutions that are on-premises can have their own infrastructure or they provide some data retention for a month or in some capacity-wise, they provide that solution to them which makes them more attractive.

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

"Setting up Microsoft 365 Defender is easy. It's a user-friendly solution that provides threat protection. It has good stability and scalability."

"Microsoft Defender XDR is a complete package of different Defender solutions, including Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Office 365, Defender for Cloud, and Sentinel SIEM, among others."

"The comprehensiveness of Microsoft's threat detection is good."

"For me, the advanced hunting capabilities have been really great. It allowed querying the dataset with their own language, which is KQL or Kusto Query Language. That has allowed me to get much more insight into the events that have occurred. The whole power of 365 Defender is that you can get the whole story. It allows you to query an email-based activity and then correlate it with an endpoint-based activity."

"The product is very easy to use."

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

"Among the most valuable features are the alert timeline, the alert story, which is pretty detailed. It gives us complete insight into what exactly happened on the endpoint. It doesn't just say, "Malware detected." It tells us what caused that malware to be detected and how it was detected. It gives us a complete timeline from beginning to end."

"On the Windows side, Microsoft Defender XDR is definitely integrated into the operating system. Once we have it on the security dashboard, we can see a real-time storyline."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pros

"I like the tool's user analysis feature."

"It improves because several sensors are deployed within the on-premise environment. It can be very efficient if the customer implements and operates it effectively."

"If you were on other solutions, you would notice that they use agents from third-party, from open-source, from a native OS, or from other tools. Here, however, it is an agent from Rapid7 itself. This adds to the solution's overall capabilities."

"Intelligent alerting to avoid the common problem of alert fatigue associated with traditional SIEMs."

"The product works well. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"Features for user behavior analytics and the rules for attack review are good."

"The biggest reason why we chose Rapid7 was to gain value in a really quick time. Its deployment doesn't take months. It just takes a few days."

"Simple configuration and automatically syncs to the cloud platform."

More Rapid7 InsightIDR pros

Cons

"Microsoft Defender XDR could be improved with a lower price."

"For some scenarios, it provides good visibility into threats, and for some scenarios, it doesn't. For example, sometimes the URLs within the emails have destinations, and you do get a screenshot and all further details, but it's not always the case. It would be good if they did a better job of enabling that for all the emails that they identified as malicious. When you get an email threat, you can go into the email and see more details, but the URL destination feature doesn't always show you a screenshot of the URL in that email. It also doesn't always give you the characteristics relating to that URL. It would be quite good if the information is complete where it says that we identified this URL, and this is what it looks like. There should be some threat intel about it. It should give you more details."

"Correctly updated records are the most significant area for improvement. There have been times when we were notified of a required fix; we would carry out the fix and confirm it but still get the same notification a week later. This seems to be a delay in records being updated and leads to false reporting, which is something that needs to be fixed."

"At times, there may be delays in the execution of certain actions and their effects."

"When we do investigations, it would be better if Microsoft could populate the host dashboard more. When we open any host for investigation, we want the entire timeline of what is happening on the host, including all the users logging in, their hardware, Windows version, etc."

"Every now and then, Microsoft Defender XDR seems to go through and aggregates almost a week's worth of incidents and wraps them up, indicating a huge problem."

"The support could be more knowledgable to improve their offering."

"Defender also lacks automated detection and response. You need to resolve issues manually. You can manage multiple Microsoft security products from a single portal, and all your security recommendations are in one place. It's easy to understand and manage. However, I wouldn't say Defender is a single pane of glass. You still need to switch between all of the available Microsoft tools. You can see all the alerts in one panel, but you can't automate remediation."

More Microsoft Defender XDR cons

"Inability to get access to compliance reports within the solution."

"One thing that springs to mind is easier API integration with ITSMs. We are evaluating a new ITSM and I would like to have InsightIDR create a ticket when an attack is identified, and the ticket would be closed in InsightIDR when the ITSM resolution is completed. This would take out the "single point of failure" we currently have, if the email recipient is somehow absent, in recording the risk appetite for the incident and the actions taken to mitigate or not."

"Rapid7 doesn't integrate well with all our security tools from various vendors, so we plan to switch. Many of our solutions work with Rapid7, but some do not. We are already searching for a replacement already."

"The dashboard is an area that could be simplified."

"It would be useful to import threat intelligence in YARA format along with known incorrect email addresses."

"InsightIDR is only available in a cloud version. Some of our customers prefer an on-prem solution because they want to manage the security within their environment."

"There are certain limitations with Rapid7 that I am working on."

"If we pitch Rapid7 InsightIDR against solutions such as SIEMs from Splunk or LogRhythm, it is not as customizable as a SIEM solution is."

More Rapid7 InsightIDR cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While Microsoft Defender XDR carries a higher cost, its ease of use compared to Defender may justify the investment."

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

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

"The functionality is fantastic, but for medium and small-sized companies it's overpriced. It would be better if it were a little bit cheaper."

"For Defender, they have Endpoint Plan 1 and Endpoint Plan 2, but I don't know on what basis they have classified Endpoint Plan 1 and Plan 2, but it has given me enough pain to pick and design Endpoint Plan 1 or Endpoint Plan 2 for my organization. In fact, we are still struggling with it. Too many SKUs are confusing. There should not be too many SKUs, and they shouldn't charge for every new feature."

"Its licensing and pricing are handled by someone else. My role is limited to incidents or issues with the portal, but you get what you pay for. It is worth the cost."

"Licensing is somewhat confusing, particularly when presenting our pitch decks to stakeholders and leveraging key features in premium SKUs, but we managed with some assistance from Microsoft."

"The license cost for a year is approximately forty-four thousand, and this annual saving is a significant factor in our decision to switch."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pricing and cost advice

"Rapid7 InsightIDR is priced very well and is cost-effective."

"I am sure that there are cheaper products out there, but none that meet so many of our needs whilst maintaining stability and usability."

"Licensing is straightforward. If, for some reason, you don’t meet the minimum licensing requirements, there is a third-party managed service that can help."

"The pricing and licensing are competitive."

"It is a reasonably priced solution."

"Rapid7 InsightIDR charges us based on the endpoints we connect to."

"The pricing is good, and it is not very expensive."

"Licensing is by endpoint and amount of retention time (at least ours is). Default retention was one year, but we are able to push the retention further if needed. There's also a provide-your-own-S3 option for longer retention if you don't want to pay for the additional retention years in your Rapid7 agreement."

More Rapid7 InsightIDR pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	47
Midsize Enterprise	25
Large Enterprise	38

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	6

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?

My experience with pricing, setup, costs, and licensing of Microsoft Defender XDR is tied to our E5 subscription, which is very straightforward for us. We also purchase the uplift for our mobile us...

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What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?

I am not aware of a mobile app that would be available for my team. With a single analyst, if she is ever away, it would be beneficial to have easier access. While she can use the web portal, the e...

See all answers

What SOC product do you recommend?

For tools I’d recommend: -SIEM- LogRhythm -SOAR- Palo Alto XSOAR Doing commercial w/o both (or at least an XDR) is asking to miss details that are critical, and ending up a statistic. Also, rememb...

See all answers

What do you like most about Rapid7 InsightIDR?

During simulations or demonstrations, the tool generates alerts, providing details such as the specific application, its origin, and potential threats. For instance, it can identify if an applicati...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rapid7 InsightIDR?

The product pricing is very cheap.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 12% of the time

Wazuh vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Sentinel vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

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Rapid7 InsightVM vs Rapid7 InsightIDR

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Sentinel vs Rapid7 InsightIDR

Compared 5% of the time

Splunk Enterprise Security vs Rapid7 InsightIDR

Compared 5% of the time

Darktrace vs Rapid7 InsightIDR

Compared 4% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Rapid7 InsightIDR

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR

January 2026

Download Microsoft Defender XDR product report

Buyer's Guide

Rapid7 InsightIDR

January 2026

Download Rapid7 InsightIDR product report

Also Known As

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender

InsightIDR

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

Parsing hundreds of trivial alerts. Managing a mountain of data. Manually forwarding info from your endpoints. Forget that. InsightIDR instantly arms you with the insight you need to make better decisions across the incident detection and response lifecycle, faster.

Rapid7

Sample Customers

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

Liberty Wines, Pioneer Telephone, Visier

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR

December 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Rapid7 InsightIDR and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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