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Check Point Harmony Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender XDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 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
Check Point Harmony Endpoint optimized security by reducing incidents, saving costs, improving resource allocation, and enhancing network safety.
Sentiment score
7.1
Microsoft Defender XDR provides high ROI by consolidating security tools, streamlining operations, and enhancing security, despite licensing costs.
Initially, we spent two to three days on the investigation process, but now we are able to investigate alerts in only half a day, which has really boosted our performance and shown a return on investment.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
Now, the system automatically detects and isolates endpoints within minutes.
Administrador De Redes at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
The product is affordable and provides excellent coverage and protection across multiple platforms.
Manager, Information Technology Cyber At Edeltech O & M at Ezom
We can quarantine and isolate a device within minutes.
Information Security Analyst at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft Defender XDR has saved me at least 50% of my time.
House security operator at Cypress Creek Renewables
It helped stop multiple intrusion points where we would have had millions in lost revenue if the attackers got in.
Network Technician at T. Baker Smith, LLC
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Check Point Harmony Endpoint is praised for its responsive and knowledgeable customer support, with occasional delays noted.
Sentiment score
6.1
Microsoft Defender XDR's support is timely and responsive, yet smaller organizations experience slower, less effective assistance than larger ones.
The customer support for Check Point Harmony Endpoint deserves a rating of 10.
Enterprise Network Engineer at a outsourcing company with 201-500 employees
We use premium support, and it is beneficial as 24/7 support is available.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
I have opened several cases and they were handled very efficiently and quickly.
Operations Engineer at a media company with 51-200 employees
You get stuck in low-level support for way longer than you should, instead of them escalating the issue up the chain.
Enterprise Application Engineer at a legal firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
It's critical to escalate SEV B issues immediately to a domestic engineer.
Infrastructure engineer at Cetera Financial Group
Once issues are escalated to the second or third layer, the support is much better.
Cyber Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 1-10 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Check Point Harmony Endpoint scales efficiently for any organization, but license availability and hardware needs might be challenging.
Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Defender XDR scales well for various organizations, efficiently supporting growth and flexibility despite some network deployment challenges.
We initially purchased only 100 licenses and as we grew, we acquired many more licenses without encountering any issues.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
The single agent works for multiple operating systems and endpoint types, providing elastic growth and reducing the overall number of components.
Cloud Engineer at Interglobalmsp
Proactive features help guard against data breaches and vulnerabilities.
Adjunct Professor, Cybersecurity at University of the People
My concern is about the scale of events and alerts being generated, and the product is doing a very good job of only surfacing the important items for us.
Vice President, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees
Microsoft Defender XDR shows tremendous scalability, much more so than on-premises solutions.
Infrastructure engineer at Cetera Financial Group
Microsoft Defender XDR scales pretty well.
Information Security Analyst at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Check Point Harmony Endpoint is highly stable and reliable, maintaining security efficiently with minimal disruptions and regular updates.
Sentiment score
8.1
Microsoft Defender XDR is praised for high stability, reliable performance, minimal issues, frequent updates, and prompt issue resolution.
Check Point Harmony Endpoint is very stable in our experience, with few crashes or disruptions in daily use.
Networking and System Consultant at Orbcom,Lda.
The stability of the tool is high, as I have not experienced any downtime.
Manager, Information Technology Cyber At Edeltech O & M at Ezom
Occasionally, there are some backend issues where the tenant is down, but apart from that, Check Point Harmony Endpoint is stable and working effectively.
Pre Sales Consultant at Redington Group
The service has remained consistently online, with any issues isolated to specific components, suggesting a well-designed and modular architecture.
Senior System Engineer at a sports company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The services within our ecosystem have been reliable, meeting their SLAs.
Infrastructure engineer at Cetera Financial Group
It provides high-fidelity signals.
Information Security Analyst at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Check Point Harmony Endpoint needs improvements in compatibility, integration, UI, resource consumption, and user support, with better documentation and pricing.
Microsoft Defender XDR requires enhancements in speed, integration, automation, AI, ease-of-use, and industry-specific threat intelligence.
Principally regarding the system performance, Check Point Harmony Endpoint impacts us significantly, and addressing this issue would make a substantial difference.
Operations Engineer at a media company with 51-200 employees
Extending that window would help security teams conduct deeper forensic investigations and meet compliance requirements more easily.
Cloud Support at a security firm with 51-200 employees
Building a threat simulation tool and adding native capabilities to simulate phishing, malware, or ransomware scenarios will help teams validate protection and train users without relying on third-party tools.
Support at a security firm with 51-200 employees
The licensing process needs improvement and clarification.
Owner at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Improvements are needed in automated response capabilities.
Security manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Some inconsistencies exist between blades, which could be improved for a more seamless user and UI experience.
Infrastructure engineer at Cetera Financial Group
 

Setup Cost

Check Point Harmony Endpoint offers flexible licensing with cost-effective packages, though pricing can be high for smaller organizations.
Microsoft Defender XDR pricing is seen as complex but fair, with high costs alleviated in bundled Microsoft 365 packages.
It is not expensive and provides comprehensive coverage.
Manager, Information Technology Cyber At Edeltech O & M at Ezom
While the prices are higher than those of other solutions, the features justify the investment for customers.
Information Technology Engineer at ZAVASI TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD
Pricing is a bit expensive but justified by the product’s features, capabilities, and scalability.
Technical Director at Geekz Information Technology
There are certainly savings when using Microsoft Defender XDR, which can range from 30%, 40%, and even up to 50%.
Director, Sales at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
I would rate the pricing as eight out of ten, indicating it is a reasonable cost for the product.
Security manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft purposefully obfuscates this through marketing ploys to hide costs.
Senior System Engineer at a sports company with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Valuable Features

Check Point Harmony Endpoint excels in advanced threat prevention, ease of use, scalability, and comprehensive security features.
Microsoft Defender XDR integrates tools for comprehensive security, offering threat detection, automation, identity protection, and enhanced efficiency.
Check Point Harmony Endpoint protects our company by warning us against clicking any malicious links and prevents our hosts from becoming vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Cybersecurity Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
This feature is valuable for our customer because it stops threats before they reach users by scanning incoming files at the network gateway.
Cybersecurity Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
The anti-ransomware and threat emulation features have significantly helped our organization as they prevent attackers from encrypting files during ransomware attacks, allowing the system to re-decrypt files and restore them to their original forms, effectively stopping ransomware attacks.
Technical Specialist at Softcell Technologies Limited
With Microsoft threat intelligence information, it detects various types of threats, including insider attacks, malicious content, and data exfiltration.
Security manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
This allows us to secure our systems in advance and proactively improve security, rather than waiting for incidents to occur.
Works at Hometrack
Once we have it on the security dashboard, we can see a real-time storyline.
Information Security Analyst at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Check Point Harmony Endpoint
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
6th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
205
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (4th), Anti-Malware Tools (3rd)
Microsoft Defender XDR
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category, the mindshare of Check Point Harmony Endpoint is 2.6%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 2.6%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Check Point Harmony Endpoint2.6%
Microsoft Defender XDR2.6%
Other94.8%
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
 

Featured Reviews

GR
Support at a security firm with 51-200 employees
Remote Access Security Reinforced with Real-Time Device Protection
Dashboard customization is needed for improvements. While the centralized management is strong, the dashboard could offer more flexibility. It would be helpful to tailor views for different roles, such as IT or security support. Regarding needed improvements, custom report building could be enhanced. Current reports are informative, and a drag-and-drop builder would allow teams to create tailored views for compliance, executive summaries, or operational metrics. For further improvements, enhancing threat simulation and testing would be valuable. Building a threat simulation tool and adding native capabilities to simulate phishing, malware, or ransomware scenarios will help teams validate protection and train users without relying on third-party tools.
KO
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.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions are best for your needs.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business133
Midsize Enterprise69
Large Enterprise76
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business47
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise38
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Check Point Harmony Endpoint?
The platform's most valuable features are the ability to build API, which meets our business requirements, and the VPN client, which provides VPN access from a single client.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Check Point Harmony Endpoint?
My experience with pricing indicates that the costs have increased compared to last year. Previously, Check Point Harmony Endpoint offered competitive pricing for small user counts such as thirty-f...
What needs improvement with Check Point Harmony Endpoint?
Check Point Harmony Endpoint works well overall, but one area I would like to see improved is the reporting and dashboard experience. Sometimes the alerts are clear, but digging into historical dat...
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.
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...
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...
 

Also Known As

Check Point Endpoint Security, Endpoint Security, Check Point SandBlast Agent, Check Point Antivirus
Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Boston Properties, Independence Care System, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), Courtagen Life Sciences, Carmel Partners
Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point Harmony Endpoint vs. Microsoft Defender XDR and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.