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Cisco Secure Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender XDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 2024

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
7.4
Cisco Secure Endpoint enhances productivity and reduces costs by streamlining threat detection, integrating tools, and minimizing manual intervention.
Sentiment score
7.1
Microsoft Defender XDR provides high ROI by consolidating security tools, streamlining operations, and enhancing security, despite licensing costs.
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
6.1
Cisco Secure Endpoint support is praised for responsiveness and expertise, providing quick issue resolution and valuable user guidance.
Sentiment score
6.1
Microsoft Defender XDR's support is timely and responsive, yet smaller organizations experience slower, less effective assistance than larger ones.
Cisco has good technical support, especially considering these are newer solutions compared to traditional routing and switching products.
Chief Technology Officer at Future Point Technologies
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
8.4
Cisco Secure Endpoint is scalable, integrates with SecureX for efficient management, and supports diverse industries without extra resources.
Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Defender XDR scales well for various organizations, efficiently supporting growth and flexibility despite some network deployment challenges.
Cisco Secure Endpoint is definitely scalable.
Chief Technology Officer at Future Point Technologies
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
6.5
Cisco Secure Endpoint is highly stable, reliable, and trusted for performance, earning high ratings from users in various enterprises.
Sentiment score
8.1
Microsoft Defender XDR is praised for high stability, reliable performance, minimal issues, frequent updates, and prompt issue resolution.
We have not encountered any problems.
Chief Technology Officer at Future Point Technologies
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

Cisco Secure Endpoint requires better integration, reporting, and UI enhancements, alongside improved pricing, AI capabilities, and IoT support.
Microsoft Defender XDR requires enhancements in speed, integration, automation, AI, ease-of-use, and industry-specific threat intelligence.
The forensic capabilities need enhancement, especially for deep forensic data collection.
Chief Technology Officer at Future Point Technologies
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

Cisco Secure Endpoint offers competitive and flexible pricing with value-rich features, despite some complexity in licensing.
Microsoft Defender XDR pricing is seen as complex but fair, with high costs alleviated in bundled Microsoft 365 packages.
Cisco is aggressive in pricing, making it competitive and sometimes even cheaper than other good products like CrowdStrike, Microsoft Defender, or SentinelOne.
Chief Technology Officer at Future Point Technologies
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

Cisco Secure Endpoint provides advanced security features, cross-platform support, and ease of use with strong threat intelligence and support.
Microsoft Defender XDR integrates tools for comprehensive security, offering threat detection, automation, identity protection, and enhanced efficiency.
Cisco Secure Endpoint is very good in machine learning, which allows it to secure offline contents even if not connected to the internet.
Chief Technology Officer at Future Point Technologies
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

Cisco Secure Endpoint
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
26th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (34th), Cisco Security Portfolio (8th)
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 Cisco Secure Endpoint is 1.4%, down from 1.6% 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 (%)
Microsoft Defender XDR2.6%
Cisco Secure Endpoint1.4%
Other96.0%
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
 

Featured Reviews

JavedHashmi - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at Future Point Technologies
Reliable threat protection is achieved while integration and analysis capabilities need refinement
Cisco Secure Endpoint is very good in machine learning, which allows it to secure offline contents even if not connected to the internet. We haven't encountered a single breach after it's deployed. It controls USB devices and has a separate antivirus solution called Tetra, providing security even for real-time, day-zero attacks through its strong Talos threat intelligence platform.
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.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
Healthcare Company
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 Business21
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise21
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business47
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise38
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Secure Endpoint?
The product's initial setup phase was very simple.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Secure Endpoint?
Cisco is aggressive in pricing, making it competitive and sometimes even cheaper than other good products like CrowdStrike, Microsoft Defender, or SentinelOne.
What needs improvement with Cisco Secure Endpoint?
Cisco Secure Endpoint lacks features like DLP which other vendors offer. XDR is new, so integration capabilities with third-party tools need improvement. The forensic capabilities need enhancement,...
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

Cisco AMP for Endpoints
Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Heritage Bank, Mobile County Schools, NHL University, Thunder Bay Regional, Yokogawa Electric, Sam Houston State University, First Financial Bank
Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure Endpoint vs. Microsoft Defender XDR and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.