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CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

CrowdStrike Falcon
Ranking in Attack Surface Management (ASM)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
135
Ranking in other categories
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (6th), Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (1st), Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) (1st), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (1st), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (1st), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (2nd), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (1st)
Microsoft Defender External...
Ranking in Attack Surface Management (ASM)
12th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (32nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Attack Surface Management (ASM) category, the mindshare of CrowdStrike Falcon is 11.4%, down from 25.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is 3.1%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Attack Surface Management (ASM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
CrowdStrike Falcon11.4%
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management3.1%
Other85.5%
Attack Surface Management (ASM)
 

Featured Reviews

Waleed Omar - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides effective real-time threat detection with potential for cost optimization
Some features such as device control, firewall management, and file analysis are standalone products that we need to purchase separately. If these features came out of the box within the product, it would be much more beneficial for us. Other providers such as SentinelOne include these features in their base product. We attended a CrowdStrike Falcon event where they discussed some shallow AI features, but we cannot see these in our panel yet. We work with different solutions such as Darktrace and SocRadar, where AI features are automatically displayed in our dashboards after release. However, for CrowdStrike Falcon, we cannot see these features.
AndyChan3 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced visibility and exposes vulnerabilities but needs more integration
I am currently in the pilot stage of implementing Microsoft External Attack Surface Management (EASM). My organization is transitioning to a comprehensive track of Microsoft solutions, and we will move to full-scale production in another year, maybe Microsoft External Attack Surface Management…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"CrowdStrike provides a lot of visibility in their tool."
"I value the overall behavior analysis of CrowdStrike. The engine of this product is what drew us to this solution."
"The most valuable aspects of CrowdStrike Falcon for me are its device observability, identification, and software and OS recognition."
"The most valuable features are the complete IPS and IDS."
"We have seen a reduction to the performance hit to our operating systems."
"The product provides good monitoring features."
"It provides very good protection and the ability to crosscheck environments."
"There's almost no maintenance required. It's very low if there's any at all."
"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."
"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."
"It seems to be better at protecting from cyberattacks."
 

Cons

"I would like CrowdStrike to provide some correlation in the threat analysis, so we can visualize things better."
"The technical support team often just replies to an issue with a link to an article rather than actually calling back and talking to someone and making sure the problem is solved. To me, that's kind of weak."
"It would be nice if they did have some sort of Active Directory tie-in, whether that be Azure or on-prem. Sometimes, it is difficult for us to determine if we are missing any endpoints or servers in CrowdStrike. We honestly don't have a great inventory, but it would be nice if CrowdStrike had a way to say this is everything in your environment, Active Directory-wise, and this is what doesn't have sensors. They try to do that now with a function that they have built-in, but I have been unsuccessful in having it help us identify what needs a sensor. So, better visibility of what doesn't have a sensor in our environment would be helpful."
"I've found that CrowdStrike's technical support could benefit from increased technical expertise."
"As for stability, I would rate it around eight because last year they faced some downtime with around eight thousand computers, but it will improve."
"I would love to see more investment in Insight because CrowdStrike have an opportunity to potentially displace some of the vulnerability management vendors with the visibility they can see over time. I want to see them continue to evolve, e.g., what other things can they disrupt which are operational things we have to continue to do as an organization."
"The product could be more accurate in terms of performance."
"Any kind of integration that you want to do, such as using the API to connect to a SIEM, is complex and it will be expensive to do."
"Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement."
"The integration is not as seamless compared to competitors like Palo Alto."
"With Microsoft, support is always crazy, it's not easy to get support."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When comparing to Microsoft, CrowdStrike Falcon is more expensive."
"CrowdStrike is well priced. On a yearly basis, it costs between $60 and $100 per user."
"The price is fixed with no room for negotiation."
"I am not aware of the price, but I believe that it is among the most expensive XDRs out there. Of course, this is dependent on the features you choose. Depending on the features, the price might increase."
"I would like them to further reduce the price, because it is quite pricey at the moment."
"The cost is usually a challenge in the industry. I think we pay around sixty-eight dollars."
"It is expensive compared to SentinelOne, but as the market leader, it is worth it."
"As I'm part of the technical team, not the budgeting team, I don't have information on CrowdStrike Falcon pricing."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business46
Midsize Enterprise34
Large Enterprise61
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Comparing CrowdStrike Falcon to Cortex XDR (Palo Alto)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. CrowdStrike Falcon Both Cortex XDR and Crowd Strike Falcon offer cloud-based solutions that are very scalable, secure, and user-friendly. Cortex XDR by Palo Alto offers ...
How does Crowdstrike Falcon compare with Darktrace?
Both of these products perform similarly and have many outstanding attributes. CrowdStrike Falcon offers an amazing user interface that makes setup easy and seamless. CrowdStrike Falcon offers a cl...
How does Microsoft Defender for Endpoint compare with Crowdstrike Falcon?
The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never push your machine hardware to "test", you don't have the usual "scan now" feature ...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement. Introduction of more AI automation into the products would also be beneficial. The integration is not as seamless co...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
I am currently in the pilot stage of implementing Microsoft External Attack Surface Management (EASM). My organization is transitioning to a comprehensive track of Microsoft solutions, and we will ...
 

Also Known As

CrowdStrike Falcon, CrowdStrike Falcon XDR, CrowdStrike Falcon Threat Intelligence, CrowdStrike Identity Protection, CrowdStrike Falcon Surface
No data available
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about CrowdStrike Falcon vs. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.