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ESET Endpoint Protection Platform vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint 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
6.5
ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is praised for cost-effectiveness, enhanced security, and significant yet hard-to-quantify financial impact.
Sentiment score
7.3
Organizations achieve financial gains and efficiency by using Microsoft Defender, eliminating third-party solutions, and enhancing security management.
Without detection and protection measures, organizations would face substantial payments and reputational damage, including the necessity to inform customers about data breaches, potentially leading to loss of business.
We have seen a return on investment when using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, as it saves labor by reducing the need for staff to focus on it.
The biggest return on investment for me when using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is the time saving.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
ESET Endpoint Protection is praised for efficient, professional support despite regional inconsistencies, with users generally satisfied.
Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft's Defender for Endpoint support is generally effective but experiences vary; premium options offer swift, knowledgeable assistance.
Normally, I cannot give a ten for support of all brands, as it is not always possible to get full support from companies.
The level-one support seems disconnected from subject matter experts.
I rate Microsoft support 10 out of 10.
Due to our size, we don't have access to direct technical support, but the knowledge base, Microsoft Learn, and the articles available are really good.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
ESET Endpoint Protection Platform offers scalable, flexible, and easy management, ideal for small to large organizations with effective performance.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint efficiently scales with diverse enterprises, integrates seamlessly with Microsoft products, supporting growth effectively.
In terms of scalability, I can rate it eight or nine out of ten.
We managed to scale it out in a short amount of time, with two months of planning and three months of implementation on 10,000 computers.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is scalable enough to handle various devices across environments, whether they are laptops, Android devices, or operating in hybrid environments.
Compatibility is its main feature.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
ESET Endpoint Protection is highly stable with minimal issues, occasional upgrade challenges, and consistently high user ratings for reliability.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is praised for stability, efficiency, and low resource impact, despite minor occasional bugs.
In terms of stability, I can rate it at nine out of ten.
I haven't seen any outages with Microsoft.
I rate Defender 10 out of 10 for stability.
Defender for Endpoint is extremely stable.
 

Room For Improvement

ESET faces challenges with licensing, installation, performance, support, and user interface, needing improvements in malware detection and AI integration.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint struggles with support, integration, UI, performance issues, and lacks essential features and platform support.
A lightweight version of ESET might be beneficial as many of our clients have older CPUs and RAM.
When we were using CrowdStrike, it used to detect and block pirated software, but ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is not doing that.
Repeated interactions are necessary due to Level One's lack of tools and knowledge, hindering efficient problem-solving and negatively impacting our experience with Microsoft support.
We use Microsoft partners to help govern the platform, and as part of an alliance, we want to gather data from each tenant and combine them for a complete view.
Providing more detailed information on how Microsoft Defender for Endpoint detects vulnerabilities.
 

Setup Cost

ESET Endpoint Protection Platform provides flexible, moderately priced licenses with discounts available, valued for cost-effectiveness and performance despite complex setup.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers cost-effective, flexible pricing options integrated with Microsoft services, including discounts for education and volume.
The pricing of ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is a bit high compared to other competitors.
I would rate ESET Endpoint Protection Platform a five for pricing on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 is cheap and 10 is expensive.
Given our extensive Microsoft licensing, transitioning to Defender for Endpoint did not affect licensing costs.
It costs $15 per VM for the P2 plan, which is seen as affordable for customers.
The pricing, setup, and licensing were very easy and simple.
 

Valuable Features

ESET Endpoint Protection offers strong threat detection, minimal resource impact, user-friendly management, and comprehensive security features for organizations.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers seamless integration, real-time protection, and automated response, ensuring robust security with minimal impact.
The best feature of ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is that I get all the details about which user is using it, how much time they spend on websites, and all related information.
The primary purpose is to protect computers from viruses and ransomware.
Defender for Endpoint's coverage across different platforms in our environment is pretty good. We have devices running Linux, Mac OS, Windows, iOS, and Android. It covers all of them.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides a unified management interface allowing customers to manage their on-premises and hybrid infrastructures from a single pane.
One of the best features of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is its database for identifying zero-day attacks or malware attacks.
 

Categories and Ranking

ESET Endpoint Protection Pl...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
18th
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
8th
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
101
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
1st
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
2nd
Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
197
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is 3.0%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 10.8%, down from 14.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

ManojNair2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to set up with good security and rapidly improving capabilities
In terms of stability, the performance parameters do come into play. It's good on the regular office front, however, on the development side, if somebody is using it in a development environment, they need to make some configuration changes in terms of what directories should be excluded from the real-time scanning. I had to do that kind of stuff. I don't do that with the Microsoft product, for example. It runs, and it scans the entire system with no issues. The solution is stable. Regular updates were available in the product versions. They were updated, and they gave regular signature updates also so that the product checked all the boxes.
AnuragSrivastava - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides detailed visibility into threats but the ability to add exceptions needs improvement
One major item for improvement is the ability to add exceptions. We can add some exceptions, but not at the level we need to. The second major area for improvement involves enhanced capabilities for different operating systems or platforms. That is, even though we have coverage for different operating systems or platforms such as Linux, we don't get all of the controls and enhanced capabilities that are available with Windows devices. Reporting could also be improved because, at present, we get limited results at times. For example, in an environment with more than 100,000 devices, you may just get 10,000 results when you run a report.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) solutions are best for your needs.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
6%
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ESET Endpoint Security?
ESET Endpoint Security’s most valuable feature is the management console.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ESET Endpoint Security?
I rate the product’s pricing a three out of ten. It is neither cheap nor expensive for our clients. We use the free version, and there are no additional costs involved.
What needs improvement with ESET Endpoint Security?
The product’s AI implementation feature could be better for learning user behavior. There could be a feature to detect unsecured devices in the network similar to its older version. We need additio...
How is Cortex XDR compared with Microsoft Defender?
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface, applies behavioral-based endpoint protection and response, and includes risk-ba...
Which offers better endpoint security - Symantec or Microsoft Defender?
We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior solution. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security s...
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 ...
 

Also Known As

Smart Security, ESET PROTECT Advanced, ESET LiveGuard Advanced, ESET PROTECT Platform
Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

ERSTE Group Bank, Miller Solutions, Wesleyan University, The Hospital Center of Luxembourg, Deer Valley USD, SPAR, Industrial Federal Credit Union, Honda, City Hall of Palmela, Hays CISD, Lester B Pearson School Board
Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Find out what your peers are saying about ESET Endpoint Protection Platform vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and other solutions. Updated: May 2025.
851,491 professionals have used our research since 2012.