ESET Inspect vs Microsoft Defender XDR comparison

ESET and Microsoft are both solutions in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category. ESET is ranked #33 with an average rating of 8.0, while Microsoft is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.4. ESET holds a 1.1% mindshare in EDR, compared to Microsoft’s 2.5% mindshare. Additionally, 80% of ESET users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 9, 2024

ESET Inspect and Microsoft Defender XDR compete in the security monitoring and extended detection and response solutions category. Microsoft Defender XDR seems to have the upper hand due to its advanced features and integration capabilities, making it worth its higher price.

Features: ESET Inspect is praised for its detailed threat analysis, incident response capabilities, and cost-effectiveness. Microsoft Defender XDR is noted for its deep integration with other Microsoft products, advanced threat intelligence, and comprehensive extended detection and response solution. Microsoft Defender XDR's integration with other Microsoft services gives it a competitive edge.

Room for Improvement:ESET Inspect needs a more intuitive learning curve, improved scalability, and better documentation. Microsoft Defender XDR could benefit from better documentation, more flexible configuration options, and a smoother learning curve. ESET Inspect faces challenges with scalability while Microsoft Defender XDR's documentation could enhance user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:ESET Inspect is recognized for its straightforward deployment process and responsive customer service. Microsoft Defender XDR users find deployment to have a steeper learning curve but appreciate comprehensive support. ESET Inspect’s ease of deployment and customer service are strengths, while Microsoft Defender XDR requires more effort initially.

Pricing and ROI:ESET Inspect is noted for its affordability and positive ROI. Microsoft Defender XDR, though more expensive, is considered worth the investment because of its extensive features and integration benefits. ESET Inspect is cost-effective, while Microsoft Defender XDR offers higher ROI through its advanced functionalities.

To learn more, read our detailed ESET Inspect vs. Microsoft Defender XDR Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

ESET Inspect vs. Microsoft Defender XDR

June 2026

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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

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Net...

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) category, the mindshare of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is 3.5%, down from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ESET Inspect is 1.1%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 2.5%, down from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks	3.5%
Microsoft Defender XDR	2.5%
ESET Inspect	1.1%
Other	92.9%

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Featured Reviews

ABHISHEK_SINGH

Senior Process Expert at A.P. Moller - Maersk

Gained full visibility and streamlined threat detection through behavior-based insights and AI integration

Initially, we got to have a lot of false positives when we onboarded, but nowadays it's quite smooth. We have fine-tuned our security policies and allowed different levels of policies to get rid of those false positives. Currently, we are getting a fairly good amount of incidents that are not false positives or benign, but actionable items. The process is streamlined. In the initial days, the operations used to get involved in a lot of benign and other activities, but now the process is streamlined. We are leveraging the auto-detection and remediation plans. The operations teams are now more involved in other business roles as well, not just looking into the logs and fetching out what's happening there. They have fixed a lot of things. Initially, they didn't have IAC code drift detection, cloud posture management, or security posture management, but they have those now. They purchased different vendors and did a merger with that. They have now Prisma Cloud that gets integrated and now they are working with Cortex Cloud. Everything that was negative has now been addressed, and the product altogether looks to be in a very better and mature shape now. Currently, it's more or less detecting the workloads with AI-based best practices. Since most organizations are consuming AI agents and other things, we are looking forward to seeing what other feature enhancements Palo Alto can support in that.

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Moshiur-Rahman Khan

CEO at IOPoint.com

Provides reliable and comprehensive internet security solutions without significant system slowdowns

My organization uses ESET Inspect for antivirus and internet security on laptops and desktops. On the enterprise side, we utilize it on our Windows Server. The platform has improved our organization's security by providing comprehensive antivirus and internet security solutions. It is fast and…

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reviewer2812758

Infosec at a government with 10,001+ employees

Integrated defenses have unified threat hunting, phishing simulations, and identity investigations

I appreciate Microsoft Defender XDR's MDE, Microsoft Defender tool, which has Attack Simulator. Instead of doing a phishing campaign and getting a separate tool, Microsoft Defender XDR does it all. These features of Microsoft Defender XDR have helped us conduct a phishing campaign quarterly, which has been beneficial. I also appreciate the fact that it has Defender for Office integrated, Defender for Identity, and everything integrated together. I would describe the process of using Microsoft Defender XDR to prioritize incidents in my security operations as quite decent. I appreciate the automatic alerting system where any incidents or alerts we receive come directly to our email. From there, we can open the email, go directly to Microsoft Defender XDR, and start our investigations and remediations. I perceive the integration of security and identity access management in Microsoft Defender XDR as affecting my identity protection strategies very well because it is well integrated with Purview, integrated well with Entra ID, and integrated well with Exchange. I especially appreciate MDO, the Office product. If anything happens and I want to conduct an investigation, it takes me directly to Exchange, where I can also investigate any emails or phishing incidents. Instead of going to different portals, everything can be done from Microsoft Defender XDR. If necessary for further investigation, Microsoft Defender XDR then directs me to that environment. I would assess the integration of AI in guiding security actions within Microsoft Defender XDR as quite positive. Recently, Security Copilot went big, and it is beneficial that I can use that, especially to write KQL. I can do threat hunting features and intelligence all within using Microsoft's Security Copilot. It also has a nice AI feature for threat hunting. I know that all the Defender logs go to Sentinel, and I can pull it up from Microsoft Defender XDR or from Sentinel. The fact that I can actually do all that within Microsoft Defender XDR is a nice feature. In the top module, I can do threat lookups, and I can actually type KQLs in Microsoft Defender XDR and look up incidents. Predictive shielding has had a nice impact on my proactive security measures. It is beneficial that it has, similar to Entra ID, a secure score. For me to improve the product, the secure score helps me out. If I rate it from highest to lowest, I can see what things I can improve. Secure score helps me see what areas I can improve in Microsoft Defender XDR to increase my score and bring it to 80 or more. Knowing Microsoft Defender XDR from using it since 2019, before COVID days, I know that they have improved significantly. It is much more user-friendly and has a very nice vulnerability feature that I find handy and useful. The fact that this feature integrates into Intune is also very decent.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have found the solution to be very easy in respect of the integration and configurable."

"We've had a significant increase in blocking with a decrease in false positives, because it's looking at how the files work, not just a list of files that it's been told to look for."

"One thing that I like about Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks, it is detecting all the suspicious or malicious binaries, and it has integration with Palo Alto Firewall."

"The most valuable feature is that you can select remote access of any machine for sandboxing."

"After installing this solution, it identified, blocked, and provided the complete attack chain, which was very helpful."

"Their XDR agent and their behavioral indicators of compromise (BIOC) are pretty nice. Their managed threat hunting is also pretty nice. They also have WildFire, which is a service for actively looking for malware. It's quite useful."

"Palo Alto is constantly adding new features."

"The dashboard is customizable."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks pros

"Rules are the most valuable feature of ESET Inspect. They are created through XML language, and they track and filter events from endpoints. If the event matches the rule, the rule is triggered. Exceptions are the second most valuable feature because it gives you the power to filter false positives in large numbers. The third most valuable feature is the Learning mode that facilitates making exceptions for known processes with a good reputation."

"ESET Enterprise Inspector's greatest asset lies in its user-friendly interface, which allows for easy navigation and thorough analysis of incidents."

"The rules are the best and most useful features."

"ESET Enterprise Inspector's most valuable feature is EDR."

"Scalability-wise, it is a very good solution."

"I find the multilayered endpoint security the most valuable feature."

"The product's most valuable features are its performance and stability."

"This solution is easy to install, setup and monitor."

"The feature of Microsoft Defender XDR that I preferred the most traditionally was its focus on endpoint protection, but now identity is right up there with endpoint security. Identity is important because different compromises start at the identity level. This allows us to understand what actions are being taken, who is doing them, and whether it is actually them."

"Scanning, vulnerability reporting, and the dashboard are the most valuable features."

"Overall, the comprehensiveness of the threat protection is at 95 percent."

"365 Defender saves us a lot of money because we don't have to recover data or hire outside lawyers to help us with legal trouble."

"You can configure the product very easily."

"I like that it's stable. It's been stable for a long time, and Microsoft Defender has done a good job there."

"The most valuable features are spam filtering, attachment filtering, and antivirus protection."

"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."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pros

Cons

"The solution can never really be an on-premises solution based simply on the way it is set up. It needs metadata to run and improve. Having an on-premises solution would cut it off from making improvements."

"There are some false positives."

"The dashboard could use some significant improvement, just making it more useful with more information. It has a limited amount of information right now. It is customizable, but I'd love to see a better out-of-box dashboard."

"It is not a suitable solution if you are looking for a single product with multiple features such as DLP, encryption, rollback, etc."

"It takes time to scan the servers and devices."

"I don't like that they have different types of licenses. For example, if users select a license, they think they will have all the platforms they need to improve their network or security. But after some time, Palo Alto Networks changed their licensing, and some of the features that, for example, were free at the beginning now have a cost. I think the integration can be improved. For example, a lot of tools are just integrated through APIs."

"The solution eats memory of the computer, unlike anything I've ever seen."

"The solution should force customers to integrate with network traffic to see the full benefits of XDR."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks cons

"The product is complex to configure, and there are too many errors that are not errors, making it an area that can be considered for improvement."

"One area that needs improvement for the product is ransomware protection, which does not offer complete security."

"It is not a stable product. We were disappointed in the stability of this product in comparison to McAffee."

"Every vendor is working on making the job of SOC analysts easier, with fewer false positives and more precise detections. ESET uses LiveGrid technology that provides feedback on the reputation of files and operations. It's hard to eliminate all of the false positives, but hopefully, we'll see some improvement with the advances in AI."

"It may be difficult for a first-time customer to understand all of the functions that are available to him."

"The solution could improve the consumption of resources. The RAM and CPU usage increases during usage which can cause issues. We have three separate services and it would be beneficial if all were executed from one agent limiting the over usage of system resources."

"The platform's price could be better."

"The Defender agent itself is more compatible with Windows 10 and Windows 11. Other than these two lines, there are so many compatibility issues. Security is not only about Microsoft. The core technical aspects of it are quite good, but it would be good if they can better support non-Microsoft solutions in terms of putting the agents directly into VMware and other virtualization solutions. There should be more emphasis on RHEL and other operating systems that we use, other than Windows, in the server category."

"The initial time spent setting up and configuring Defender XDR is a bit longer than the other solutions. If everything were on one portal, the platforms for managing policies or alerts would be simpler. We must automate and manage policies on Intune rather than the same portal."

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

"There should be better information for experts on features in the solution. What I see when reading about features in Microsoft 365 Defender is that it is always general information. If Microsoft could go deeper into details for the experts about how to use the tools, usage of it would be more familiar and it would be easier to use."

"The web filtering solution needs to be improved because currently, it is very simple."

"We struggle sometimes with tier one support agents who give canned responses."

"Automated playbooks and automated dashboards would be preferable to the way the data is currently being presented."

"The solution could enhance the threat Intelligence feature by making it more relevant to specific industries. Much of the threat intelligence information isn't directly applicable to our environment. It would be beneficial if the threat intelligence were tailored to the industry, such as healthcare or fintech, where the solution is being used."

More Microsoft Defender XDR cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our customers have expressed that the price is high."

"In terms of the cost Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is very expensive because we are a Mexican company and when you translate dollars to pesos the cost is very high. The solution is very expensive for Mexican companies. I understand that they have international prices, but I do not think it offsets the price enough for many companies in countries, such as Mexico. The amount it is reduced is not a massive percentage."

"The price of the product is not very economical."

"I don't like that they have different types of licenses."

"We pay about $50,000 USD per year for a bundle that includes Cortex XDR."

"The pricing is a little bit on the expensive side."

"Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is quite an expensive solution."

"The solution has one subscription for endpoint protection and one subscription for detection and response. The two licenses combined give you the BRO version."

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks pricing and cost advice

"The pricing and licensing are the big issue now, in my opinion. If the price was less than other companies, or a one-time charge for service was available, I think there would be more users of this solution."

"This is true in the case of licensing, we do not have the most expensive products, and we don't have the cheapest product, it's somewhere in the middle. Perhaps a little higher from the middle, but we are known for what we provide to our customers, and they are pleased."

"The platform's licensing is affordable and straightforward."

"I feel it is a very expensive product."

"The platform is expensive; it could be cheaper."

"Microsoft should provide lower-level licensing options. They should do it in such a way that even an individual could purchase a license, and it should be entirely flexible."

"365 Defender can get expensive because you pay per gigabyte of data ingested. On the other hand, much of the data available in the other Microsoft security solutions are made available relatively cheaply—sometimes at cost or for free. Integrating only a limited set of third-party solutions with Sentinel would be cost-effective. It's much more affordable if companies only have Microsoft stuff."

"It is fairly priced because we get complete integrated services with the E5 license."

"Microsoft is not competitive with the pricing of the solution. The competitors are able to offer lower discounts. The price of the solution is higher."

"The pricing of Microsoft 365 Defender is definitely on the costly side, but with the features and services that Microsoft provides, such as the seamless integration of all the Defender tools, while the price is on the higher side, there is no alternative."

"The solutions price is fair for what they offer."

"Microsoft purposely makes its license combinations complex and includes combinations like Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5, Office 365 E3, Office 365 E5, and Office 365 E1, so you get confused. Microsoft tries to sell you a bundle of a lot of things together."

"The price of the solution is high compared to others and we have lost some customers because of it."

More Microsoft Defender XDR pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	46
Midsize Enterprise	20
Large Enterprise	52

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	2

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	46
Midsize Enterprise	28
Large Enterprise	41

Questions from the Community

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. Sentinel One

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. SentinelOne SentinelOne offers very detailed specifics with regard to risks or attacks. ...

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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 th...

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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,...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ESET Inspect?

The platform's licensing is affordable and straightforward. We purchase soft keys, install them, and manage the licen...

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What needs improvement with ESET Inspect?

One area that needs improvement for the product is ransomware protection, which does not offer complete security.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for ESET Inspect?

My organization uses ESET Inspect for antivirus and internet security on laptops and desktops. On the enterprise side...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft 365 Defender?

My experience with the pricing, setup costs, and licensing of Microsoft Defender XDR is that we are on an E5 license,...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?

From my perspective, Microsoft Defender XDR can be improved with better visibility in certain areas where I can trigg...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Microsoft 365 Defender?

My main use cases for Microsoft Defender XDR are telemetry, advanced hunting, and the ability to perform host isolati...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 10% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 5% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 4% of the time

Cortex XSIAM vs Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

Compared 3% of the time

More Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks Competitors

CrowdStrike Falcon vs ESET Inspect

Compared 13% of the time

HP Wolf Security vs ESET Inspect

Compared 7% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint vs ESET Inspect

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiEDR vs ESET Inspect

Compared 5% of the time

TrendAI Vision One vs ESET Inspect

Compared 4% of the time

More ESET Inspect Competitors

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 9% of the time

Wazuh vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 6% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 4% of the time

ESET EDR/XDR vs Microsoft Defender XDR

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Defender XDR Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks

June 2026

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Buyer's Guide

ESET Inspect

June 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender XDR

June 2026

Download Microsoft Defender XDR product report

Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps

ESET Enterprise Inspector

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender

Overview

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks provides advanced threat detection with AI-driven endpoint protection and seamless integration, ensuring multi-layered security and automatic threat response.

Cortex XDR is designed to safeguard endpoints against malware and suspicious activities. It offers advanced threat detection and response capabilities using behavioral analysis, AI, and machine learning. It seamlessly integrates with security infrastructures, providing endpoint security, firewall integration, and enhanced visibility in both cloud-based and on-premises environments.

What are the key features of Cortex XDR?

Advanced Threat Detection: Uses AI and machine learning for proactive threat identification.
Multi-layered Security: Combines various security measures for comprehensive protection.
Endpoint Protection: Safeguards against malware and exploits.
Behavioral Analysis: Monitors suspicious activity for early detection.
Automatic Threat Response: Automates responses to neutralize threats.

What benefits should users expect?

Ease of Use: Simplifies security management with intuitive design.
Resource Efficiency: Minimizes impact on system resources.
Integration Capabilities: Works well with existing security setups.
Reduced Analyst Workload: Automates processes to decrease manual intervention.

Organizations in diverse sectors deploy Cortex XDR to protect against malware, leveraging its advanced threat detection capabilities. Its integration with existing security infrastructures appeals to those seeking comprehensive protection in both cloud and on-premises environments, providing enhanced visibility and threat intelligence.

Palo Alto Networks

ESET Inspect provides strong EDR capabilities with user-friendly operations and multilayered security for threat detection and response, supporting efficient management across multiple devices.

ESET Inspect enables organizations to manage security effectively through its lightweight connector, handling EDR/XDR services for vulnerability and attack management. It allows tracking of potential threats, including lateral movements and anomaly detection, and employs XML-based rules for customized filtering. The interface supports exception management and a learning mode, enhancing control over false positives. Performance, stability, and flexible deployment options add value to its comprehensive security approach.

What are the key features of ESET Inspect?

User-Friendly Interface: Simplifies navigation and threat monitoring.
Effective EDR Capabilities: Enables detailed response actions for security incidents.
Multilayered Security: Prevents malicious activities with layered protection.
XML-Based Rules: Allows customizable filtering and monitoring.
Learning Mode: Facilitates the management of false positives through exceptions.
Lightweight Connector: Efficiently manages security across devices.

What benefits can users expect from ESET Inspect?

Enhanced Threat Detection: Provides deep insights into network processes.
Comprehensive Management: Offers multilayered security across cloud and on-premises setups.
Proactive Threat Response: Enables actions like process termination for anomalies.
Flexible Deployment: Supports antivirus, spam protection, and IDS functions.

ESET Inspect is often deployed by administrators in industries requiring stringent security management, such as IT services and business sectors with sensitive data handling. It is used for network monitoring, antivirus protections across desktops, laptops, and servers, allowing proactive responses to threats with built-in and regularly updated rules.

ESET

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

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank

Mitsubishi Motors, Allianz Suisse, Cannon, T-Mobile

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

Buyer's Guide

ESET Inspect vs. Microsoft Defender XDR

June 2026

Free Report: ESET Inspect vs. Microsoft Defender XDR

Find out what your peers are saying about ESET Inspect vs. Microsoft Defender XDR and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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