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ESET PROTECT Enterprise vs Microsoft Defender XDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 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
7.0
ESET PROTECT Enterprise offers strong returns with effective security, easy installation, and up to 30% cost savings over CrowdStrike.
Sentiment score
7.1
Microsoft Defender XDR provides high ROI by consolidating security tools, streamlining operations, and enhancing security, despite licensing costs.
The return on investment is excellent due to its functionality and ease of installation.
Director, Information Technology at Premier Realty Group
There was money saving from using ESET PROTECT Enterprise, which is why I switched from CrowdStrike to ESET.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
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
7.9
Customers praise ESET PROTECT Enterprise's support team for being knowledgeable, responsive, and helpful, often rating them 9 or 10.
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 tech support from ESET is amazing, and I would rate it as ten out of ten.
Owner at Octo-Xpressions
They are very responsive and help in solving issues quickly.
Security Network Engineer at АТ "Банк інвестицій та заощаджень"
Even if support is addressing my problem, if the two issues I mentioned are not resolved, then the support process is not complete.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
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
7.5
ESET PROTECT Enterprise is highly scalable, efficiently expanding to thousands of devices, with performance varying across workstations and servers.
Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Defender XDR scales well for various organizations, efficiently supporting growth and flexibility despite some network deployment challenges.
It can efficiently scale up to thousands of devices in an organization without issues.
Owner at Octo-Xpressions
I have used many products before, and this solution is definitely scalable.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
It is better suited for workstations rather than server environments.
Director, Information Technology at Premier Realty Group
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
7.4
ESET PROTECT Enterprise operates reliably with minimal maintenance, despite occasional update interruptions and manageable false positives.
Sentiment score
8.1
Microsoft Defender XDR is praised for high stability, reliable performance, minimal issues, frequent updates, and prompt issue resolution.
When it performs an update, ESET PROTECT Enterprise should request permission for restarting because otherwise, users lose their work.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
The solution is stable, and I have not encountered any glitches.
Owner at Octo-Xpressions
The solution is very, very stable.
Director, Information Technology at Premier Realty 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

ESET PROTECT Enterprise needs better deployment, performance, automation, UI clarity, and efficient management, especially for mobile and Mac.
Microsoft Defender XDR requires enhancements in speed, integration, automation, AI, ease-of-use, and industry-specific threat intelligence.
Sometimes, agents lose connection with the management console, and the administration team needs to reinstall the agents on the computers.
Security Network Engineer at АТ "Банк інвестицій та заощаджень"
They need to reduce the number of notifications on the endpoints.
Director, Information Technology at Premier Realty Group
It takes a lot of processing power when the machine is initially booted.
Owner at Octo-Xpressions
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

ESET PROTECT Enterprise's pricing is seen as cost-effective, offering good value despite being higher than some competitors.
Microsoft Defender XDR pricing is seen as complex but fair, with high costs alleviated in bundled Microsoft 365 packages.
I pay 40 dollars per agent annually, which is cheaper than 60 dollars per agent for Check Point.
Security Network Engineer at АТ "Банк інвестицій та заощаджень"
We recently paid fourteen dollars and thirty-six cents per unit for 20 users, which is reasonable.
Director, Information Technology at Premier Realty Group
Comparing it to other solutions in the market, it was slightly higher.
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
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

ESET PROTECT Enterprise offers robust security with efficient management, minimal resources, and strong threat detection for online transactions.
Microsoft Defender XDR integrates tools for comprehensive security, offering threat detection, automation, identity protection, and enhanced efficiency.
It allows simple whitelisting and has a learning mode for new installations, which reduces false positives by adapting to typical user habits.
Director, Information Technology at Premier Realty Group
Its web component prevents infections from malicious websites, which enhances its anti-malware capabilities.
Owner at Octo-Xpressions
One of the strong features of ESET PROTECT Enterprise is its ability to work well on old computers.
Security Network Engineer at АТ "Банк інвестицій та заощаджень"
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

ESET PROTECT Enterprise
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
20th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Anti-Malware Tools (10th)
Microsoft Defender XDR
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (7th), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category, the mindshare of ESET PROTECT Enterprise is 1.2%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 4.9%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender XDR4.9%
ESET PROTECT Enterprise1.2%
Other93.9%
Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
 

Featured Reviews

Manikumar David - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at R K Khanna and Associates
Provides comprehensive monitoring and policy implementation with room for memory optimization
ESET PROTECT Enterprise makes the system a little slow sometimes and updates occur at startup. Sometimes unwanted pop-ups appear to users, and they are unable to disable them. The user-friendliness is lacking in some areas. When users are using any computer, ESET PROTECT Enterprise should work in the background without consuming much memory, and any updates should proceed in the background without disturbing the user.
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 Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions are best for your needs.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Comms Service Provider
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
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 Business11
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business47
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise38
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with ESET Protect?
One area for improvement in ESET PROTECT Enterprise is its capabilities on Mac devices, which are less functional compared to Windows. In terms of device management, ESET PROTECT Enterprise could i...
What is your primary use case for ESET Protect?
My customers use ESET PROTECT Enterprise to secure all their operating systems; we have a lot of customers who rely on this antivirus. It also acts as a platform where I can manage all the devices ...
What advice do you have for others considering ESET Protect?
I suggest that other users considering ESET PROTECT Enterprise utilize this platform to manage all their laptops and apply security policies effectively to protect their Windows environments. On a ...
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

ESET Protect, ESET File Security
Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Find out what your peers are saying about ESET PROTECT Enterprise vs. Microsoft Defender XDR and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.