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FortiXDR vs Microsoft Defender XDR comparison

Fortinet and Microsoft are both solutions in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category. Fortinet is ranked #28 with an average rating of 8.0, while Microsoft is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.4. Fortinet holds a 0.6% mindshare in XDR, compared to Microsoft’s 7.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Fortinet users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.
FortiXDR
Read 4 FortiXDR reviews
  • 809 Views
  • 383 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
Microsoft Defender XDR
Read 97 Microsoft Defender XDR reviews
  • 7,236 Views
  • 5,536 Comparison Views
97% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between FortiXDR and Microsoft Defender XDR based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

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To learn more, read our detailed FortiXDR vs. Microsoft Defender XDR Report (Updated: February 2025).
Buyer's Guide
FortiXDR vs. Microsoft Defender XDR
February 2025
Download the complete report
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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

FortiXDR
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
28th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender XDR
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category, the mindshare of FortiXDR is 0.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 7.0%, up from 6.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
 

Featured Reviews

Abdulrahman Mashabi - PeerSpot reviewer
Affordable pricing improves access to solutions with scalable and efficient protection
We are a system integrator and cloud service provider. Although I am in sales and not technical, I am involved with these products to sell them to our customers We are using FortiGate and FortiWeb mostly.  Additionally, we are engaged with FortiXDR and FortiEDR. They could change their licensing…
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Gabor Nyerd - PeerSpot reviewer
Includes four services and four products, which can help organizations a lot
We found that sometimes integrations work, but testing them can take some time. Sometimes, configurations take much longer than expected. We have a configuration in place that needs to be synchronized with another server. However, the servers are four hours apart, so this can cause delays. In general, I believe that the time it takes to configure and test a service should be shorter. Sometimes, it can take a couple of hours to test a single configuration setting. Other times, it is only ten or fifteen minutes, which is normal. However, sometimes, even immediate actions can be triggered by configuration changes, and some settings can take up to eight hours to complete. I believe that this time can be improved. Microsoft is making a lot of improvements to its services in a short period of time. This is a good thing, as it means that the services are constantly being updated and improved. However, it can be challenging for customers to keep up with the changes. For example, a customer may read about an update, understand it, and share it with their colleagues and boss. However, it may take days or weeks to test the update and get the necessary approvals. This can be especially challenging for large customers with many users or machines. In some cases, Microsoft may change a service before the customer has had a chance to implement the previous update. This can be frustrating for customers, as it means that they have to constantly learn new things and adjust their workflows. On the one hand, it is important for Microsoft to keep updating and improving its services. This helps to ensure that the services are meeting the customers' needs and that they are staying ahead of the competition. Microsoft should also be mindful of the challenges that these changes can create for customers. One way to address this challenge is to provide customers with more time to implement changes. Microsoft could also provide more information about upcoming changes so that customers can plan ahead. Ultimately, Microsoft needs to strike a balance between keeping its services up-to-date and providing customers with a smooth transition to new features.
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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

"FortiXDR is valuable for its integration capabilities with one hundred percent compatibility with other vendors in cloud environments like Google, Oracle, and Microsoft."
"FortiXDR is valuable for its integration capabilities with one hundred percent compatibility with other vendors in cloud environments like Google, Oracle, and Microsoft."
"Our customers are satisfied with FortiXDR."
"The most valuable feature of FortiXDR is it integrates well with other Fortinet solutions, such as Fortinet firewall, FortiMail, FortiSandbox, Forti Fabric, switches, and access points. Whatever the flow of the traffic comes in or goes out, the entire traffic can be managed and monitored properly."
"The most valuable feature of FortiXDR is its ability to block clients, providing comprehensive endpoint protection."
"The most valuable feature of FortiXDR is its ability to block clients, providing comprehensive endpoint protection."
"The product is stable enough."
"The unified view of the threat landscape on a central dashboard is the most valuable feature."
"The comprehensiveness of Microsoft's threat detection is good."
"The most valuable features are machine learning, AI, and auto-remediation of none malicious alerts."
"Having a single pane of glass for all Microsoft security services makes everything much easier. A security analyst can go to a single portal and see everything in one view. The integration of everything into one portal is a huge benefit."
"The most valuable feature depends on the scenario. For compliance, I like Microsoft Purview Information Protection and Data Loss Prevention. Sentinel is the most helpful feature for security. 365 Defender helps us prioritize threats across an enterprise. It's a crucial feature for the managed services team."
"The advantage of Microsoft Defender XDR has over other XDRs in the market is that it's easy to use. You can quickly differentiate between alerts, incidents, devices, software, etc. It's easier to investigate an incident, and you have so many options. You can automate investigations and use playbooks. There's also the live response session, which is something you can't find in any other XDR."
"The best feature is threat hunting. There are a lot of other features I like, such as the alert mechanism. The chain alert mechanism has a huge impact. It combines all the alerts into one incident and automatically correlates them with AI."
"The feature I find most valuable is Defender for Endpoint."
More Microsoft Defender XDR pros
 

Cons

"The pricing of FortiXDR should be improved."
"They could change their licensing costs to make it more affordable for smaller businesses."
"Improvement is needed in the intuitiveness and integration measures of FortiXDR, especially in terms of compatibility."
"Many of the solutions, such as CrowdStrike have an MDR solution where remediation can be provided by the vendor. For example, if there is any zero data threat found, a new threat that the customer is not able to recognize, fix, or understand what needs to be done this feature has to be added in FortiXDR so that the customer feels comfortable."
"The pricing of FortiXDR should be improved. It's a point of concern for us."
"They could change their licensing costs to make it more affordable for smaller businesses."
"Improvement is needed in the intuitiveness and integration measures of FortiXDR, especially in terms of compatibility."
"The design of the user interface could use some work. Sometimes it's hard to find the exact information you need."
"Microsoft 365 Defender does not have a unique package with emerging endpoint security technologies, such as EDR and XDR."
"Some of our older hardware experienced a slight bump in CPU and memory usage. Although I don't have empirical data to back that up, I would suggest possibly more streamlining in the software."
"Defender's AI for identifying suspicious activity could be improved. Also, I do a lot of home updates. Maybe there is a way to set it up faster. For example, let's say that I want to automatically update seven computers, servers, etc. I wouldn't do it to a user, but maybe the server. I don't mind if the server restarts automatically."
"The technical support from Microsoft Defender XDR has been disappointingly slow, to the point that I am considering not renewing my unified support contract."
"I'd like to see a wider solution that includes not only desktop devices but also other devices, such as servers, storage cabinets, switching equipment, et cetera."
"Defender also lacks automated detection and response. You need to resolve issues manually. You can manage multiple Microsoft security products from a single portal, and all your security recommendations are in one place. It's easy to understand and manage. However, I wouldn't say Defender is a single pane of glass. You still need to switch between all of the available Microsoft tools. You can see all the alerts in one panel, but you can't automate remediation."
"There is no common area where we can manage all the policies for the EDR, third-party solutions, devices, servers, Windows, Mac, etc., but it's on the road map, and we ware waiting for that feature."
More Microsoft Defender XDR cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is an expensive solution compared to other vendors, such as Check Point."
"Understanding the subscription model has been a bit challenging, as every feature or requirement comes with an additional cost."
"The license cost for a year is approximately forty-four thousand, and this annual saving is a significant factor in our decision to switch."
"We've managed to navigate it effectively through our enterprise agreement, and Microsoft's academic discounts have proven to be quite generous."
"The price could be better. Normally, the costs depend on the country you're located in for the license. When we were in the initial stage, we went with the E5 license they call premium standard. It cost us around $5.20 per month for four users."
"All I can say again is the E5 gives you all the capabilities that it offers. It also gives Office 365 and one terabyte of storage. All in all, the E5 license model makes sense. There are some people who say it's quite costly, but rather than paying different vendors, it makes sense to go all in with Microsoft if you've got that licensing. From that perspective, it's cost-effective, but I can't comment much on that."
"On average, we pay around 55 euros per user for the services and features we receive."
"The price of the solution is high compared to others and we have lost some customers because of it."
"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."
More Microsoft Defender XDR pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
17%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for FortiXDR?
Comparing to the enterprise level, the pricing is reasonable. However, for some companies, it might be a little high.
See all answers
What needs improvement with FortiXDR?
They could change their licensing costs to make it more affordable for smaller businesses.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for FortiXDR?
We are a system integrator and cloud service provider. Although I am in sales and not technical, I am involved with these products to sell them to our customers.
See all answers
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.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft 365 Defender?
Licensing is somewhat confusing, particularly when presenting our pitch decks to stakeholders and leveraging key features in premium SKUs, but we managed with some assistance from Microsoft.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?
It would be beneficial to reduce the number of clicks required to navigate between blades, as the current navigation and breadcrumb system can be a bit confusing. Some inconsistencies exist between...
See all answers
 

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Compared 11% of the time
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Compared 23% of the time
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Compared 10% of the time
Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender XDR Logo
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Compared 9% of the time
Trend Vision One vs Microsoft Defender XDR Logo
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Compared 5% of the time
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager vs Microsoft Defender XDR Logo
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager vs Microsoft Defender XDR
Compared 4% of the time
More Microsoft Defender XDR Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
March 2025
FortiXDR reportDownload FortiXDR product report
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Defender XDR
March 2025
Microsoft Defender XDR reportDownload Microsoft Defender XDR product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
 

Overview

XDR Defined and Explained
Extended detection and response (XDR) is a natural extension of the endpoint detection and response (EDR) concept, in which behaviors that occur after threat prevention controls act are further inspected for potentially malicious, suspicious, or risky activity that warrant mitigation. The difference is simply the location (endpoint or beyond) where the behaviors occur.

Fortinet

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

Information Not Available
Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Buyer's Guide
FortiXDR vs. Microsoft Defender XDR
February 2025
Free Report: FortiXDR vs. Microsoft Defender XDR
Find out what your peers are saying about FortiXDR vs. Microsoft Defender XDR and other solutions. Updated: February 2025.
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