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Huntress Managed EDR vs Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

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

Huntress Managed EDR
Ranking in Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
2nd
Average Rating
9.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (7th)
Microsoft Defender Experts ...
Ranking in Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
20th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Managed Detection and Response (MDR) category, the mindshare of Huntress Managed EDR is 9.5%, up from 9.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is 1.6%, down from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Huntress Managed EDR9.5%
Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting1.6%
Other88.9%
Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
 

Featured Reviews

Anto Baharian - PeerSpot reviewer
Never misses anything and has an attractive price point and a simple interface
One thing they could improve is evolving from an EDR to an MDR, like Blackpoint. This transition would enable automatic remediation of anything that looks dangerous, including within Microsoft 365. For instance, when one of my clients' Microsoft 365 account was breached, Blackpoint identified suspicious activity and disabled the account. It was in Dallas, and we are in California. Blackpoint knew something was wrong there, and they went in and disabled the account. Developing more automated remediation features would elevate them to an MDR level, but I understand that it might affect pricing. They are trying to keep it at a good price point because once they go to MDR, it is probably going to double the price. For now, I find the current features satisfactory, as they continue to add improvements. They have added security awareness training and then log collectors. They are adding pillars as they move along, and I assume they are going to have an option for MDR.
Mondher-Smii - PeerSpot reviewer
Has supported clients in managing incidents through clear pricing and hybrid deployment options
What really stands out about Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is that it's easy to use. The cost is clear, and the pricing is transparent. The onboarding of the product on the customer's environment is straightforward. We can use it in a hybrid environment, in the cloud, or on-premise environment. This is the main advantage regarding this product. If it's configured correctly, everything will be good, resilient, and secure, which supports threat mitigation efforts depending on the configuration on the tenant and the parameters on Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting. Threat intelligence updates have some impact on our overall security posture. They give us external eyes regarding threat actors, which is good. It's very helpful to enrich the SIEM, which is Microsoft Sentinel. It's a good feature that we can include threat intel on the product.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Huntress Managed EDR eliminates the need to outsource expensive security tools or analysts, avoiding the high costs associated with external solutions."
"The most valuable aspect of Huntress Managed EDR is its personalized approach."
"It is incredibly efficient for our engineering team because Huntress provides all the information needed to fix issues, not just flag them."
"I would absolutely recommend Huntress to other users. If you are considering it, go for it."
"Huntress works more simply. I appreciate how Windows Defender can be managed on computers with it. Previously, I could not modify it unless I had special Microsoft licensing, so it was beneficial to control Windows Defender through a central console to add policies and things like that."
"What stands out most is their human element: when faced with an unknown threat, real people, not just automated processes, are investigating it, and they're people we trust."
"Foothold detection is a valuable feature, acting as a valuable second set of eyes for both us and our clients."
"Huntress is easy to use. It immediately improved visibility and understanding of our security posture."
"What really stands out about Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is that it's easy to use, the cost is clear, and the pricing is transparent, with straightforward onboarding in hybrid, cloud, or on-premise environments."
"What really stands out about Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting is that it's easy to use, the cost is clear, and the pricing is transparent, with straightforward onboarding in hybrid, cloud, or on-premise environments."
"The solution helps to detect some suspicious items for us and our clients."
 

Cons

"Huntress should have a more user-friendly interface because it takes some understanding to work our way through the interfaces."
"The alert emails that they send out with the different portions of their product sometimes are not similarly formatted, which makes automatically processing those alerts a bit more difficult in our PSA."
"One area for improvement in Huntress would be to allow for PSA integration from a specific IP address or hostname for better security measures."
"To enhance the platform, I suggest adding a feature to forward Huntress's recommended response directly to the client, ensuring their clear understanding of the gathered information."
"I also would love for them to make their new SIEM tool reports much more robust. They are currently way too simplified, and we need to have something better to send to our compliance clients."
"One thing they could improve is evolving from an EDR to an MDR, like Blackpoint."
"One issue is the managed antivirus. Huntress takes control of the antivirus built into Windows Defender, but it doesn't if, for some reason, Defender isn't working properly and doesn't attempt to fix it. We have to fix it with some scripts so that Defender reports correctly to Huntress. It would be nice if they took that action on our behalf. If they saw a problem with Defender, they should roll out a fix."
"I would request that they make it an agent for Linux because we need it on Linux."
"We tried the proactive threat hunting feature, but it was not a good experience with Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting. It created more trouble than expected with false positives and non-expected answers."
"There is a lot of change in a small period. This might not be helpful for IT administrators and users."
"There is a lot of change in a small period. This might not be helpful for IT administrators and users."
"The solution’s user interface could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate the product pricing six out of ten for the Malaysian market. However, I would rate it a three out of ten for the Australian, New Zealand, or Singapore markets."
"Huntress Managed EDR offers a fair pricing model."
"The pricing is competitive, in line with Huntress's offerings, and aligns well with our business model."
"The tool’s price is very good. You just need to pay for the standard license. However, you need to pay the additional cost for Microsoft Defender."
"The Huntress pricing is an excellent value for what the product provides."
"The solution's pricing is fair."
"It works well for an MSP."
"I rate the product's price a five or six on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive since it is a fairly priced product."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
Retailer
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business34
Midsize Enterprise1
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Huntress?
It is very easy to use. It is a great solution. They are one of the better vendors that I have ever worked with since I have been in the industry.
What needs improvement with Huntress?
There are some drawbacks in Huntress Managed EDR, particularly with the security awareness training aspect which is more manual than expected compared to something like KnowBe4. It could be improve...
What is your primary use case for Huntress?
We use Huntress Managed EDR as part of our tech offering for enhanced security, especially for small and medium businesses.
What do you like most about Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting?
The solution helps to detect some suspicious items for us and our clients.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting?
The areas of the solution that have room for improvement in Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting include the locking mechanism, which is not tough in terms of the cost. The price of the solution ...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting?
We work on the cybersecurity solutions with Microsoft tools. We work with Azure Sentinel and we work with Defender, specifically focusing on Microsoft cybersecurity tools. For the cybersecurity tea...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Huntress Managed EDR vs. Microsoft Defender Experts for Hunting and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.