Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Intercept X Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender XDR 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
5.8
Intercept X Endpoint is valued for anti-ransomware features; ROI varies, though generally cost-effective, not always cheaper.
Sentiment score
7.1
Microsoft Defender XDR provides high ROI by consolidating security tools, streamlining operations, and enhancing security, despite licensing costs.
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
6.4
Intercept X Endpoint's support is knowledgeable and helpful, but users desire faster response times, especially in urgent cases.
Sentiment score
6.1
Microsoft Defender XDR's support is timely and responsive, yet smaller organizations experience slower, less effective assistance than larger ones.
Technical support from Sophos is rated as nine out of ten, which represents high quality.
Network and Infrastructure Manager at Sonysugar
There are issues with onboarding technical engineers to resolve problems, which causes delays.
Manager at Omgea Exim Ltd
When you are in real deep trouble, you just want to get out of it; you don't need so many jargons.
IT Head at Dee Development
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
7.4
Intercept X Endpoint easily scales with seamless growth and integration, efficiently supporting medium to large enterprises without limitations.
Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Defender XDR scales well for various organizations, efficiently supporting growth and flexibility despite some network deployment challenges.
The tool's scalability is good, and I would rate it an eight out of ten.
Manager at Omgea Exim Ltd
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
8.0
Intercept X Endpoint is stable and effective with improved performance, minimizing glitches, requiring proper configuration to avoid false positives.
Sentiment score
8.1
Microsoft Defender XDR is praised for high stability, reliable performance, minimal issues, frequent updates, and prompt issue resolution.
In terms of stability, I would rate Intercept X Endpoint an eight out of ten.
Manager at Omgea Exim Ltd
To improve Intercept X Endpoint performance, upgrades in RAM and other system features are needed.
Network Security Engineer at MIS Security Solutions (Pvt) Ltd
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

Intercept X Endpoint faces performance, integration, and interface challenges, needing improvements in support, pricing, detection, and usability features.
Microsoft Defender XDR requires enhancements in speed, integration, automation, AI, ease-of-use, and industry-specific threat intelligence.
There should be a profile where I can see what files Sophos is scanning.
Team Lead at KO
Intercept X Endpoint's anti-ransomware capabilities failed us during a bad attack, and just because of our own backup policies, we could restore our normal operations.
IT Head at Dee Development
Intercept X Endpoint sometimes slows down machines due to high CPU utilization and significant RAM consumption during scanning.
Manager at Omgea Exim Ltd
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

Intercept X Endpoint pricing is competitive, but some find it expensive, especially with advanced features like EDR and MTR.
Microsoft Defender XDR pricing is seen as complex but fair, with high costs alleviated in bundled Microsoft 365 packages.
It is quite costly when measuring Intercept X Endpoint's protective capabilities against zero-day attacks.
Technology Solutions Head at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
The pricing of Intercept X Endpoint is a bit high.
Network and Infrastructure Manager at Sonysugar
I would describe it as economical, but not much cheaper than other solutions.
Manager at Omgea Exim Ltd
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

Intercept X Endpoint is highly valued for advanced security features, machine learning, user-friendliness, and effective ransomware protection.
Microsoft Defender XDR integrates tools for comprehensive security, offering threat detection, automation, identity protection, and enhanced efficiency.
The stronger the AI/ML in an endpoint, the better the protection against unknown threats.
Manager at Omgea Exim Ltd
Intercept X Endpoint is the only endpoint security product I know that provides content filtering and application controls.
Network Security Engineer at MIS Security Solutions (Pvt) Ltd
Intercept X Endpoint has been stable, and I appreciate the centralized management and the reporting feature.
Network and Infrastructure Manager at Sonysugar
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

Intercept X Endpoint
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
14th
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
13th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
108
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (11th), ZTNA (9th), Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (8th), Ransomware Protection (4th)
Microsoft Defender XDR
Ranking in Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
7th
Ranking in Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Extended Detection and Response (XDR) category, the mindshare of Intercept X Endpoint is 1.3%, down from 1.6% 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%
Intercept X Endpoint1.3%
Other93.8%
Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
 

Featured Reviews

AM
IT Head at Dee Development
Has struggled to detect major threats but has offered basic protection over time
Intercept X Endpoint could learn from CrowdStrike in terms of overall performance and filtering because performance is most important, especially these days as Windows is getting buggier and buggier, which puts a huge load on the PC, and even with the most advanced CPUs and everything in place, it still lags in performance in so many places, thanks to Windows' clumsy design of these collaboration suites that make it extremely heavy on PC's resources. The interface of Intercept X Endpoint is quite old-fashioned. The Sophos interfaces, including for Intercept X Endpoint, are quite bad actually; to be very honest, even in UTM boxes, they are not great at all. You can hardly see a very small portion of windows while it's creating the firewall rules, and we have been complaining about this for quite some time, but there hasn't been any improvement on those grounds. Intercept X Endpoint's anti-ransomware capabilities failed us during a bad attack, and just because of our own backup policies, we could restore our normal operations; otherwise, if we had to depend on this solution, we would have been long dead because the infection was so bad, it couldn't even detect the infection. Intercept X Endpoint cannot handle zero-day attacks; in my experience, last year, we had this major issue with a malware attack, and it happened just because of our backup policies that we were able to recover without any support from Sophos, which just told us they would charge us some 1 Crore in rupees. Intercept X Endpoint should improve their implementation; things will never be perfect for the new world. This new world is always facing new kinds of attacks and new ways to compromise the system. They need to learn fast, implement fast, and sometimes redesigning the solution is the solution—not just patchwork. There was a time we used to love Sophos because of its fresh design and innovative thought. In my experience, when technical companies are led by MBA professionals, they lose their shine on the technical part and become more dependent on target sales; it turns into a marketing-centric operation that loses the technical focus completely.
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
Computer Software Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
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 Business73
Midsize Enterprise22
Large Enterprise22
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business47
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise38
 

Questions from the Community

How does Crodwstrike Falcon compare with Sophos Intercept X?
I like that Crowdstrike Falcon allows me to easily correlate data between my firewalls. Its detection and machine learning are very valuable features. Crowdstrike Falcon also successfully prevents ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Intercept X?
Pricing of Sophos, including for Intercept X Endpoint, is okay; definitely, it is okay. We pay for Sophos on a product by product basis, whatever we buy, whatever we use.
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

Sophos Intercept X
Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Flexible Systems
Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Find out what your peers are saying about Intercept X Endpoint vs. Microsoft Defender XDR and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.