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Kaspersky Total Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Kaspersky Total Security
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
27th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender for Endp...
Ranking in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
197
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) category, the mindshare of Kaspersky Total Security is 0.8%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 10.8%, down from 14.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
 

Featured Reviews

Ashford Asante - PeerSpot reviewer
A tool with an easy initial setup phase that can be centrally managed by users
What needs to be improved is what my company sends to Kaspersky's team when we are working with it, and then they work on it, which is why we always have updates to take care of the bugs and all those things. You can't have one thing in the solution that needs to be improved. The solution is affordable. For the solution itself, while you are working with it, you come across stuff, that Kaspersky's network helps you deal with since you can send your stuff to Kaspersky's team, and they have access to certain reports, and based on the reports and what what are we doing, the solution is always worked on, so that it can be made the best and efficient application. On a daily basis, the tool is being improved, and I am okay with it. Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business Select is automated. The cloud application for Kaspersky is automated. For the solution needed for individual systems, Kaspersky provides you with a platform that provides internet security. With Kaspersky, you have a platform that allows you to access www.kaspersky.com and see the systems that you have worked on in the past. If you need to do anything with your individual machines indirectly, you can manage it through a centralized system. The solution's automation capabilities is an area where certain improvements are required.
AnuragSrivastava - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides detailed visibility into threats but the ability to add exceptions needs improvement
One major item for improvement is the ability to add exceptions. We can add some exceptions, but not at the level we need to. The second major area for improvement involves enhanced capabilities for different operating systems or platforms. That is, even though we have coverage for different operating systems or platforms such as Linux, we don't get all of the controls and enhanced capabilities that are available with Windows devices. Reporting could also be improved because, at present, we get limited results at times. For example, in an environment with more than 100,000 devices, you may just get 10,000 results when you run a report.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Kaspersky is reliable because it checks everything before I want to log in."
"Kaspersky Total Security has valuable reporting features regarding visibility for trusted sites and safe browsing."
"The solution is efficient."
"The most effective feature is its scanning. When they scan the viruses, they come back with the records quite fast. They make sure that they rectify."
"I find the solution to be very stable in terms of security and protection of the data."
"It automatically identifies potential threats in emails, websites, and documents, swiftly blocking or quarantining anything harmful to prevent any damage or infection to my system."
"Kaspersky Total Security provides a good return on investment by improving data security and reducing costs by sixty percent with its robust security features."
"The protection has been top-notch, according to our use case and ISP."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easy to load and it runs quietly in the background, unlike other solutions."
"The automatic attack disruption feature in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint works great."
"This is not an inventory solution, but it helps you take count of how many workstations you have, as well as what software is installed on each of them."
"Its real-time security is the most valuable."
"The comprehensiveness of Microsoft threat-protection products is great... Today, Microsoft Sentinel by itself is a leading Gartner SIEM tool. It has advantages over competitors because of the ability to integrate with Microsoft solutions and automate continuous monitoring of Microsoft AD and Office 365 data."
"The stability is great. I haven't seen any outages with Microsoft."
"Investigators can trace back to find the root cause."
"It is a very advanced system based on AI. It has a very large database of places or sites on the internet where you should not go. It is continuously online."
 

Cons

"When you get the license number, there isn't a clear section in the program's interface that leads you to renew your license. You have to look and search a lot about it."
"The solution’s email protection area should be improved."
"The solution's automation capabilities is an area where certain improvements are required."
"The stability could be improved."
"Kaspersky Total Security should be easier to manage and improve user interaction. Resetting often requires some experience, which can be a problem for generic users. Web users also encounter some issues that should be improved."
"Regarding improvement, Kaspersky has a slightly larger system footprint, leading to a 5-10% performance slowdown compared to when I wasn't using Kaspersky."
"The tool could be cheaper."
"There is room for improving security."
"Features like device inventory continue to lack essential workstation drill-downs showing the entire device information with the least effort."
"The dashboard customization could be improved."
"Phishing and Malware detection could be better."
"If a threat actor comes in, and creates a global administrative account, they can gain access to everything and whitelist then block everything else. Having everything, including Defender, under one brand is like having all of your eggs in one basket."
"Integration with third-party vendors could be better. It would be better if it integrates with other protection solutions or other products outside of Microsoft. Nowadays, anti-virus protection doesn't really have to be planned as overall protection for your environment in terms of security. There are really different avenues that bad actors can take to wreak havoc on your machine."
"From an audit point of view, our auditors would like to have more reports on how things are used, if things go wrong, and how they went wrong. For example, if something got a warning, "Why?" So, we would like more versatility for tracing and reporting. That would improve the product, as long as the user interface doesn't get bogged down."
"Threat intelligence has the potential for improvement, particularly by integrating more sources."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint can use more advertising to promote their features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Kaspersky Total Security is an expensive solution."
"There is a need to renew the license on an annual basis."
"We pay around $30 to $35 for the solution yearly."
"Kaspersky Total Security is a cheap solution."
"We purchase the product’s yearly license."
"The solution's pricing is cheap and better than that of Sophos."
"Kaspersky Total Security is not an expensive solution."
"We have a yearly license, and it's not expensive."
"Its price at the moment is very good because you get a lot of value for your money, especially with the subscriptions. If you have the E1, E3, or E5 enterprise subscription, you pay per month per user, and you get almost an infinite number of solutions. If you compare the price to the number of solutions that you get, it is a very good deal."
"The normal, standalone model, is not expensive, but the enterprise model that includes the bundle with email and some web protection, is a bit more expensive."
"When compared with other vendors, the pricing is very high."
"Because Microsoft Defender comes as an add-on, it can be a bit expensive if you're trying to buying it separately. Another option is to upgrade, but the enterprise licenses for Microsoft can also be quite a bit pricey. Overall, the cost of Microsoft Defender compared to that of other endpoint detection solutions is slightly higher."
"It isn't cheap, but it's reasonable and fair."
"Compared to ESET, the pricing for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is on the higher side."
"Licensing fees are paid annually through a partner."
"As we operate in the educational sector, we are eligible for an educational discount."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
26%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
7%
Educational Organization
24%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Kaspersky Total Security?
I am satisfied with the solution's security features because we have been using it for years.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kaspersky Total Security?
The pricing for Kaspersky Total Security is quite affordable, rated at eight out of ten, and all necessary licensing fees are included.
What needs improvement with Kaspersky Total Security?
The system can be demanding on resources, making devices busy when running the client application. It would be beneficial if the resource usage could be reduced to lessen the burden on devices.
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, applies behavioral-based endpoint protection and response, and includes risk-ba...
Which offers better endpoint security - Symantec or Microsoft Defender?
We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior solution. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security s...
How does Microsoft Defender for Endpoint compare with Crowdstrike Falcon?
The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never push your machine hardware to "test", you don't have the usual "scan now" feature ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
Find out what your peers are saying about Kaspersky Total Security vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.