MetaDefender vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comparison

OPSWAT and Microsoft are both solutions in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category. OPSWAT is ranked #35, while Microsoft is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.4. OPSWAT holds a 1.1% mindshare in ATP, compared to Microsoft’s 5.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of OPSWAT users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

MetaDefender

Read 2 MetaDefender reviews

1,953 Views
352 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender for Endp...

Read 210 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint reviews

33,166 Views
1,658 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

MetaDefender

Microsoft Defender for Endp...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 14, 2025

MetaDefender and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint are two competing solutions in the cybersecurity category. MetaDefender has an edge in pricing and support, while Microsoft Defender for Endpoint leads in feature set.

Features: MetaDefender includes advanced threat prevention, file-based security, and secure data sanitization. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers extensive integration, automated incident response, and machine learning capabilities.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: MetaDefender provides a straightforward deployment process and responsive support. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, while more complex to deploy, benefits from a well-documented process and extensive resources. Its customer service is reliable but may come with a steeper learning curve during initial deployment.

Pricing and ROI: MetaDefender is cost-effective with a lower setup cost, offering reasonable ROI with strong support services. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint has higher setup costs but provides substantial ROI through its feature richness and integration capabilities, delivering long-term value for security posture.

To learn more, read our detailed MetaDefender vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

MetaDefender vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

February 2026

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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

MetaDefender

Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

35th

Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools

34th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Threat Intelligence Platforms (TIP) (36th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (14th)

Microsoft Defender for Endp...

Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

3rd

Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

210

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (2nd), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of MetaDefender is 1.1%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 5.7%, down from 7.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint	5.7%
MetaDefender	1.1%
Other	93.2%

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

Featured Reviews

Eido Ben Noun

Cyber Security Architect at Diffiesec

Multi‑engine detection has significantly improved secure file transfers and threat prevention

Some feedback indicated that it takes too much time to configure certain policies because there are many options. Some people appreciate this because you can configure anything, but I believe MetaDefender should have a wizard or general policies that can be used for 80 percent of customers. I use the expanded file type and archive coverage feature sometimes, especially for customers who try to scan large archives with the deep scan capabilities of OPSWAT and Deep CDR. This provides full protection because it scans every single file, but sometimes it takes too long. When discussing CAB files or archives for patching or server updates and BIOS updates and operating system updates, the scanning process takes too long, and it was difficult for customers who sometimes decided not to scan because the scanning time was excessive. I use the reporting and audit visibility features. Some capabilities are lacking in reporting because we do not have full statistics that are easy for users to understand. If something requires checking and then referring to documentation to understand it, that is too much for most users. When looking at one of the statistics, you can see how many files have been scanned and then you see a number out of 500 or a different number if you change it. It is not a number of files or scan processes; it is a number of files inside a file. When you scan a PowerPoint presentation file, for example, it counts as forty different files because of all the sub-files. I understand from customers that when they look at the visualization data or statistics, they do not understand what is happening there. Most customers I see do not use the file-based vulnerability assessment feature. It has some good results about vulnerabilities, but I am not certain if it is that helpful because many organizations, when they deploy a file and see that there are vulnerabilities, still deploy it because it is part of the code. It can produce results, but those results do not cause any action. Many products have something more advanced than vulnerabilities and static scoring. They have tools that can inform you about a vulnerability, whether the vulnerability is exploitable, if it is weaponized, and if someone can use this vulnerability in your environment. The file-based vulnerability feature works, but for most people, they do not take any action based on the results or block files because of file-based vulnerabilities.

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Robert Arbuckle

Security Analyst III at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

Automatically isolates threats and integrates with logging to reduce response time

Overall, I would evaluate the Microsoft support level that I receive at probably about a seven, but that depends on the day. It has been spotty. We have had issues where the urgency level of the Microsoft support is not as high as ours, especially during a data breach or potential data breach situation. We have had issues with some of the offshore support being lackluster. One specific thing that comes to mind is we were on a support call with our CISO on the call, and the Microsoft agent, who did not actually work for Microsoft, is one of the vendors that Microsoft uses for support, said, "Just to set expectations, my lunch break is in an hour and I am going to go away then." For us, it was already ten o'clock at night and we had been working on this for a couple of hours, trying to get a security engineer on with us. For him to tell us that he was going to go away and have lunch, it was, "Okay, but go find somebody else if you need to." It was just the lackluster approach, and it seemed like he did not really care. We seem to get a lot of this when we get non-Microsoft support. I can identify areas for improvement with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, as it is kind of a convoluted mess to try to take care of false positives. Especially when they have been identified as false positives but they keep going off over and over again. It is great for my pocketbook because it generates a lot of on-call action, but I would really prefer more sleep at two o'clock in the morning than dealing with false positives. I would say that the unified portal for managing Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is suitable for both teams as they are all in there. It would be great if they would stop moving things around and renaming things, which makes sense. The new XDR portal is pretty nice. Being able to have it central again inside of the regular Security Center without having to open up two windows is helpful. Overall, I think it is pretty good. There is always going to be something that could be improved, such as alerting and the ability to modify alerts would be a little bit helpful to have. Being able to add more data into the alerts and turn off alerts that are not as useful would be beneficial. It is hard to say what the quantitative impact the security exposure management feature has had on our company's security, because a lot of it is kind of subjective. I think we are sitting at around a fifty percent score still, and a lot of it is just kind of unusual circumstances that we cannot really implement without breaking the organization.

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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

"OPSWAT is the best alternative."

"I like the simplicity, the way it works out of the box. It's pretty easy to run and configure. The integration of the network devices with the ICAP server was easily done."

"It's effective against most types of infection, and the firewall is perfect for protection."

"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is quite good. We haven't really experienced any issues with it."

"The installation is straightforward."

"Defender should be fine for home use. It has all the basic functionality you need. I can't speak to how well it works as an enterprise solution because I'm not in the space."

"It integrates very well with all Windows workstations or other Microsoft Endpoint products. It also works quite well. So far, I have not had any issue that hasn't been sorted out. It doesn't use too many resources, so you don't have to install different things."

"The solution has an easy-to-use interface, is always updated, and is user-friendly."

"The most valuable features are that it is flexible, and it is integrated with Microsoft products."

"It's an enterprise solution that provides a centralized console and it supports all the platforms that we use, including Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, and Android."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pros

Cons

"The documentation is not well written, and I often need to talk with support."

"Some capabilities are lacking in reporting because we do not have full statistics that are easy for users to understand."

"The biggest issue I had with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint was the antivirus and ransomware. I wanted central visibility over all the machines that we operate."

"There are still some things where I think they don't quite match up or are a bit hard to find or understand."

"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."

"The solution could always be more secure."

"Alerts need to be sent immediately because as it is now, you see some of them without delay and others arrive perhaps 30 minutes later, and it leaves important gaps in terms of information gathering."

"I would like the solution to be able to prevent unauthorized programs from installing and to block unauthorised URLs which is similar to web filtering product."

"When you get the right person that knows what you are asking the first time, it is excellent. However, when you get someone who may be new or just switched into that role, it can be less effective."

"The file scanning has room for improvement. Many people use macros within their files, so there should be a mechanism that helps us to scan them for malicious payloads."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We bought a three-year license, and that was pretty expensive. We agreed that it was really worth buying. It could be cheaper, but we understand that quality comes at a price."

"For most people, the price of the license is not something that they have to worry about."

"Licenses depend upon what you are looking for and what kind of security do you want to implement. There are costs in addition to the standard licensing fees. When we used to buy Symantec, we used to spend on 100 licenses. We used to spend approximately $2,700 for those many licenses, and they came in packs. To add one more license, I had to buy a pack with a minimum of 10 licenses. I had to spend on nine extra licenses because I can't get a single license, whereas when we go for Microsoft, we can get as many licenses as we want. If I have 100 users today, and tomorrow, I have 90 users, I can release my 10 licenses next month. With any other software vendor, you buy licenses for one year, and you have to stick with that. If today you have 100 licenses, and tomorrow, you have 50, you have already paid for one year's license. You can't go back and tell them that I don't require these 50 licenses because I have lost my 50 users, but with Microsoft Defender, licensing is on a monthly basis. It gives you both options. You can go yearly and save on it, or you can go monthly. You will, again, save on it. It is very fair everywhere."

"This is an expensive product and licensing for all Microsoft products is a big issue."

"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is more affordable compared to some other endpoint solutions."

"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."

"Given our extensive Microsoft licensing, transitioning to Defender for Endpoint did not affect licensing costs."

"When compared with other vendors, the pricing is very high."

"The solution comes as part of Microsoft Windows."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Healthcare Company

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	80
Midsize Enterprise	40
Large Enterprise	92

Questions from the Community

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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...

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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...

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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 ...

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Comparisons

VirusTotal vs MetaDefender

Compared 25% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs MetaDefender

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiGuard vs MetaDefender

Compared 9% of the time

OPSWAT Filescan Sandbox vs MetaDefender

Compared 8% of the time

ReversingLabs vs MetaDefender

Compared 6% of the time

More MetaDefender Competitors

HP Wolf Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 5% of the time

Symantec Endpoint Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 5% of the time

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 4% of the time

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 3% of the time

F-Secure Total vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 3% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Anti-Malware Tools

January 2026

Download MetaDefender product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

January 2026

Download Microsoft Defender for Endpoint product report

Also Known As

OPSWAT MetaDefender, MetaDefender Core

Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

OPSWAT

Microsoft

Overview

MetaDefender provides advanced multiscanning capabilities using 30+ anti-malware engines, ensuring high detection efficacy and robust prevention mechanisms.

MetaDefender's approach combines multiple security technologies like Metascan, Deep CDR, and adaptive sandboxing. These integrated solutions offer comprehensive protection against malware and vulnerabilities, catering to cloud, on-prem, and hybrid environments with enhanced performance and automation.

What are the key features of MetaDefender?

Metascan Multiscanning: Utilizes 30+ AV engines for superior malware detection.
Deep CDR: Eliminates active threats by reconstructing safe files.
File-based Vulnerability Assessment: Identifies software vulnerabilities before deployment.
Adaptive Sandbox Analysis: AI-powered sandbox to expose evasive threats.
Proactive DLP: Detects and handles sensitive data to prevent data loss.
Expanded File-Type Coverage: Supports modern documents and archived files.
Enhanced Automation: Faster scans with consistent policy enforcement.
Improved Reporting: Comprehensive end-to-end file action tracking.

What benefits and ROI can MetaDefender offer?

High detection rates: Boasts over 99% detection of known and unknown threats.
Reduced Workflow: Dramatic cut in file-borne malware incidents and manual work.
Flexible Deployment: Consistent performance in cloud, on-prem, hybrid, and air-gapped environments.

MetaDefender is trusted in industries such as financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and government, where rigorous policy control and auditability are vital. Its diverse deployment options allow for consistent security across datacenters, OT networks, and secure facilities, meeting stringent compliance needs.

OPSWAT

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a comprehensive security solution that provides advanced threat protection for organizations. It offers real-time protection against various types of cyber threats, including malware, viruses, ransomware, and phishing attacks.

With its powerful machine-learning capabilities, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks before they can cause any harm. The solution also includes endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities, allowing organizations to quickly investigate and respond to security incidents. It provides detailed insights into the attack timeline, enabling security teams to understand the scope and impact of an incident.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint also offers proactive threat hunting, allowing organizations to proactively search for and identify potential threats within their network. It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft security solutions, such as Microsoft Defender XDR, to provide a unified and holistic security approach. With its centralized management console, organizations can easily deploy, configure, and monitor the security solution across their entire network.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a robust and scalable security solution that helps organizations protect their endpoints and data from evolving cyber threats.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health

Buyer's Guide

MetaDefender vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

February 2026

Free Report: MetaDefender vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

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