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Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

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

Microsoft Defender External...
Ranking in Attack Surface Management (ASM)
14th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Microsoft Security Suite (33rd)
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset ...
Ranking in Attack Surface Management (ASM)
1st
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (9th), Patch Management (6th), Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM) (3rd), Software Supply Chain Security (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Attack Surface Management (ASM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is 3.0%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is 3.6%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Attack Surface Management (ASM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management3.6%
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management3.0%
Other93.4%
Attack Surface Management (ASM)
 

Featured Reviews

AndyChan3 - PeerSpot reviewer
General manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Enhanced visibility and exposes vulnerabilities but needs more integration
I am currently in the pilot stage of implementing Microsoft External Attack Surface Management (EASM). My organization is transitioning to a comprehensive track of Microsoft solutions, and we will move to full-scale production in another year, maybe Microsoft External Attack Surface Management…
Jay Buoy - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Security Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Has improved visibility of asset risks and helped prioritize remediation across the environment
The quality at times of the technical support or customer support for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is not as fast as what you would it to be. If you have an issue out there, I don't really know if it's so much related to the support or if you're going through your account manager also for the remediation. But that can be a little slow at times.There have been a couple of times where Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management wasn't accessible and I'd reach out to our TAM and they'd say, 'Qualys is down.' They say, 'We'll let you know when it's back up.' Of course, they never let you know when it's back up. You just keep trying later on and then eventually it comes back up. It's probably gone down maybe about five or six times since I've had it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It seems to be better at protecting from cyberattacks."
"Microsoft External Attack Surface Management helps improve the visibility of my exposed vulnerabilities and provides an overview of my security posture across the globe."
"We have a diverse organization with a robust infrastructure of more than 300,000 assets. By creating unauthorized lists and rules in the Qualys CSAM module, I can block certain software from being used in the organization."
"I mainly appreciate Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management for its patch management capabilities, which are essential in my job for deploying patches and remediating vulnerabilities."
"I appreciate the feature that simplifies cloud security posture, offering insights into vulnerabilities, and reducing the complexity of managing the security program."
"The best features of Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management include its ability to scan and consider each and every endpoint based on the target we have given. This makes it stand out."
"Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management offers comprehensive features to cover our entire attack surface."
"Our favorite features are the tagging and the ability to quickly find assets in the portal."
"The dashboards are my favorite feature; I can pull up information and create my own dashboards specifically for what I'm looking for."
"The fact that it is integrated makes it very easy to understand."
 

Cons

"Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement."
"With Microsoft, support is always crazy, it's not easy to get support."
"The integration is not as seamless compared to competitors like Palo Alto."
"The deployment is somewhat complicated and could be made more user-friendly for most users. It is currently not user-friendly for all users. It is good but can be improved. It is a new product, and they are working on it."
"We encountered some false positives, which required coordination with the IT team for verification."
"Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management could be more cost-effective by offering a lower price point or integrating with existing VMDR features."
"In the best practice for categorizing assets with the C-SAM module in Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management, I see potential for improvement with integration of other CMDB systems in creating a relationship with Qualys and other solutions."
"The only minor issue is occasionally being redirected to multiple teams, causing slight delays."
"Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is moderately good, while Rapid7 is slightly much better."
"They should address the false positives generated in EASM. It is fetching assets that have Infosys as the keyword. They should fix that."
"One improvement that they can make in the EASM module is the scan frequency. After EASM is configured the first time, it allows you to do the complete configuration, but if you want to reconfigure it, it will not ask or provide any option for scan frequency. For that, you need to raise a case with Qualys and talk to the Qualys team."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The pricing is fair. I would love to see the price come down a little bit, but we do get a lot of value out of it. We are squeezing every ounce of value we can out of the tool."
"Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management can be expensive, especially if we already have VMDR."
"The Qualys Cybersecurity Asset Management pricing is well-aligned with our usage."
"Qualys is competitively priced for its features. Its pricing is suitable for large organizations with more than 4,000 assets, but for smaller organizations with few assets, such as banks, the costs might be high. They should come up with packages that are suitable for small organizations."
"The cost for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management is high."
"The pricing is market-competitive."
"The pricing for Qualys CSAM is nominal."
"The pricing is reasonable relative to the features provided, as it collects all module data and operates as a main, centralized inventory, making it a cost-effective solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
Further integration across different Microsoft products would be an improvement. Introduction of more AI automation into the products would also be beneficial. The integration is not as seamless co...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management?
I am currently in the pilot stage of implementing Microsoft External Attack Surface Management (EASM). My organization is transitioning to a comprehensive track of Microsoft solutions, and we will ...
What needs improvement with Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?
I think the one thing Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management can do better is the package management and the updating process. Knowing that you can't update any of the packages until you've done the...
What is your primary use case for Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management?
I primarily use it for a small, single-site, multi-source setup with multi-WAN inputs. I have a main fiber connection and a couple of failovers while managing different networks across different se...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management vs. Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
920,929 professionals have used our research since 2012.