Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Sophos Cloud Optix comparison

Microsoft and Sophos are both solutions in the Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) category. Microsoft is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.1, while Sophos is ranked #31 with an average rating of 7.0. Microsoft holds a 8.0% mindshare in CSPM, compared to Sophos’s 0.6% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Sophos users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Read 87 Microsoft Defender for Cloud reviews

19,729 Views
6,905 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Sophos Cloud Optix

Read 5 Sophos Cloud Optix reviews

567 Views
544 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Sophos Cloud Optix

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Sophos Cloud Optix are strong contenders in cloud security. Microsoft Defender for Cloud's extensive integration with Microsoft products provides an advantage for enterprises within the Microsoft ecosystem.

Features:Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides native Azure integration, seamless threat protection, and security management, supported by AI-based threat intelligence enabling comprehensive security posture improvement. Sophos Cloud Optix offers advanced AI-driven insights, risk mitigation, and multi-cloud compatibility, providing broad deployment versatility and comprehensive security analytics.

Room for Improvement:Microsoft Defender for Cloud could enhance its hybrid environment setup and streamline integration with non-Microsoft platforms. Challenges in navigating complex configuration for hybrid infrastructures could be reduced. Its pricing model could offer more flexibility to cater to diverse needs. Sophos Cloud Optix could improve by expanding its cost optimization tools, enhancing its integration capabilities for more cloud platforms, and simplifying initial setup for users without previous experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:Sophos Cloud Optix's SaaS model simplifies deployment, highlights intuitive setup, and is coupled with excellent support, easing configuration and troubleshooting. Microsoft Defender for Cloud offers straightforward deployment for existing Azure users but requires intricate setup for hybrid environments.

Pricing and ROI:Microsoft Defender for Cloud is cost-effective for Azure-focused firms, offering integrated billing and minimal setup costs. Sophos Cloud Optix, although initially more expensive, can yield greater ROI through enhanced security capabilities suitable for complex environments. Pricing varies based on cloud resource usage.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Sophos Cloud Optix Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Sophos Cloud Optix

December 2025

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Helped 881,082 peers since 2012

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 for Cloud

Ranking in Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Vulnerability Management (6th), Container Management (7th), Container Security (7th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (1st), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (4th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (7th), Compliance Management (4th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (2nd)

Sophos Cloud Optix

Ranking in Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)

31st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud is 8.0%, down from 10.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos Cloud Optix is 0.6%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud	8.0%
Sophos Cloud Optix	0.6%
Other	91.4%

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)

Featured Reviews

David Birhange

Director, Cloud and Modern Workplace at Informanix Technology Group

Brings together cloud security insights through a unified view and supports agentless protection for virtual machines

Copilot and similar features are already being used, though not necessarily for Microsoft Defender for Cloud specifically. We are trying to get more experience before rolling out most of Microsoft Defender for Cloud's AI capabilities. This is definitely on our to-do list, and the priority is urgent as we seek to learn more about these capabilities. The GenAI threat protection from Microsoft Defender for Cloud has not been enabled yet. There are many unknowns with AI applications. AI agents will operate while you're not present, whether you are sleeping or awake, and it's unclear whether there would be any exfiltration of data or how data is being managed. Microsoft Purview is being used extensively, and there is significant development going on with DSPM that will be rolled out to address security concerns. Data labeling and proper demarcation for sensitivity of data before it is received are being actively pursued.

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Tanzeel Iqbal

DevOps Architect at Testware ApS

Cloud posture has improved and security reports drive ongoing compliance and cost control

I really appreciate most aspects of Sophos Cloud Optix, especially that we can set it up on AWS marketplace without needing to host a new machine. We can use their trial version where we can monitor a small number of resources without any additional cost. Setting up Sophos Cloud Optix on AWS is not difficult at all, also because my team has experience with it, making it very easy and quick to set up a trial version that helps us see the initial posture of our security setup as we grow, and then they charge based on the cloud resources. Sophos Cloud Optix impacts us positively in many ways, particularly in security, which is an important part. It is not just about fixing everything without a clear picture of what we have done to improve security, as there must be a portal explaining our progress, which I really appreciate, and it helps us save time and in optimization for performance and cost. While I have not seen much for cost optimization as we have another great tool for it, Sophos Cloud Optix aids us to set up our infrastructure appropriately, making sure databases are in a private network, and if systems are wrongly set up, it helps us quickly mitigate those issues and provides a report indicating the problem. I am really impressed with the way Sophos Cloud Optix provides its features, so I am not sure about any specific improvements needed. I am really satisfied about the reports Sophos Cloud Optix generates, provided in a PDF format which is very useful for our recording purposes.

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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

"It's got a lot of great features."

"It offers virus management and addresses threats such as viruses, worms, spyware, and other critical security concerns."

"Technical support is helpful."

"The UX and UI are very good. Users have more of a taste for Microsoft UI."

"The integration with Logic Apps allows for automated responses to incidents."

"I appreciate the features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud the most because it incorporates itself into the entire Microsoft platform, and it's a one-stop shop for administration in the web."

"Defender is user-friendly and provides decent visibility into threats."

"This is a platform as a service provided by Azure. We don't need to install or maintain Azure Security Center. It is a ready-made service available in Azure. This is one of the main things that we like. If you look at similar tools, we have to install, maintain, and update services. Whereas, Azure Security Center manages what we are using. This is a good feature that has helped us a lot."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud pros

"I find Cloud Optix to be a valuable solution since it provides a single, unified dashboard to monitor cloud assets, such as AWS and Azure."

"The most valuable feature of Sophos Cloud Optix is the simple way to manage my devices on the network. Additionally, it is easy to navigate and has a user-friendly interface."

"DLP is a valuable feature that we use a lot for info audits."

"Sophos Cloud Optix impacts us positively in many ways, particularly in security, which is an important part, and it helps us save time and in optimization for performance and cost."

"The most valuable feature for me would be the solution's endpoint protection."

Cons

"The customer service at Microsoft has room for improvement. The first line of support is not technically adept and often requires engaging higher-level technicians to resolve issues."

"Most of the time, when we log into the support, we don't get a chance to interact with Microsoft employees directly, except having it go to outsource employees of Microsoft. The initial interaction has not been that great because outsourced companies cannot provide the kind of quality or technical expertise that we look for. We have a technical manager from Microsoft, but they are kind of average unless we make noise and ask them to escalate. We then can get the right people and the right solution, but it definitely takes time."

"I would like to see more connectors and plugins with other platforms."

"For improvements, I'd like to see more use cases integrated with Microsoft Sentinel and support for multi-cloud environments beyond just Azure."

"Microsoft Defender for Cloud is not compatible with Linux machines."

"However, some Copilot features aren't available in the GCP environment. This is something we hope will be addressed in the future."

"We haven't experienced issues with Microsoft Defender for Cloud for our company size of about five hundred people. However, I've heard there might be issues with scalability for larger enterprises."

"The documentation could be much clearer."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud cons

"Sophos should enhance its AI-driven detection features and anomaly detection."

"I have not connected with Sophos Cloud Optix customer support yet, but I had a bad experience when our AWS cloud got compromised, leading to many resources being provisioned, and while Sophos Cloud Optix identified those resources, the resulting bill from AWS was quite high due to the usage charges, which I tried to investigate with the Sophos team, though I am not sure if they assisted with the refund."

"Sophos should enhance its AI-driven detection features and anomaly detection."

"The setup was a little bit complex."

"The dashboard and the process for applying policies could be more intuitive. Cloud Optix isn't that difficult once you get the hang of it, but the IT folks managing this want it to be more user-friendly."

"There are times when the devices are at maximum capacity, and it takes a while before the device is updated. For example, if the device has a virus, and it's not aligned to connect to the network, even after you've scanned the device, and cleaned out the virus, once the management clears the system to allow it back on the network it takes some time. It can be frustrating when you have your line manager or in management affected trying to access the network."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I'm not privy to that information, but I know it's probably close to a million dollars a year."

"It is bundled with our enterprise subscription, which makes it easy to go for it. It is available by default, and there is no extra cost for using the standard features."

"It has global licensing. It comes with multiple licenses since there are around 50,000 people (in our organization) who look at it."

"Microsoft Defender for Cloud is pricey, especially for Kubernetes clusters."

"Azure Defender is definitely pricey, but their competitors cost about the same. For example, a Palo Alto solution is the same price per endpoint, but the ground strikes cost a bit more than Azure Defender. Still, it's pricey for a company like ours. Maybe well-established organizations can afford it, but it might be too costly for a startup."

"While we pay for any additional features, the pricing seems competitive, though I am not involved in the specific cost details."

"The solution is expensive, and I rate it a five to six out of ten."

"The pricing is very difficult because every type of Defender for Cloud has its own metrics and pricing. If you have Cloud for Key Vault, the pricing is different than it is for storage. Every type has its own pricing list and rules."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud pricing and cost advice

"Regarding the pricing for Sophos Cloud Optix, I would say that it was a very good price."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

10%

University

Media Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	27
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	49

No data available

Questions from the Community

How is Prisma Cloud vs Azure Security Center for security?

Azure Security Center is very easy to use, integrates well, and gives very good visibility on what is happening across your ecosystem. It also has great remote workforce capabilities and supports a...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Cloud?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Microsoft Defender for Cloud was pretty straightforward. We did have a consultation with a third party to go over different tiers and produ...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Cloud?

Microsoft Defender for Cloud can be improved. An additional feature that should be included in the next release is Zero Trust, similar to ThreatLocker software.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sophos Cloud Optix?

I believe there can be improvements in the logging mechanism, with more detailed information available about systems or network logs being beneficial.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Sophos Cloud Optix?

I use Sophos Cloud Optix most of the time to harden our AWS infrastructure or Azure infrastructure, and sometimes I use it to meet different types of compliance requirements such as SOC 2 and ISO 2...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Sophos Cloud Optix?

I have not integrated Sophos Cloud Optix with other tools, but I believe there are many integration options available. The learning curve for new users on my team with Sophos Cloud Optix is not muc...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 36% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

Microsoft Defender XDR vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 3% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Competitors

Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP vs Sophos Cloud Optix

Compared 36% of the time

Wiz vs Sophos Cloud Optix

Compared 20% of the time

AWS Security Hub vs Sophos Cloud Optix

Compared 13% of the time

More Sophos Cloud Optix Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

January 2026

Download Microsoft Defender for Cloud product report

Buyer's Guide

Sophos Cloud Optix

January 2026

Download Sophos Cloud Optix product report

Also Known As

Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender

No data available

Interactive Demo

Microsoft

Demo not available

Sophos

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a comprehensive security solution that provides advanced threat protection for cloud workloads. It offers real-time visibility into the security posture of cloud environments, enabling organizations to quickly identify and respond to potential threats. With its advanced machine learning capabilities, Microsoft Defender for Cloud can detect and block sophisticated attacks, including zero-day exploits and fileless malware.

The solution also provides automated remediation capabilities, allowing security teams to quickly and easily respond to security incidents. With Microsoft Defender for Cloud, organizations can ensure the security and compliance of their cloud workloads, while reducing the burden on their security teams.

Microsoft

Easily identify cloud resource vulnerabilities, ensure compliance, and respond to threats faster.

Sophos

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is trusted by companies such as ASOS, Vatenfall, SWC Technology Partners, and more.

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Sophos Cloud Optix

December 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Sophos Cloud Optix

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