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Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Sysdig Falco comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 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 for Cloud
Ranking in Container Security
7th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
87
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (8th), Container Management (7th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (1st), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (4th), 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)
Sysdig Falco
Ranking in Container Security
18th
Average Rating
10.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.3
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Container Security category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud is 6.2%, down from 6.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sysdig Falco is 1.8%, down from 1.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud6.2%
Sysdig Falco1.8%
Other92.0%
Container Security
 

Featured Reviews

David Birhange - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Patrik Gunnersten - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre-Sales Manager at Conoa AB
Has delivered real-time insights for detecting runtime vulnerabilities and improving response speed
The runtime security part of Sysdig Falco has been the most valuable over the years. They do extensive monitoring, and you can get many insights and an overview and drill down into connections, but it's the runtime security that sets them apart from the competition. Sysdig Falco's real-time monitoring feature for anomaly detection is very high quality. They lean on the Falco project, which is an open-source project that is an excellent source of finding vulnerabilities. They have AI capabilities to set a baseline of the traffic that the client usually has, and then they find anomalies where things start to deviate from the baseline, and they do that exceptionally. The flexibility of Sysdig Falco's rule-driven engine for meeting security policies for customers is very good because you can have the standard features that are already out-of-the-box ready, and then you can tailor your own rules freely and create any type of rules desired.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"DSPM is the most valuable feature."
"I have not experienced any difficulties or issues with the stability of Microsoft Defender for Cloud."
"I've seen benefits since implementing Microsoft Defender for Cloud. It's easy to manage for our large organization as an endpoint security solution. It integrates well with Office 365 and Windows 11, which is better than before. Patching, updates, and threat protection are all handled together now. Its AI features help predict threats."
"Microsoft Defender for Cloud has definitely helped us manage and secure our multi-cloud environment by providing ease of use."
"I would rate Microsoft Defender for Cloud a ten."
"The notification process of Microsoft Defender for Cloud has been the most valuable feature. The notification process is effortless, as it can tell me right there and then locate issues pretty fast, saving us a lot of time by not having to dig through all the warnings."
"Microsoft Defender for Cloud has significantly enhanced our overall security posture by approximately 20 to 25 percent."
"The solution is very easy to deploy."
"We've had incidents with clients where high-impact CVEs were published, and I know comparisons where one client said if they didn't have Sysdig Falco in place, what took them about a day would have probably taken one or two months to resolve."
 

Cons

"Pricing could be improved. There are limited options based on pricing for the government."
"I would like to have the ability to customize executive reporting."
"Customer service and support from Microsoft are very poor. Even for high-severity cases, response or resolution time can extend to three or four weeks."
"However, some Copilot features aren't available in the GCP environment. This is something we hope will be addressed in the future."
"The amount billed for the amount of terabytes you're scanning is too high and will lead into security risks if somebody is limiting the amount of data to be scanned based on the cost, so this is something I would prefer to be changed."
"From my own perspective, they just need a product that is tailored to micro-segmentation so I can configure rules for multiple systems at once and manage it."
"They could always work to make the pricing a bit lower."
"The user interface of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, like many Microsoft portals, undergoes frequent changes and feature relocation."
"One area for improvement would be having predefined security standards for measuring compliance reports."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Defender's basic version is free, which is good. Many of our teams are evaluating the paid version against third-party products."
"Microsoft Defender for Cloud is pricey, especially for Kubernetes clusters."
"The product's pricing policy is generally favorable."
"Pricing is a consideration, but we strive to keep costs low by enabling only necessary services."
"The solution is expensive, and I rate it a five to six out of ten."
"This is a worldwide service and depending on the country, there will be different prices."
"They have a free version, but the license for this one isn't too high. It's free to start with, and you're charged for using it beyond 30 days. Some other pieces of Defender are charged based on usage, so you will be charged more for a high volume of transactions. I believe Defender for Cloud is a daily charge based on Azure's App Service Pricing."
"I'm not privy to that information, but I know it's probably close to a million dollars a year."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise49
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...
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...
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.
What needs improvement with Sysdig Falco?
Sysdig Falco is probably the most complete security solution for container-type workloads today. One area for improvement would be having predefined security standards for measuring compliance repo...
What is your primary use case for Sysdig Falco?
The primary use case for Sysdig Falco is to find vulnerabilities in real-time. It helps us find CVEs in the runtime part of a container environment, so not just scanning the code before it's deploy...
What advice do you have for others considering Sysdig Falco?
I work with many different products in the open-source world relating to containers and Kubernetes, not just Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks. We work with the big ones, such as Red Hat, VMware, ...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft Azure Security Center, Azure Security Center, Microsoft ASC, Azure Defender
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is trusted by companies such as ASOS, Vatenfall, SWC Technology Partners, and more.
Information Not Available
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