Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai comparison

Microsoft and Horizon3.ai are both solutions in the Vulnerability Management category. Microsoft is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.1, while Horizon3.ai is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.9. Microsoft holds a 3.6% mindshare in VM, compared to Horizon3.ai’s 1.5% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Horizon3.ai users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Read 87 Microsoft Defender for Cloud reviews

20,963 Views
5,031 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

The NodeZero Platform by Ho...

Read 11 The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai reviews

4,176 Views
1,921 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

The NodeZero Platform by Ho...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2025

Microsoft Defender for Cloud and NodeZero Platform are prominent in cybersecurity solutions, each bringing unique strengths to the table. Microsoft Defender's seamless integration with Azure services gives it an edge in environments heavily reliant on Azure, while NodeZero stands out for its affordability and usability, which is appealing to diverse organizations.

Features: Microsoft Defender for Cloud is noted for comprehensive visibility, threat intelligence, and integration with Azure. It effectively manages security across multi-cloud environments providing enriched data for policy compliance and dynamic alerting. NodeZero Platform is highlighted for ease of deployment and automated testing capabilities. Its real attack simulations and ability to instantly retest vulnerabilities are emphasized as practical solutions that offer advantages over traditional penetration testing methods.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Defender for Cloud users encounter challenges with false positives, complex setup processes, and integration across different subscriptions. Pricing transparency, agent features, and enhanced real-time monitoring are also required improvements. NodeZero Platform could enhance its report readability and usability for various teams. Speed improvements in scanning and more integrations with additional vulnerability tools would further enhance its utility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Defender for Cloud benefits from its Azure integration, yet faces criticism for complicated policy management and inconsistent technical support. NodeZero Platform receives positive reviews for its intuitive setup, enabling quick deployment with minimal technical challenges. Its responsive customer service enhances user experience and ease of use, catering to different infrastructure needs.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Defender for Cloud is perceived as costly, particularly suited for larger enterprises using Azure. Its ROI is driven by strong security visibility and reduced administration, though pricing complexity remains an issue. NodeZero Platform is lauded for competitive pricing similar to traditional pen tests but with greater flexibility. Its cost-effective, adaptable licensing delivers high ROI through systematic vulnerability scanning and management.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

December 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 881,707 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 Vulnerability Management

8th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Container Management (7th), Container Security (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)

The NodeZero Platform by Ho...

Ranking in Vulnerability Management

11th

Average Rating

9.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (12th), Penetration Testing Services (1st), Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS) (1st), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud is 3.6%, down from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai is 1.5%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Vulnerability Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Defender for Cloud	3.6%
The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai	1.5%
Other	94.9%

Vulnerability Management

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.

Read full review

Shaun Hunt

Chief Information Officer at a construction company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Has unified our IT teams by providing clear visibility into network vulnerabilities and accelerated remediation with real-world attack testing

One of the things that we've shared with Horizon is just the reporting. They've made a lot of changes over time, but when examining computers, most average normal people don't look at a computer and identify it as 114.82.117.180. They identify it as 'the printer for accounting.' When many of the reports give the very detailed technical IP address or serial number, that's really not helpful for anyone other than the person, the hands-on person that's trying to remediate it. All the managers, all the leaders, having information in that format isn't helpful. Being able to have information about what those devices are would be very helpful. There's a technical reason they can't just have an easy button because some people have really complicated networks. When examining things for the average company, the average executive, that 114 number, there's only one of those. But if examining an AT&T or a Walmart, it isn't unique. They haven't solved that problem. But for the 90% of companies, being able to have just a human readable name for all devices on your network in all of the reports all of the time would be the most beneficial.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Defender for Cloud provides a complete DevOps security package for cloud services."

"Defender for Cloud provides a prioritized list of remediations for security issues, reducing risk and improving security operations."

"If you are a Microsoft organization and most of your organization uses Microsoft, Microsoft Defender for Cloud will be the best approach as it provides the easiest implementation to the most robust solution for a Microsoft suite."

"Most importantly, it's an integrated solution. We not only have Defender for Cloud, but we also have Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Office 365, and Defender for Identity. It's an integrated, holistic solution."

"Microsoft Defender for Cloud has improved our security poster by at least 100 percent."

"The most valuable feature for me is the variety of APIs available."

"The valuable features include the ability to manage devices and the fact that Defender can replace other security tools like SCCM."

"The most valuable feature is that it's intuitive. It's very intuitive."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud pros

"The NodeZero Platform's real attack capabilities help in identifying vulnerabilities on our on-prem systems because it provides actual vulnerabilities by attacking our systems."

"Honestly, it's one of the most transformational technologies we've implemented in our company."

"For us, The NodeZero Platform is literally the single best security solution we have because the way that it works is we're able to scan every part of our network, both internally and externally, and then get completely actionable feedback that doesn't matter if it's for an application developer or a network admin."

"We experienced a threat that could have severely crippled us, but we were able to shut it down before it escalated, thanks to internal vulnerability testing and addressing critical vulnerabilities using their tool."

"Penetration testing and scans are useful features."

"After the third party conducts the pen test, The NodeZero Platform is run, and it finds the same things they found and sometimes a few other things that they did not even identify."

"I rate the stability of the NodeZero Platform a ten out of ten."

"Overall, I'd rate NodeZero at nine to 9.5 out of ten."

More The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai pros

Cons

"An area where Microsoft Defender for Cloud could be improved is in getting away from having multiple menus that do the same thing, which seems imposing when looking at it."

"No possibility to write or edit any capability."

"The cost is always a concern, but overall, it's not too bad because it is easy to use and pretty friendly."

"It's really hard to get ahold of Microsoft support. When you buy a product, with the M365 portal, you're given the option to chat with somebody, and normally you don't hear back immediately."

"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."

"I rate Microsoft support five out of 10. It gets better once you're escalated past the first and second levels. It's difficult to get the necessary support when tickets are first opened."

"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."

"Defender could provide more in-depth visibility into vulnerabilities and services. For instance, we wanted to scan Azure NetApp for sensitive data, but they didn't have that feature. It was only for storage accounts. I want Azure Defender features to cover all Azure resources rather than a few."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud cons

"They've added a chatbot which isn't particularly useful, but when it can't answer questions, it forwards messages to human support."

"I think The NodeZero Platform could improve by leveraging GPUs for password cracking, which would be pretty good."

"You need to be cautious about what it scans, as it could potentially cause issues."

"The reports are quite useless."

"One of the areas where improvement is needed is in the visibility and reporting for large enterprises."

"I encountered challenges with patch management, as we struggled to test and implement patches due to time constraints. This led to our patch management process being ineffective."

"The areas for improvement for The NodeZero Platform involve integration and automation. It would be beneficial if it could integrate directly with vulnerability management tools that would allow the platform to automatically import data, identify vulnerable systems, and test targets immediately, potentially even enabling automated feedback loops for rescanning since the process is currently manual."

"The only issue we’ve encountered is that sometimes the scans take a long time to complete."

More The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Currently, Microsoft offers only one plan at the enterprise level which is $15 per machine."

"The licensing cost per server is $15 per month."

"Defender's basic version is free, which is good. Many of our teams are evaluating the paid version against third-party products."

"Its pricing is a little bit high in terms of Azure Security Center, but the good thing is that we don't need to maintain and deploy it. So, while the pricing is high, it is native to Azure which is why we prefer using this tool."

"I am not involved in this area. However, I believe its price is okay because even small customers are using Azure Security Center. I don't think it is very expensive."

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

"Pricing is difficult because each license has its own metrics and cost."

"The pricing model for most plans is generally good, but the cost of the new Defender for Storage plan is high and should be revisited, as it could lead to disabling desirable security features due to cost."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud pricing and cost advice

Information not available

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Vulnerability Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	4

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 do you like most about Horizon3.ai?

Penetration testing and scans are useful features.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Horizon3.ai?

I think The NodeZero Platform could improve by leveraging GPUs for password cracking, which would be pretty good.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Horizon3.ai?

We use The NodeZero Platform for control validation and we are also looking for the likelihood of vulnerabilities.

See all answers

Comparisons

AWS GuardDuty vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 36% of the time

Wiz vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 8% of the time

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Defender XDR vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 2% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud Competitors

Pentera vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

Compared 25% of the time

Tenable Security Center vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

Compared 6% of the time

Cymulate vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

Compared 6% of the time

Tenable Vulnerability Management vs The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

Compared 5% of the time

More The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

January 2026

Download Microsoft Defender for Cloud product report

Buyer's Guide

The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

January 2026

The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai report

Download The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai product report

Also Known As

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

Horizon3.ai

Interactive Demo

Microsoft

Demo not available

Horizon3.ai

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

NodeZero by Horizon3.ai is an offensive security platform that enables users to adopt an attacker’s perspective, reveal vulnerabilities, and verify defense effectiveness with evidence-backed insights.

NodeZero provides autonomous pentesting, showing how attackers exploit misconfigurations, credentials, and exposures into attack paths. It helps focus on real risks rather than hypothetical ones, integrating seamlessly into existing IT and security workflows to streamline processes. The platform drives risk-based vulnerability management and CTEM by validating vulnerabilities and measuring resilience.

What standout features improve your security?

Autonomous Pentesting at Scale: Executes extensive pentests across broad IT landscapes swiftly.
Hybrid Cloud Coverage: Navigates on-premises and cloud domains to find attack paths.
Proof of Exploitation: Offers evidence for every finding.
Fix Validation: Allows quick retesting to ensure vulnerabilities are resolved.
NodeZero Tripwires: Uses deception tokens for real adversary detection.

What benefits should you expect from reviews?

Reduced Vulnerability Noise: Prioritizes exploitable risks with ServiceNow integration.
Automated Workflows: MCP Server automates processes, reducing bottlenecks and enhancing efficiency.
Immediate Fix Validation: Ensures defenses work during attacks.
Real-Time Resilience Measurement: Helps schedule routine assessments without external help.

NodeZero assists in automated penetration testing and vulnerability management in industries like finance and healthcare. It enhances security processes by complementing or replacing existing solutions, enabling efficient testing, feedback, and control validation.

Horizon3.ai

Sample Customers

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

Government agencies, Defense Industrial Base organizations, and enterprises in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and criticalinfrastructure rely on NodeZero to meet rigorous security and compliance requirements with continuous, scheduled, and on-demand testing.

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

December 2025

Free Report: Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. The NodeZero Platform by Horizon3.ai report.

See our list of best Vulnerability Management vendors.

We monitor all Vulnerability Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.