Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Vanta comparison

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Vanta are competing cybersecurity solutions, each excelling in distinct areas. Microsoft Defender for Cloud is typically seen as the more robust product, offering comprehensive security features worth the investment. However, Vanta is a strong contender due to its competitive pricing and simplified deployment process.

Features:Microsoft Defender for Cloud provides advanced threat detection, automated incident response, and seamless integration with Azure services. Vanta focuses on compliance automation, offering tools for real-time monitoring and audit preparation. Defender for Cloud is known for comprehensive security measures, while Vanta is recognized for compliance capabilities and user-friendly management.

Room for Improvement:Microsoft Defender for Cloud could enhance its deployment complexity, improve integration with non-Microsoft ecosystems, and reduce its upfront costs. Vanta can benefit from expanding its threat detection capabilities, integrating more seamlessly with diverse cloud environments, and offering more detailed reporting features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:Microsoft Defender for Cloud integrates deeply with Azure but can be complex, requiring strong support. Vanta offers a straightforward deployment model with intuitive interfaces, providing accessible customer support that eases onboarding.

Pricing and ROI:Microsoft Defender for Cloud involves higher initial costs but delivers significant ROI with extensive security features. Vanta is more budget-friendly, offering high ROI through efficient compliance management at a lower initial investment.

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

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs. Vanta

December 2025

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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

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Ranking in Compliance Management

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 Security Posture Management (CSPM) (4th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (4th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (5th), Microsoft Security Suite (7th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (2nd)

Vanta

Ranking in Compliance Management

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Compliance Consulting (1st), Data Governance (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Compliance Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Cloud is 13.2%, down from 16.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Vanta is 8.1%, down from 14.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Compliance Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Vanta	8.1%
Microsoft Defender for Cloud	13.2%
Other	78.7%

Compliance 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.

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reviewer2585640

Consultant at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Compliance workflows have become organized and automation supports ongoing healthcare audits

There are always tons of rooms for improvement for Vanta. I kind of exaggerated a little bit about the policy control. I don't really love the way they handle the revision management of that feature. If I'm on V1 of the policy document and I make some changes to it, then I get rid of V1 and then I re-upload V2. It's not that it keeps a running history of each of the different revisions. A little bit of an issue with that, but workable. I don't really have any negative complaint right now that would be worthwhile expressing. It's just that there's a lot of features. The UI is not super intuitive, but now that I've worked with it for a couple of years, I know how to navigate and get around. Initially, it was a little bit of a struggle understanding how these things would all work.

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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

"Microsoft Defender for Cloud can find potential phishing links and malicious code in data at rest."

"With respect to improving our security posture, it helps us to understand where we are in terms of compliance. We can easily know when we are below the standard because of the scores it calculates."

"The most valuable feature is the hunting feature, which integrates well into the entire Microsoft ecosystem."

"The solution's coordinated detection and response across devices and identities is impressive because it is complete."

"It takes very little effort to integrate it. It also gives very good visibility into what exactly is happening."

"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."

"The feature of Microsoft Defender for Cloud that I have found most valuable is the alerts, which are pretty standard for security."

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

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud pros

"It helps us track the compliance of the components listed in our partner's directory. We can also check if the password manager, XML, and three log policies have been properly implemented on the desktop."

"Task management and vendor assurance are the most valuable features. It is also an easy tool to use."

"The most valuable feature of Vanta is its prebuilt control frameworks."

"They integrate into New Relic as a performance monitoring tool."

"Vanta has positively impacted my organization by streamlining the whole HITRUST R2 assessment process."

"The product has provided automated security controls for our cloud provider. It helps to automate security checks. Vanta offers a list of things that can be done to achieve ISO 27001 compliance."

"The most valuable feature of Vanta would be the time savings from the automation and the continuous compliance monitoring once set up."

"Vanta's integrations and automated tests have streamlined our SOC 2 compliance and provided a single entry point for addressing risks and failed tests."

More Vanta pros

Cons

"The solution's portal is very easy to use, but there's one key component that is missing when it comes to managing policies. For example, if I've onboarded my server and I need to specify antivirus policies, there's no option to do that on the portal. I will have to go to Intune to deploy them. That is one main aspect that is missing and it's worrisome."

"The pricing could be better."

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

"Microsoft has much room for improvement regarding the support for Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Their competitors are much better regarding support."

"They could always work to make the pricing a bit lower."

"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."

"Integration into other third-party products, particularly those from tier three vendors like ManageEngine and Hexcode, has proven difficult."

"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."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud cons

"Failed tests for device CVEs seem to be cumulative, meaning I have to clear all CVEs before the test will pass, which makes it difficult to resolve the test before the next round of CVEs are published."

"There are connection problems about 50% of the time because of the automated evidence collection."

"I would tell others looking into using Vanta to use it for HITRUST E1 and I1 assessments, as the R2 assessments are still a work in progress."

"There is a delay with customer support and they are unsure of the answers we need."

"Permissions for platform users have been an issue. We've had to give admin access to Vanta for another team member to view all items."

"Scalability could be improved."

"Some of the tool's automated tests do not work the way it should."

"Currently, Vanta's user access review module is still in development, and we've been giving them continuous feedback to help them improve that."

More Vanta cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I rate Microsoft Defender a three out of ten for affordability. The price could be a little lower."

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

"Defender for Cloud is pretty costly for a single line. It's incredibly high to pay monthly for security per server. The cost is considerable for an enterprise with 500-plus virtual machines, and the monthly bill can spike."

"Azure Defender is a bit pricey. The price could be lower."

"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."

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

"This solution is more cost-effective than some competing products. My understanding is that it is based on the number of integrations that you have, so if you have fewer subscriptions then you pay less for the service."

"The tool is pretty expensive."

More Microsoft Defender for Cloud pricing and cost advice

"Vanta is expensive."

See which vendors are best for you

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

18%

Financial Services Firm

University

Outsourcing 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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	1

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 do you like most about Vanta?

The most valuable feature of Vanta is its prebuilt control frameworks.

What needs improvement with Vanta?

Failed tests for device CVEs seem to be cumulative, meaning I have to clear all CVEs before the test will pass, which makes it difficult to resolve the test before the next round of CVEs are publis...

What is your primary use case for Vanta?

My use case involves SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance.

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Product Reports

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

January 2026

Download Microsoft Defender for Cloud product report

Download Vanta product report

January 2026

Also Known As

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

No data available

Interactive Demo

Microsoft

Demo not available

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

Vanta helps companies scale security practices and automate compliance for the industry’s most sought after standards - SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, and CCPA.

Sample Customers

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

Care Directives, Shortcut , Nayya, Heizenrader, Treasury Prime