Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Microsoft Purview Audit comparison

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. Microsoft Purview Audit

April 2026

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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 Endp...

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

3rd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

212

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (2nd), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (5th), Anti-Malware Tools (1st), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (3rd)

Microsoft Purview Audit

Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite

31st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

5.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Log Management (34th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 7.0%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Purview Audit is 1.4%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Microsoft Security Suite Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint	7.0%
Microsoft Purview Audit	1.4%
Other	91.6%

Microsoft Security Suite

Featured Reviews

Robert Arbuckle

Security Analyst III at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees

Automatically isolates threats and integrates with logging to reduce response time

Overall, I would evaluate the Microsoft support level that I receive at probably about a seven, but that depends on the day. It has been spotty. We have had issues where the urgency level of the Microsoft support is not as high as ours, especially during a data breach or potential data breach situation. We have had issues with some of the offshore support being lackluster. One specific thing that comes to mind is we were on a support call with our CISO on the call, and the Microsoft agent, who did not actually work for Microsoft, is one of the vendors that Microsoft uses for support, said, "Just to set expectations, my lunch break is in an hour and I am going to go away then." For us, it was already ten o'clock at night and we had been working on this for a couple of hours, trying to get a security engineer on with us. For him to tell us that he was going to go away and have lunch, it was, "Okay, but go find somebody else if you need to." It was just the lackluster approach, and it seemed like he did not really care. We seem to get a lot of this when we get non-Microsoft support. I can identify areas for improvement with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, as it is kind of a convoluted mess to try to take care of false positives. Especially when they have been identified as false positives but they keep going off over and over again. It is great for my pocketbook because it generates a lot of on-call action, but I would really prefer more sleep at two o'clock in the morning than dealing with false positives. I would say that the unified portal for managing Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is suitable for both teams as they are all in there. It would be great if they would stop moving things around and renaming things, which makes sense. The new XDR portal is pretty nice. Being able to have it central again inside of the regular Security Center without having to open up two windows is helpful. Overall, I think it is pretty good. There is always going to be something that could be improved, such as alerting and the ability to modify alerts would be a little bit helpful to have. Being able to add more data into the alerts and turn off alerts that are not as useful would be beneficial. It is hard to say what the quantitative impact the security exposure management feature has had on our company's security, because a lot of it is kind of subjective. I think we are sitting at around a fifty percent score still, and a lot of it is just kind of unusual circumstances that we cannot really implement without breaking the organization.

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Oksana Kosukhina.

Cloud Solution Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Integrated auditing has strengthened data retention and improved incident investigations

I have seen areas for improvement, specifically in Microsoft Purview Audit or in general about Microsoft. I have had a situation with documentation. I had a customer who wanted to create alerts and they had Microsoft 365 Business Premium. In the documentation, it was noted that this license is enough for creating alerts. When we tried to make them, we noticed they cannot do it with Microsoft 365 E3 because the customer had limited features to manage alerts. The customer had to buy E3. We created Microsoft support requests, and they confirmed that the documentation displayed not the real situation and they have been going to update documentation. The same situation occurred now with implementing Microsoft Purview Audit in the last autumn. eDiscovery was combined with search and content search, and the documentation was not clear at the beginning. It was a little difficult to describe to customers that now it is a part of eDiscovery. Content search is a very simple functionality, while eDiscovery is a little difficult. I am not entirely sure why Microsoft is going in the way of combining these services because they are the same. However, for a customer who has never seen these services, it is difficult to understand quickly. The same situation occurs with litigation holds and some other holds. For any mail, I am trying to keep data. For example, emails are held for a year or two years, ten years, it does not matter. It is difficult to understand where to find this data and where these emails are being held. I need to use eDiscovery to find out all deleted data that was kept somewhere in some hidden folders of the mailbox. Regular customers and regular administrators know that on-premises Exchange, for example, allows them to find the data in some repository and review the list of kept data. However, with this hold, we do not have any functionality to review the list of kept data. It is difficult to understand for customers how to work with this. I had a case where I spent three or four hours working deeply with a customer to explain how to work with eDiscovery, why Content Search is not there when it was before, what is an eDiscovery case, and why we are talking about all of this just to review a list of kept emails. This is difficult.

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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

"This is the best feature of having OneDrive backup on the fly and recovery on the fly."

"There are several features that have helped to improve our security posture at the prevention level, such as the attack surface reduction controls and the exploit prevention control."

"A few years ago, when I was using a different product, I was affected by a virus that destroyed everything. Since using Microsoft Defender, I have not had this kind of problem."

"This solution definitely increases our security posture. When you are reviewing your existing fleet or endpoints and based on the configuration that you put out of your Defender for Endpoint, you then receive a security score from Microsoft. Depending on what rules you have configured, what policies you have deployed, and what attack surface reduction rules that you have set up and deployed, it is almost gamifying information security in the sense that you are always trying to achieve a higher score. The more hardening you perform on your endpoints, the better score you receive. This generally tends to give you a better peace of mind, but also makes you secure at the same time."

"The protection that it provides is quite good."

"It's a stable solution."

"Overall, our security posture looks much better and our attack surfaces are limited."

"If I didn't have the integrated pieces of Microsoft Defender, to do the same amount and be on top of things, I would probably need two FTEs."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pros

"We're easily saving at least one hour per day using this solution."

"The overall user experience with Microsoft Purview Audit is of higher quality than when it was branded as Compliance Center, and Microsoft consistently updates and evolves functionalities and the overall experience."

"The main Microsoft feature is that it offers common integration of services, of data, of identity, meaning user accounts, user access, and privileged access."

"The platform has significantly enhanced our operational insight into the overall Microsoft 365 environment."

Cons

"Defender’s GUI can be optimized. The console needs to be more refined."

"The system can always be simplified and have a better integration check. More detailed reports would be good. When it does the integrated check, it just shows if the system is okay but I want to know what happened."

"In terms of improvement, they update the platform it seems quite a bit. Every month something is in a new spot or something changed somewhere. There should be less of that."

"The technical from Microsoft could be better. It is not as good as other solutions."

"The pricing could be a bit better."

"The solution's price could be cheaper."

"It is so expensive. It isn't cheaper than McAfee or other solutions."

"The most problematic part of this program is the difficult customer service."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint cons

"Areas for product improvement include enhancing customization options and integrating more comprehensive compliance features."

"We are still in the early stages of leveraging Microsoft Purview Audit. Currently, it's primarily used for the audit function."

"I had a case where I spent three or four hours working deeply with a customer to explain how to work with eDiscovery, why Content Search is not there when it was before, what is an eDiscovery case, and why we are talking about all of this just to review a list of kept emails."

"We do have a Denial of Access happening."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is no licensing fee."

"The solution is free and comes with Windows."

"The price for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is about three euros, which is considered reasonably priced."

"The cost is competitive and reasonable because most of the expense is log analytics, storage, and data consumption and ingestion. These things can be throttled and controlled, so they are highly flexible. Defender has a lot of advantages over competing products."

"I recently switched from education to private business, and all I can say is that private business licensing from Microsoft is not cheap until you hit certain quantities or scale. That does not mean that it is not comparable to other industries. It is similar pricing, but it is still crazy to me how much you pay for a client. I feel it is high, but it is in line with other vendors."

"We mostly use Microsoft products. We use Office 365, and we use Azure. We're also a Microsoft partner. So, the licensing was much cheaper for us, and at the same time, a lot of the features that we were looking for were included in Defender."

"You don't need to worry about the renewal and purchase of antivirus products. It is bundled with Windows 10, so you don't need to worry about separately purchasing any antiviruses."

"We are required to pay for the data we ingest, and increasing the data amount incurs additional expenses."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Construction Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	82
Midsize Enterprise	45
Large Enterprise	96

No data available

Questions from the Community

How is Cortex XDR compared with Microsoft Defender?

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface, applies behavioral-based endpoint protection and response, and includes risk-ba...

Which offers better endpoint security - Symantec or Microsoft Defender?

We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior solution. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security s...

How does Microsoft Defender for Endpoint compare with Crowdstrike Falcon?

The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never push your machine hardware to "test", you don't have the usual "scan now" feature ...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Purview Audit?

It is not so expensive in comparison with other products, but I can tell you about an example.

What needs improvement with Microsoft Purview Audit?

What is your primary use case for Microsoft Purview Audit?

I work with Defender for IoT by chance because I see that we have enough reviews for Defender for Office 365 today, and we need reviews for some Azure products. I work with Azure products such as L...

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

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Product Reports

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

June 2026

Download Microsoft Defender for Endpoint product report

Download Microsoft Purview Audit product report

Microsoft Purview Audit

June 2026

Also Known As

Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus

No data available

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides comprehensive threat protection that integrates well with current systems, offering proactive threat detection and automatic updates while reducing manual efforts.

The platform is designed for seamless integration with Microsoft products, facilitating efficient management and use. It offers proactive ransomware protection and valuable threat intelligence, crucial for timely response and increased visibility across devices. Users highlight its ability to secure endpoints from viruses and malware, integrating with Windows and Office 365 to enhance real-time detection capabilities in diverse environments, including hybrid and on-premises setups. However, enhancements are needed in Linux integration, detection accuracy, and policy implementations.

What are the key features of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint?

Seamless Integration: Works smoothly with existing systems and Microsoft products for easy management.
Proactive Threat Detection: Advanced monitoring to identify and mitigate threats swiftly.
Ransomware Protection: Built-in features to protect against ransomware attacks automatically.
Centralized Management: Unified platform for better device visibility and collaboration.
Threat Intelligence: Provides critical data for rapid threat response.

What benefits should be evaluated in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint?

Cost-Effectiveness: Part of Windows bundles, offering comprehensive security at competitive pricing.
Time Efficiency: Reduces manual oversight with automatic updates and management ease.
Real-Time Detection: Enhanced security through seamless Office 365 and Windows integration.
Device Coverage: Supports hybrid and on-premises environments for varied digital infrastructures.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is implemented across industries for securing endpoints, relying on its deep integration with Windows and Office 365 to protect against malware and viruses. Organizations benefit from its real-time detection and comprehensive management capabilities, particularly in hybrid environments where diverse digital infrastructures need safeguarding.

Microsoft Purview Audit offers streamlined, user-friendly solutions for managing Microsoft 365 environments. It excels in security incident log management, privileged access control, and simplifying data access adjustments with integration between AD and Azure AD.

Key functionalities of Microsoft Purview Audit include capabilities tailored to monitor environment health, compliance, and security management within Active Directory and Microsoft ecosystems. Users can efficiently manage roles, access controls, and data retention protocols, making it a valuable resource for strategically-driven organizations with legal requirements. While the integration with Dataverse enhances its utility, user challenges arise due to complexity in certain aspects such as litigation holds and accessing hidden folder data. Additionally, users have reported issues with the precision of customization and compliance documentation, particularly when handling alerts and eDiscovery functions. Despite these challenges, Purview Audit remains a leading tool within the Microsoft suite for managing log retrieval and security oversight.

What are the key features of Microsoft Purview Audit?

User-friendly Dashboards: Easily track the health of Microsoft 365 environments.
Privileged Access Management: Efficiently manage and secure access to critical resources.
Log Management: Gain insights into security incidents through comprehensive log management.
Rules-based Access Control: Implement strict access protocols tailored to organizational frameworks.
Role-based Delegation: Streamline role delegation while adhering to security policies.
Zero Trust Security: Enhance security with a zero trust model for data protection.

What benefits should users look for?

Data Retention: Meet legal and compliance needs efficiently.
Easy Configuration: Simplify setup processes for quick implementation.
Seamless AD to Azure AD Migration: Transition effortlessly between directory services.
Detailed Audit Capabilities: Understand, monitor, and review security actions easily.

In industries with stringent data governance and compliance mandates, Microsoft Purview Audit is utilized to ensure a robust security posture. Users engage it for monitoring compliance within financial services, healthcare, and other sectors where data privacy is paramount. With its SaaS-based integration in Microsoft environments, organizations access refined log data leveraging platforms like Power Platform Admin Center, ensuring comprehensive oversight and operational efficiency.

Sample Customers

Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health

Information Not Available