Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs VirusTotal comparison

Microsoft Defender for Endp...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

VirusTotal and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint are competitive in the cybersecurity tools category. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint edges out VirusTotal due to its extensive feature set and robust protection measures.

Features: VirusTotal offers comprehensive file inspection, IP address examination, and URL analysis. It integrates with numerous antivirus scanners and provides hash sharing and community threat intelligence insights. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint includes advanced malware protection, real-time threat detection, vulnerability management, and seamless integration with other Microsoft security solutions, together with automated investigation and response features.

Room for Improvement: VirusTotal could enhance its integration and support infrastructure to provide a more holistic cybersecurity solution. It may also expand its API functionality and threat data collection. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint could improve its user interface to enhance user navigation and simplify complex configurations. Better support for diverse non-Microsoft environments would broaden its usability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint benefits from an efficient deployment process due to its integration with Microsoft's ecosystem, alongside extensive customer service support. VirusTotal is easy to use for independent threat analysis but lacks the comprehensive support network available to Microsoft users.

Pricing and ROI: VirusTotal is initially cost-effective for threat assessment tasks offered free of charge, ideal for users seeking basic security insights. In contrast, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint requires an investment; however, its expansive coverage and integration with Microsoft services provide excellent ROI by reducing security risks and managing threats effectively.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. VirusTotal Report (Updated: April 2025).

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. VirusTotal

April 2025

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Helped 851,604 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 Endp...

Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

197

Ranking in other categories

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (1st), Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (2nd), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (3rd), Microsoft Security Suite (5th)

VirusTotal

Ranking in Anti-Malware Tools

3rd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Threat Intelligence Platforms (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Anti-Malware Tools category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is 16.7%, down from 22.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VirusTotal is 5.3%, down from 7.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Anti-Malware Tools

Featured Reviews

AnuragSrivastava

Information Security Engineering Lead at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

Provides detailed visibility into threats but the ability to add exceptions needs improvement

One major item for improvement is the ability to add exceptions. We can add some exceptions, but not at the level we need to. The second major area for improvement involves enhanced capabilities for different operating systems or platforms. That is, even though we have coverage for different operating systems or platforms such as Linux, we don't get all of the controls and enhanced capabilities that are available with Windows devices. Reporting could also be improved because, at present, we get limited results at times. For example, in an environment with more than 100,000 devices, you may just get 10,000 results when you run a report.

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Chinmay Banerjee

Advisor Adtech/Martech/API product/project Engineering at Fiserv

Helps businesses collect threat data while keeping privacy in mind and apable of detecting, blocking, and removing viruses and malware

There are two gray areas I still need to explore. I have worked with VirusTotal because it easily integrates with over seventy antivirus scanners and blacklisting services. In addition to those there is much scope to improve and add other services or integrations. The areas for improvement are that VirusTotal is not using much AI or generative AI models, while other competitors are starting to build them. For example, VirusTotal's work is based on the setup done by their engineers. If you want to do scanning or protection activities for a specific site, app, or device, that is the area VirusTotal is currently focused on. But other competitors are building AI models that can do things like left-side scanning and provide auto-generated reports. VirusTotal has predefined reports, but there is a lot of manual effort involved. Secondly, the API is very limited if I want to integrate VirusTotal with other applications. They need to build more connectors and provide support for Webhook connectors for the API. If you can't build your own connector, it's always good to have provisions for Webhook setup connectors across platforms. Thirdly, Kaspersky, a competitor of VirusTotal, is using a methodology called "gatekeeper." A gatekeeper is a security system that protects the inside of a building from outside threats. This is the model Kaspersky is currently using. You have your website set up, but the entire army of VirusTotal or Kaspersky is standing guard, protecting you from the first gate itself. Right now, VirusTotal detects threats from your domain, but it is always better to verify inside the domain and protect it from the first level when people or malware are entering. This first level of protection is lacking in VirusTotal right now. The security bridge and protection gate are missing.

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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

"File protection is the most valuable feature. Antivirus security on the Level OS, Microsoft Defender, and Microsoft Guard for 2019."

"Auto-remediation: When the product sees malware, it resolves the issue immediately. This protects the machine."

"I like the simplicity of the portal and the integration with Microsoft Intune. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easy to use and implement."

"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint has been secure and there is zero maintenance required because it updates with Microsoft Windows."

"The virus scanning capability is excellent, and it feeds all the logs into the Microsoft 365 Defender portal, making them easy to search for."

"The automatic attack disruption feature in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint works great."

"We have just started to implement it. It is useful for protection from malware and ransomware."

"It doesn't cause the slowness of the system, which is one of the reasons why I like it."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pros

"It provides detailed insights into possible malicious behavior, dropped files, and TCP connections."

"It gives detailed information about suspicious IPs, which is one of its most valuable features."

"It is quite simple for anyone if they just want to check some suspicious URLs."

"The initial setup is easy."

"I have never had any problems with stability or bugs while using VirusTotal."

"VirusTotal provides 95% to 98% accurate information."

"The most valuable feature is the worldwide malware information database."

"With VirusTotal, I can check for any hash, malware, file, domain, IP URL, or malicious URL, and Kaspersky stays clean."

More VirusTotal pros

Cons

"In India at least, it seems to be a bit more expensive than other options."

"The end-user also cannot do some advanced actions on it. It's a little bit complicated for our end-user, so it needs to be simplified."

"Initially, I experienced performance issues that hampered our servers. However, after setting appropriate exclusions, everything seemed to work fine."

"The log searches for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint are pretty difficult to navigate. It needs a better UI or more intuitive search and filter mechanisms to make it easy to get through and filter through all the data logs."

"The central console needs improvement. Both McAfee and Symantec antivirus have dashboards. These integrate with a server and work on my antivirus or some other product. However, with Microsoft Defender, you use Microsoft Group Policy Object. Defender does not provide a central console. Therefore, if you implement Defender, then maybe use another tool for the central view."

"Lacks some additional integration."

"I would like to have a dashboard that shows an overview of the results for the enterprise."

"I'm not too sure of its current capabilities, but I'm pretty sure they are doing a good job on Windows and Mac. However, I'm not sure whether they covered Linux. If I remember correctly, Microsoft Defender didn't have anything proper on Linux back then, but if they have improved it from that aspect, it would already be ticking all the boxes."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint cons

"The platform could improve in the areas of endpoints and networks."

"VirusTotal has predefined reports, but there is a lot of manual effort involved."

"I would like to see improvements in the score consistency and accuracy."

"There should be room for improvement, particularly in the API side of things."

"VirusTotal needs better advertisement and promotion, especially in the Middle East, since it is not yet widely recognized or popular in that region."

"VirusTotal is hard to understand because you need to know Google Docs to create queries, and it doesn't have documentation for that."

"They can improve the telemetry. Whenever we handle a sample, they cannot provide any information about a victim."

"VirusTotal has different versions, and sometimes the parameters of the API are not very clear."

More VirusTotal cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We sell this product as part of Office 365 and it is not expensive."

"Most people don't realize M365/E5 licenses are an amazing deal. They think "Oh, it's expensive," and I'll ask, "Compared to what?" If you don't have it you will have to buy licenses for multiple products to fill the same security space that you would have gotten with the Microsoft product. Go figure out how much it costs you per product, per user, and then come back and tell me how things add up financially."

"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is an expensive solution."

"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is cost-effective because there's one unified license, and with this unified license, you get the capabilities for your cloud applications, servers, and endpoints as well. Therefore, it saves us a lot of money because the cost with other solutions is for just one piece of OS or maybe an urban environment. The licensing process is not complex as well."

"This solution is part of Windows and comes included with it."

"Because Microsoft Defender comes as an add-on, it can be a bit expensive if you're trying to buying it separately. Another option is to upgrade, but the enterprise licenses for Microsoft can also be quite a bit pricey. Overall, the cost of Microsoft Defender compared to that of other endpoint detection solutions is slightly higher."

"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comes with Windows 10, and it's free. But for you to be able to manage it in the cloud and use the console, you need to have either an Office 365 E5 subscription or a Microsoft M365 subscription. You need to buy an extra license."

"It came with Windows."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is reasonable."

"We are using VirusTotal with free licenses, managing the license limits across three or four accounts, thus incurring no costs."

"The pricing is very economical."

"VirusTotal is an expensive solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

24%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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 do you like most about VirusTotal?

With VirusTotal, I can check for any hash, malware, file, domain, IP URL, or malicious URL, and Kaspersky stays clean.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VirusTotal?

I do not know about the pricing or licensing as our organization services VirusTotal for our clients.

What needs improvement with VirusTotal?

I would like to see improvements in the score consistency and accuracy. VirusTotal should add more details like those from competitors such as URL Void or Symantec URL Checker, which show the categ...

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Comparisons

Compared 8% of the time

Symantec Endpoint Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 5% of the time

Microsoft Intune vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 4% of the time

F-Secure Total vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 4% of the time

HP Wolf Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Competitors

MetaDefender vs VirusTotal

Compared 16% of the time

ANY.RUN vs VirusTotal

Compared 13% of the time

Cuckoo Sandbox vs VirusTotal

Compared 9% of the time

Recorded Future vs VirusTotal

Compared 8% of the time

ReversingLabs vs VirusTotal

Compared 5% of the time

More VirusTotal Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

May 2025

Download Microsoft Defender for Endpoint product report

Download VirusTotal product report

Anti-Malware Tools

January 2025

Also Known As

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

No data available

Interactive Demo

Microsoft

Demo not available

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a comprehensive security solution that provides advanced threat protection for organizations. It offers real-time protection against various types of cyber threats, including malware, viruses, ransomware, and phishing attacks.

With its powerful machine-learning capabilities, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks before they can cause any harm. The solution also includes endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities, allowing organizations to quickly investigate and respond to security incidents. It provides detailed insights into the attack timeline, enabling security teams to understand the scope and impact of an incident.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint also offers proactive threat hunting, allowing organizations to proactively search for and identify potential threats within their network. It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft security solutions, such as Microsoft Defender XDR, to provide a unified and holistic security approach. With its centralized management console, organizations can easily deploy, configure, and monitor the security solution across their entire network.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a robust and scalable security solution that helps organizations protect their endpoints and data from evolving cyber threats.

Microsoft

VirusTotal is an essential tool for gathering malware information, analyzing compromised data, and monitoring malicious campaigns.

VirusTotal enables users to examine malware hashes, create alerts for targeted attacks, and utilize IOCs and YARA rules to detect threats. Its private scanning capabilities ensure discreet file analysis, while the API assesses IP address threats. Widely used in sectors like retail and FinTech, VirusTotal significantly boosts productivity.

What are the most valuable features of VirusTotal?

Worldwide malware information database: Extensive global repository of malware data.
Integration with 70+ antivirus scanners: Collaborates with numerous antivirus and blacklisting services.
API systems for reputation checks: Multiple API systems to verify reputations.
Detecting, blocking, and removing threats: Robust threat mitigation capabilities.
Blocking phishing attempts: Effective in preventing phishing attacks.
Scanning the dark web: Monitors dark web for compromised emails.
Privacy in threat data collection: Ensures privacy while gathering threat data.

What benefits should users look for in VirusTotal reviews?

Enhanced threat detection: Improved accuracy in identifying threats.
Increased productivity: Streamlined processes and faster incident response.
Seamless integration: Compatibility with existing security frameworks.
Comprehensive threat intelligence: Access to extensive threat data.
Privacy assurance: Ensures user data confidentiality.

VirusTotal is highly valued in industries like retail and FinTech, where it assists in examining malware hashes, creating alerts, and utilizing IOCs and YARA rules for advanced threat detection. Despite its valuable features, there is room for improvement in its interface, automation, AI integration, and API connectability, areas where competitors sometimes offer more advanced solutions.

Sample Customers

Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health

Information Not Available