Microsoft Defender for Identity vs Trellix Advanced Threat Defense comparison

Microsoft and Trellix are both solutions in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category. Microsoft is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.7, while Trellix is ranked #22 with an average rating of 9.0. Microsoft holds a 3.6% mindshare in ATP, compared to Trellix’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 76% of Trellix users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Defender for Iden...

Read 28 Microsoft Defender for Identity reviews

8,396 Views
2,603 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Trellix Advanced Threat Def...

Read 9 Trellix Advanced Threat Defense reviews

1,553 Views
1,351 Comparison Views

76% willing to recommend

Microsoft Defender for Iden...

Trellix Advanced Threat Def...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Trellix Advanced Threat Defense and Microsoft Defender for Identity are both leaders in the cybersecurity category. While Trellix stands out with its sophisticated threat detection features, Microsoft excels in identity protection and seamless integration, offering comprehensive security solutions for Microsoft environments.

Features: Trellix Advanced Threat Defense offers advanced malware analysis, real-time behavioral detections, and sandboxing capabilities. Microsoft Defender for Identity shines with features like anomaly detection, deep integration with Microsoft 365, and detailed identity analytics.

Room for Improvement: Trellix could improve in aspects of integration within complex network environments and better support for non-standard protocols, as well as reducing the learning curve for deployment. Microsoft Defender for Identity might focus on enhancing its user interface, increasing support for third-party applications, and providing more customizable alerting options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Defender for Identity offers seamless integration, especially for those already using Microsoft products, making deployment straightforward and supported by proactive customer service. Trellix Advanced Threat Defense can be more challenging to deploy, requiring specialized skills, though it is supported by a responsive customer service team.

Pricing and ROI: Trellix may come with higher initial costs due to tailored threat protection capabilities, yet it offers significant ROI through its detection prowess. Microsoft's pricing is tailored for cost-effective integration within Microsoft environments, leveraging existing infrastructure to provide strong ROI, particularly appealing for those already utilizing Microsoft products.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Trellix Advanced Threat Defense Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Trellix Advanced Threat Defense

August 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 908,858 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 Iden...

Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

8th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Microsoft Security Suite (5th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (2nd)

Trellix Advanced Threat Def...

Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

22nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Identity is 3.6%, down from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Trellix Advanced Threat Defense is 1.9%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Defender for Identity	3.6%
Trellix Advanced Threat Defense	1.9%
Other	94.5%

Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)

Featured Reviews

Peter Arabomen

Security Engineer at Fidelity Bank Plc

Has supported hybrid identity management while integrating well with cloud directory services

The only challenge I have with Microsoft Defender for Identity is the latency. I may not put that entirely on Microsoft, because latency could be network related. At times when trying to authenticate, the prompt is delayed. We tried implementing passwordless authentication, especially for on-premises workloads, but we haven't been able to achieve that. Passwordless authentication is part of the identity functionalities, particularly when it comes to enforcing passwordless for on-premises workloads. In terms of improvements, you can't create OUs on Azure AD. Regarding giving users privileges on what they can do across different OUs, I haven't seen that feature on Microsoft Defender for Identity. Microsoft Defender for Identity needs to be able to plug into third-party applications that are not Microsoft. For instance, with a human resource application used to manage users and leave requests, when staff leaves the organization, they are first exited from that application before AD. Integration between Azure AD and third-party applications would allow automatic syncing when removing staff. The initial setup of Microsoft Defender for Identity is not hard. However, setup is one thing, and getting value from the application end-to-end is another. It can be set up and running from the first day but not functioning optimally. Initially, when we did the setup, it wasn't optimal. Over time, with continuous improvement, which we're still doing, we've gotten to a comfortable level, but there's still room for improvement.

Read full review

Philippe Panardie

RSSI at SDIS49

Ensuring long-term reliability while seeking internal email management enhancements

Prisma is a commercial name of the firewall now, but we don't work with the cloud product. Only our company is using it and we do not recommend it to customers. For us, it's transparent because it's a cloud product, so we don't really know the version as it's always updated. We have not had any problem, but it's difficult to report on what's going on because some days they can wash out perhaps 100 mails, and then it's difficult to say how many attacks you have reached. The right email has been washed out and then nobody has complained. We do not use the Threat Visualization feature; as we are in MX, the mail is washed out before it is in the mail inbox of the user, thus avoiding any problem requiring a reservation. In fact, there is no integration with existing security frameworks. The only problem we can have is that as we have no API interface, there is no inspection of internal mail. I rate Trellix Advanced Threat Defense a nine out of ten.

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

"In the security portfolio that we manage, Microsoft Defender for Identity is very important because it is the professional service that we sell the most."

"The advanced threat protection is one of the strengths of Microsoft Defender for Identity, as it utilizes user and entity analytics and can detect indicative attacks."

"It gives companies a lot of insights that they didn't have before and has increased the security posture significantly."

"The best feature is security monitoring, which detects and investigates suspicious user activities. It can easily detect advanced attacks based on the behavior. The credentials are securely stored, so it reduces the risk of compromise. It will monitor user behavior based on artificial intelligence to protect the identities in your organization. It will even help secure the on-premise Active Directory. It syncs from the cloud to on-premise, and on-premise modifications will be reflected in the cloud."

"Microsoft Defender for Identity helps me automate routine tasks and find alerts that I set up to receive, so it helps me get where I'm trying to go easier and faster."

"The integration into the Microsoft Defender ecosystem is the most valuable feature of Microsoft Defender for Identity."

"The feature I like the most about Defender for Identity is the entity tags. They give you the ability to identify sensitive accounts, devices, and groups. You also have honeytoken entities, which are devices that are identified as "bait" for fraudulent actors."

"The solution offers excellent visibility into threats."

More Microsoft Defender for Identity pros

"I see ROI, as it stops in excess of twenty-five malware events per month, all of which could be critical to the business."

"Provides good exfiltration, and is an all-in-one product."

"If a system admin can put in the patience to read and constantly update the ePO system in terms of rules, enforcing them at regular intervals, you can safely go to sleep every night."

"It is stable and reliable."

"Its greatest strength is the DXL client which can rapidly disseminate attack information to all clients via the McAfee Agent instead of going through the ePO server."

"It was easy to set up initially."

"It is very scalable."

"The product is expensive, but it is better than the rest of them in the industry."

More Trellix Advanced Threat Defense pros

Cons

"Microsoft Defender for Identity does not save me time, but I think it is the way that I secure the data."

"One improvement I would recommend is the integration of an admin application within Teams, allowing easy access to attack information on a mobile platform to promptly alert affected users and their friends."

"The solution could be better at using group-managed access and they could replace it with broad-based access controls."

"The solution could improve how it handles on-premises Android-related attacks."

"Feedback on sync issues with the Microsoft portal highlighted its slow nature, with syncs sometimes taking eight hours."

"For users operating in mixed environments, while Defender for Identity offers robust protection for on-premises AD, additional solutions or configurations might be necessary to ensure seamless security management across Azure and on-premises AD systems."

"Microsoft should look at what competing vendors like CrowdStrike and Broadcom are doing and incorporate those features into Sentinel and Defender. At the same time, I think the intelligence inside the product is improving fast. They should incorporate more zero-trust and hybrid trust approaches. They need to build up threat intelligence based on threats and methods used in attacks on other companies."

"The technical support needs significant improvement. Documentation for more minor issues in the form of guides or walkthroughs could help to resolve this issue. The number of tickets raised would decrease, removing some pressure from the support team and making it easier to clear the remaining tickets."

More Microsoft Defender for Identity cons

"Make the ATD appliance a part of the whole product offering and take the whole thing onto the cloud."

"Some of our customers have mentioned the lack of a tool that would allow for remote capabilities without being attached to the internet."

"This solution needs to be made "cloud ready"."

"The only problem we can have is that as we have no API interface, there is no inspection of internal mail."

"There could be a tool that automatically updates all-new Microsoft IPs, which are available for free to connect to the client."

"Make the ATD system a part of the whole product and take the whole thing onto the cloud. While it is there already, it is not to the same level as the on-premise version."

"This product does the job, but it is not flexible enough to do new environments yet."

"Lacks remote capabilities not dependent on the internet."

More Trellix Advanced Threat Defense cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Defender for Identity is a little more expensive than other Microsoft products. Identity and Microsoft Defender for Cloud are both a bit costly."

"The product is costly, and we had multiple discussions with accounting to receive a discounted rate. However, on the open market, the tool is expensive."

"Microsoft Defender for Identity comes as part of the Microsoft E5 licensing stack."

"It is very affordable considering that other SIEM solutions are much more expensive and have many more licensing restrictions and fees."

"You won't be able to change your tenants from where you deploy them. For example, if you select Canada, they will charge you based on Canadian pricing. If you are also in London, when you deploy in Canada, the pound is higher than Canadian dollars, but your platform resources are billable in Canadian dollars. Using your pounds to pay for any of these things will be cheaper. Or, if you deploy in London, they will charge you based on your local currency."

"The product is expensive, but it is better than the rest of them in the industry."

"Our licensing fees for this solution are approximately one million dollars per year."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Construction Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	15

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	5

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Identity?

I really would have to sit down to think about how Microsoft Defender for Identity can be improved. I didn't take stock in what needs to be improved because I appreciated having the tools right the...

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What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender for Identity?

My main use cases for Microsoft Defender for Identity include Conditional Access, checking risky users, remediating risky users, and user sign-ins. I can easily remediate or determine what the user...

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What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Defender for Identity?

I don't really use Microsoft Defender for Identity a lot because my new role doesn't allow me to take time to do so. I don't really use the threat intelligence feature of Microsoft Defender for Ide...

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What needs improvement with McAfee Advanced Threat Defense?

I would like to see an API interface for internal email and control of outgoing email to make it closer to 10. It's necessary; today we have an MX interface, and it would be interesting to have an ...

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What is your primary use case for McAfee Advanced Threat Defense?

We are working with Palo Alto products, specifically firewalls. We are only using Palo Alto Firewalls and not Cortex. With FireEye and Trellix, we only work with ETP now because the NDR function wh...

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What advice do you have for others considering McAfee Advanced Threat Defense?

See all answers

Comparisons

CrowdStrike Falcon vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Entra ID Protection vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 6% of the time

SentinelOne Singularity Identity vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 5% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 4% of the time

BloodHound Enterprise vs Microsoft Defender for Identity

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Defender for Identity Competitors

NetWitness Platform vs Trellix Advanced Threat Defense

Compared 14% of the time

Microsoft Defender for Office 365 vs Trellix Advanced Threat Defense

Compared 10% of the time

Fortinet FortiSandbox vs Trellix Advanced Threat Defense

Compared 9% of the time

Digital Guardian vs Trellix Advanced Threat Defense

Compared 8% of the time

Red Canary vs Trellix Advanced Threat Defense

Compared 5% of the time

More Trellix Advanced Threat Defense Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Identity

July 2026

Download Microsoft Defender for Identity product report

Buyer's Guide

Trellix Advanced Threat Defense

July 2026

Download Trellix Advanced Threat Defense product report

Also Known As

Azure Advanced Threat Protection, Azure ATP, MS Defender for Identity

McAfee Advanced Threat Defense

Overview

Microsoft Defender for Identity offers real-time threat detection and protection for hybrid Active Directory environments. It integrates with Microsoft 365 components for seamless security and monitors advanced behaviors, enhancing identity protection across cloud and on-premises environments.

Microsoft Defender for Identity provides detailed threat insights and user behavior analytics to detect unauthorized access and notify anomalies. It allows setting custom detection rules, enhancing threat response automation. While it needs improvements in cloud security, SIEM integration, and access controls, users leverage its ability to mitigate identity threats like suspicious logins and ransomware. Enhanced integration with Microsoft security products ensures a coordinated threat response for identity control and privilege management.

What are the key features of Microsoft Defender for Identity?

Active Directory Federation: Seamlessly integrates with Microsoft 365 for comprehensive security.
Real-time Security Monitoring: Provides immediate insights into advanced user behaviors and potential threats.
Threat Insights: Delivers detailed analysis of threats with the ability to customize detection rules.
User Behavior Analytics: Analyzes user activities to detect anomalies and potential risks.
Identity Protection: Offers comprehensive protection in both cloud and on-premises environments.

What benefits should users expect from reviews of Microsoft Defender for Identity?

Unauthorized Access Prevention: Identifies potential unauthorized activities with advanced detection mechanisms.
Anomaly Notification: Alerts users to unexpected activities within their environments.
Threat Response Automation: Facilitates rapid response to threats with automated solutions.
Enhanced Cloud Security: Strengthens identity management across hybrid and cloud frameworks.

In specific industries, organizations implement Microsoft Defender for Identity to secure on-premises and hybrid Active Directory environments through user and entity behavior analytics, malicious activity detection, and integration with Microsoft security tools. This approach enhances security posture assessment and helps mitigate identity threats like identity harvesting and unauthorized access.

Microsoft

Trellix Advanced Threat Defense offers efficient threat detection and automatic threat remediation, featuring seamless management and integration with operating systems and extensions.

Providing robust malware defense, Trellix Advanced Threat Defense is easy to set up and use. Its components work collaboratively, with standout features like behavioral analysis, retro-inspection, and ePolicy Orchestration. Despite its strengths, users suggest improvements in Active Directory integration, cloud readiness, artificial intelligence, and faster sandboxing. The API interface and scalability need enhancement, while better compatibility with platforms like Cisco could elevate its function. Effective for server and endpoint security, it effectively blocks threats like WannaCry and disperses attack data through the DXL client quickly.

What are the notable features of Trellix Advanced Threat Defense?

Management and Automatic Threat Remediation: Facilitates seamless management and handling of threats.
Effective Threat Detection and Response: Delivers efficient and reliable threat detection capabilities.
Behavioral Analysis and Retro-Inspection: Offers advanced analysis for comprehensive threat identification.
ePolicy Orchestration: Streamlines processes for enhanced threat management.
Scalability and Price: Provides a stable and scalable solution at a competitive price point.

What key benefits can be identified from reviews?

Ease of Use and Setup: Known for its straightforward implementation and user-friendly interface.
Integration Capabilities: Works well with different operating systems and technologies like Palo Alto firewalls.
Threat Protection Efficiency: Proven effectiveness in stopping threats such as WannaCry.
Rapid Attack Information Dissemination: Utilizes the DXL client for quick data sharing.

Trellix Advanced Threat Defense is widely used across numerous industries for server and desktop protection, ensuring endpoint security and halting attacks without failure. Its integration with diverse technologies enhances protection in varied environments, making it a valuable tool in enterprise security management.

Trellix

Sample Customers

Microsoft Defender for Identity is trusted by companies such as St. Luke’s University Health Network, Ansell, and more.

The Radicati Group, Florida International University, MGM Resorts International, County Durham andDarlington NHS Foundation Trust

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Trellix Advanced Threat Defense

August 2026

Free Report: Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Trellix Advanced Threat Defense

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender for Identity vs. Trellix Advanced Threat Defense and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.

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