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Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs Orca Security comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 9, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.3
Qualys TotalCloud enhances efficiency, reduces costs by 30-40%, and increases ROI by 10-20%, significantly saving time and resources.
Sentiment score
4.4
Microsoft Defender's financial benefits are unclear, best within E5 suite, and difficult to assess against AWS for mixed solution users.
Sentiment score
4.1
Orca Security enhances visibility, reduces costs, and simplifies workflows, offering efficient cloud management despite high initial investment.
It has saved about 90% of our time.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
TotalCloud has generated overall savings of 30 to 40 percent across various departments.
Security Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
CallStream helps us integrate and automate tasks.
Senior Security Consultant at CyberNxt Solutions LLP
Organizations typically do not rely solely on Microsoft products to avoid putting all eggs in one basket, which presents a challenge for maximizing ROI.
Cloud Security Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
As a Microsoft partner, we receive significant discounts, making the solution affordable for us.
COO at Floating-Dot Technology LTD
Orca Security significantly improved our visibility from 30% to 100%, enabling better security posture improvements rather than just general cost savings.
Cloud Security Automation Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
This is because you do not need a team of five persons to install and update the agents in thousands of servers.
Cybersecurity Recruitment Specialist at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
I see the benefits of Orca Security immediately because you can see the issues right after deployment, and you can correct the critical issues, so the proof of value is immediate.
Cybersecurity Architect Lead at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.0
Qualys TotalCloud's customer support is praised for expertise and responsiveness but occasionally faces response delays and inefficiencies.
Sentiment score
6.1
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management receives mixed reviews, highlighting expertise gaps and communication delays but valued for friendly assistance.
Sentiment score
5.9
Orca Security's customer support varies, with experiences ranging from excellent to poor, impacting user satisfaction differently.
They are helpful, respond to my queries, and can answer any question.
Developer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Qualys's tech support is highly responsive, providing multiple ways to interact with them.
Service Manager, Security Operations at CDA IT SOLUTIONS
Qualys' customer service provides quality answers, but the response time is long, even though it is within the SLA.
Works at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
They are sometimes responsive, however, often issues cannot be reproduced on their end, making it challenging.
Security Specialist at Prudential Systems Japan
The support we receive from Microsoft is declining, and for example, after taking advanced support, we have not received satisfactory answers.
Microsoft Solutions Manager at Self-Employed
They are familiar with Microsoft products but are not direct Microsoft staff, which is an area needing improvement.
Cloud Security Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
I would rate the quality of support as nine stars out of ten due to their quick and helpful responses.
Senior Information Security Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
The expertise levels could be improved.
Cloud Security Automation Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
The support team assists with issues and provides information on new updates.
Vulnerability Assessment Analyst at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Qualys TotalCloud excels in scalability but may need skilled management, adaptable for varying environments and large-scale deployments.
Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is lauded for scalability and integration across environments, though some users seek improved documentation.
Sentiment score
7.9
Orca Security excels in scalable, agentless cloud security, supporting AWS and Azure, with seamless integration and risk centralization.
We started our organization about nine months back. We started with about 30 users, and we now have more than 100 users.
CIO at a venture capital & private equity firm with 11-50 employees
Our organization currently uses it to manage over 1200 web applications.
Analyst, Information Security at Infosys
It is absolutely scalable, and I would rate its scalability as nine out of ten.
retired at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
The integration is straightforward for those who understand it, though documentation needs improvement.
Cloud Security Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
It is scalable; I evaluated the product and decided to use Defender on over 700 of our company servers.
Security Specialist at Prudential Systems Japan
Orca Security provides a highly scalable architecture for us.
Senior Specialist at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
The main limitation was that the findings were often siloed because they are different platforms.
Cyber Security Analyst at BNY
When you onboard an organization, Orca will find new projects, folders, and resources without any additional effort required.
Senior Information Security Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Qualys TotalCloud is praised for stability, boasting 99.9% uptime with minimal downtime and quickly resolved minor bugs.
Sentiment score
6.7
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is appreciated for stability and ease despite resource intensity and occasional compatibility issues.
Sentiment score
8.5
Orca Security is reliable and stable, with high availability, prompt support, scalability, and minor initial or frontend issues.
Overall, the support provided has been excellent.
Analyst, Information Security at Infosys
It is a stable solution, which is why we chose it.
CIO at a venture capital & private equity firm with 11-50 employees
Continuous monitoring is crucial to ensure system stability and avoid vulnerabilities or threats.
Developer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
There are compatibility issues occasionally arising with false positives when other security tools are not whitelisted in Microsoft Defender.
information Security and IT Manager at Discover Dollar Technologies Pvt Ltd.
It is very resource-intensive, consuming a lot of memory and CPU.
Security Specialist at Prudential Systems Japan
If Microsoft experiences downtime, this solution goes down as it is a SaaS-based solution where we have no control.
Cloud Security Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
When I need any support, it's very fast to get an answer from the support team.
Cyber Security Analyst Ii at Grupo PRIMO
The agentless part of it and the fact that it integrates directly with a cloud provider such as AWS helps to reduce operational overhead and potential points of failure that come with managing agents across multiple systems.
Cyber Security Analyst at BNY
I personally have not encountered any bugs or issues with the console.
Vulnerability Assessment Analyst at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Room For Improvement

Users recommend enhancing compliance, UI, integration, and reporting, improving security features, and optimizing pricing and navigation for Qualys TotalCloud.
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management needs simplified configuration, better integration, faster updates, and advanced features for improved security and efficiency.
Users seek improvements in Orca Security's automation, UI, integrations, and real-time threat management while valuing its agentless approach.
Ideally, the scanner should automatically detect and scan all subdomains, even if not explicitly defined, ensuring comprehensive vulnerability assessment.
Analyst, Information Security at Infosys
Ideally, updates should be more immediate, enabling quicker implementation of solutions.
Project Lead at Persistent Systems
Our goal is to integrate all these functions into Qualys, creating a single dashboard for comprehensive security monitoring and management.
Senior Information Security Engineer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
This scoring should be for specific industries as well. If I belong to the healthcare industry using Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, it should provide me with a risk score and show how I fare against the risk score of my industry.
DGM. Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
A vulnerability I patch within 15 minutes takes 24 additional hours for an update.
information Security and IT Manager at Discover Dollar Technologies Pvt Ltd.
The product is not stable; it often uses excessive memory and CPU, which makes it slow.
Security Specialist at Prudential Systems Japan
Another improvement is in handling alerts for multiple files with the same CVE; it should provide an option to manage each file separately without affecting others.
Senior Information Security Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Orca Security could improve in reporting OS package vulnerabilities, such as missing MS patches or Linux patches.
Vulnerability Assessment Analyst at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
Security in today's age is important, and if a company can afford it, they should get it as it's the most valuable protection against threats.
Software Developer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Setup Cost

Qualys TotalCloud is costly but offers value and integration, ideal for enterprises despite higher pricing.
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management offers competitive pricing in industry, though costs can be complex, especially for non-partners.
Orca Security offers competitive, flexible pricing with discounts, though perceived as costly for smaller organizations despite high value.
Qualys TotalCloud's pricing is currently acceptable, it is becoming increasingly expensive.
Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Pricing is managed by our finance team; however, Qualys TotalCloud offers cost-effective licensing flexibility.
IT Manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Qualys TotalCloud is expensive, but it offers a premier solution with no headaches.
Vice President at Inspira Enterprise
Overall, every organization wishes for cheaper options, but we look at the security side as well, so we are good for now.
Senior Cloud Security Consultant at MetLife
For non-partners, however, the cost could be seen as higher, between seven to ten.
COO at Floating-Dot Technology LTD
The pricing is reasonable, and it's included in the whole Microsoft E5 bundle, so it's all-inclusive.
Corporate Planner at MISC Berhad
The initial price seemed high, however, after negotiation, the final price was ideal.
Senior Information Security Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Orca Security's pricing is known to be a bit high.
Works at Ultraviolet Cyber
Its license is a bit expensive.
enterprise architect at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Valuable Features

Qualys TotalCloud enhances risk management with misconfiguration detection, TruRisk integration, continuous monitoring, automation, and seamless integration for IaaS and SaaS.
Microsoft Defender offers asset discovery, real-time intelligence, seamless integration, risk prioritization, continuous monitoring, and proactive remediation with AI capabilities.
Orca Security excels in cloud integration, risk prioritization, and AI-driven solutions, enhancing security and operational efficiency.
This view of risk helps reduce the work we would have to do to combine multiple sources to prioritize risk.
Works at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
It will help cybersecurity professionals monitor the cloud and find vulnerabilities.
Developer at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
We are enjoying the new feature, FlexScan, which is valuable for Internet-facing VMs.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
The main advantage of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is that it can locate and prevent most threats even when the endpoints are not connected to the corporate network, as long as the internet is available.
DGM. Technical Security at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
The feature for customizing to region-specific and domain-specific requirements in healthcare is particularly beneficial.
Cloud Security Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
The most valuable aspect is the kind of assessment results I get, and the recommendations provided in Microsoft products really help in taking care of the resources.
Senior Cloud Security Consultant at MetLife
Additionally, it covers a large scope of vulnerabilities, CVEs, malware, and misconfiguration.
Senior Information Security Engineer at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
It provided us with visibility from a central point, increasing our view from the previous thirty percent to a full one hundred percent of our cloud environment.
Cloud Security Automation Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
This technology allows for coverage of almost all cloud assets without interrupting their operations.
Vulnerability Assessment Analyst at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Qualys TotalCloud
Sponsored
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
10th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (11th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (7th), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (7th), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) (2nd), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (6th)
Microsoft Defender Vulnerab...
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
13th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) (20th), Microsoft Security Suite (17th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (5th)
Orca Security
Ranking in Vulnerability Management
7th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (7th), Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPP) (5th), API Security (2nd), Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) (6th), Cloud-Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) (5th), Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) (6th), Cloud Detection and Response (CDR) (2nd), AI Security (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Vulnerability Management category, the mindshare of Qualys TotalCloud is 1.2%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is 1.4%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Orca Security is 2.3%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Vulnerability Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Orca Security2.3%
Qualys TotalCloud1.2%
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management1.4%
Other95.1%
Vulnerability Management
 

Featured Reviews

RO
IT Security Expert at Alior Bank S.A.
Unified risk scoring has improved our cloud visibility and simplifies remediation priorities
Qualys TotalCloud provides unified vulnerability and threat assessment across both IAS and SaaS. This solution provides a single prioritized view of risk, which helps reduce the work I would have to do. We are no longer based on CVSS; we are based on Qualys risk scoring, which is based on CVSS plus internal findings made by Qualys, and then assigns its own score. The TruRisk insight feature has found a small number of assets with high vulnerability scores, though I am cautious since some information is classified. Qualys TotalCloud has positively impacted our bank's performance, and we have definitely seen benefits after implementing this solution.
reviewer2770602 - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Security Engineer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Has helped with regional threat monitoring but needs better documentation and real-time capabilities
The documentation from Microsoft needs significant improvement. The documents are disorganized, with one document linking to another, making the steps unclear and difficult to follow. Regarding updates, it is not truly real-time as it takes between eight to twelve hours for updates to occur. It would be beneficial if updates could happen more quickly, perhaps within 10 minutes to half an hour. Support for integration and documentation needs to be more straightforward. The pricing is expensive, even though it is part of the E5 package.
Nykole Denoo - PeerSpot reviewer
Cyber Security Analyst at BNY
Cloud risk visibility has transformed how I prioritize threats and reduce unnecessary spend
From my perspective, Orca Security is a really good tool. I would say one area I would like to see CNAPP platforms get is more intelligence when it comes to risk prioritization, which correlates with vulnerability, exposing assets, identities, and active threats to help the security team focus on risks that are more likely to be exploited. I am a huge advocate for automation. I also think deeper automation for remediation or stronger integration with ticketing and CI/CD pipelines or more customization would help. Executive reporting would help the security team respond significantly faster and communicate risk more effectively if those kinds of improvements are made.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise30
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise16
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Qualys TotalCloud?
To be totally honest, I do not have any best features because I have had a bad experience using this tool, especially...
What is your primary use case for Qualys TotalCloud?
My main use case for Qualys TotalCloud is vulnerability management and exposure management. I use this tool to evalua...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?
Configuration of Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is something that needs improvement. In future updates o...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management?
I can control the applications using Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management, which are its best features for me ...
What needs improvement with Orca Security?
From my perspective, Orca Security is a really good tool. I would say one area I would like to see CNAPP platforms ge...
What is your primary use case for Orca Security?
I have used Orca Security for continuous cloud assessment visibility, identifying and prioritizing vulnerabilities an...
What advice do you have for others considering Orca Security?
Regarding Orca Sensor, I personally have not used it, but I do know of it. I have not used it directly, but my experi...
 

Also Known As

Qualys TotalCloud with FlexScan
No data available
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Information Not Available
BeyondTrust, Postman, Digital Turbine, Solarisbank, Lemonade, C6 Bank, Docebo, Vercel, and Vivino
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management vs. Orca Security and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.