Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Microsoft Defender XDR vs Microsoft Entra ID Protection comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
7.1
Microsoft Defender XDR provides high ROI by consolidating security tools, streamlining operations, and enhancing security, despite licensing costs.
Sentiment score
4.8
Organizations saw ROI in three years with Entra ID, appreciating time savings and reduced login hassle despite high pricing.
We can quarantine and isolate a device within minutes.
Information Security Analyst at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft Defender XDR has saved me at least 50% of my time.
House security operator at Cypress Creek Renewables
It helped stop multiple intrusion points where we would have had millions in lost revenue if the attackers got in.
Network Technician at T. Baker Smith, LLC
There is a return on investment in terms of time-saving, control, and ease of manageability of the environment.
Software Solutions Account Manager at First Distribution
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.1
Microsoft Defender XDR's support is timely and responsive, yet smaller organizations experience slower, less effective assistance than larger ones.
Sentiment score
6.6
Microsoft Entra ID Protection support is generally well-rated, but experiences vary based on subscription type and available resources.
You get stuck in low-level support for way longer than you should, instead of them escalating the issue up the chain.
Enterprise Application Engineer at a legal firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
It's critical to escalate SEV B issues immediately to a domestic engineer.
Infrastructure engineer at Cetera Financial Group
Once issues are escalated to the second or third layer, the support is much better.
Cyber Security Engineer at a financial services firm with 1-10 employees
We classified it as a critical problem, and they accepted our classification and helped us quickly.
Founder at AiALL
They often refer to internal blogs, which doesn't offer much new information and can limit our capabilities in troubleshooting.
AI Solution Architect at Bitscape Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
Tickets often bounce from person to person, requiring the sharing of information multiple times.
Software Solutions Account Manager at First Distribution
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Defender XDR scales well for various organizations, efficiently supporting growth and flexibility despite some network deployment challenges.
Sentiment score
7.8
Microsoft Entra ID Protection efficiently scales from SMEs to enterprises, offering flexibility and seamless adjustment to varying business demands.
My concern is about the scale of events and alerts being generated, and the product is doing a very good job of only surfacing the important items for us.
Vice President, Information Technology at a construction company with 201-500 employees
Microsoft Defender XDR shows tremendous scalability, much more so than on-premises solutions.
Infrastructure engineer at Cetera Financial Group
Microsoft Defender XDR scales pretty well.
Information Security Analyst at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
Since it is a cloud computing product, it can accommodate a range of company sizes, from a few users to large businesses.
Security Analyst at UPCI
There are no issues with scalability up to your license limitations.
Senior Solution Architect DataCenter & Cloud at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
We haven't experienced problems with Microsoft Entra ID Protection.
Founder at AiALL
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Microsoft Defender XDR is praised for high stability, reliable performance, minimal issues, frequent updates, and prompt issue resolution.
Sentiment score
7.2
Microsoft Entra ID Protection is stable and reliable, though occasional bugs and infrequent outages occur during integrations and authentications.
The service has remained consistently online, with any issues isolated to specific components, suggesting a well-designed and modular architecture.
Senior System Engineer at a sports company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The services within our ecosystem have been reliable, meeting their SLAs.
Infrastructure engineer at Cetera Financial Group
It provides high-fidelity signals.
Information Security Analyst at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Defender XDR requires enhancements in speed, integration, automation, AI, ease-of-use, and industry-specific threat intelligence.
Microsoft Entra ID Protection requires enhancements in user interface, scalability, third-party integration, documentation, and simplified management processes.
The licensing process needs improvement and clarification.
Owner at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Improvements are needed in automated response capabilities.
Security manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Some inconsistencies exist between blades, which could be improved for a more seamless user and UI experience.
Infrastructure engineer at Cetera Financial Group
If there was some level of backup mechanism available with quick restore functionality, that would be beneficial.
Senior Solution Architect DataCenter & Cloud at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Microsoft has not offered control over how they calculate high or low-risk scenarios.
AI Solution Architect at Bitscape Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
There is no write-back feature from the cloud to local, which would allow me to use my own credentials from the cloud tenant securely.
Security Operations Team Leader at Yalla Security Srl
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Defender XDR pricing is seen as complex but fair, with high costs alleviated in bundled Microsoft 365 packages.
Microsoft Entra ID Protection costs $5-$6 per user monthly, with pricing complexity varying by company size and included features.
There are certainly savings when using Microsoft Defender XDR, which can range from 30%, 40%, and even up to 50%.
Director, Sales at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
I would rate the pricing as eight out of ten, indicating it is a reasonable cost for the product.
Security manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Microsoft purposefully obfuscates this through marketing ploys to hide costs.
Senior System Engineer at a sports company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Entra ID Protection is not badly priced, but some clients, especially in medium to smaller scale companies in third-world countries, find it quite expensive.
Software Solutions Account Manager at First Distribution
Microsoft Entra ID requires additional licensing components.
AI Solution Architect at Bitscape Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
The pricing for Microsoft Entra ID protection is not expensive.
Security Analyst at UPCI
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Defender XDR integrates tools for comprehensive security, offering threat detection, automation, identity protection, and enhanced efficiency.
Microsoft Entra ID Protection enhances security with multifactor authentication, identity governance, and adaptive threat detection integrated with Azure.
With Microsoft threat intelligence information, it detects various types of threats, including insider attacks, malicious content, and data exfiltration.
Security manager at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
This allows us to secure our systems in advance and proactively improve security, rather than waiting for incidents to occur.
Works at Hometrack
Once we have it on the security dashboard, we can see a real-time storyline.
Information Security Analyst at a educational organization with 10,001+ employees
Having a single sign-on feature with Entra ID ensures seamless access to various applications, even those with significant security constraints.
AI Solution Architect at Bitscape Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
These features ease the job of security analysts, providing a better vision of user activities and potential risks.
Security Operations Team Leader at Yalla Security Srl
We use automated remediation for logon purposes and error purposes. It remediates issues and provides just-in-time access when applicable.
Senior Solution Architect DataCenter & Cloud at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Defender XDR
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (7th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (3rd)
Microsoft Entra ID Protection
Ranking in Microsoft Security Suite
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Identity Management (IM) (8th), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Microsoft Security Suite category, the mindshare of Microsoft Defender XDR is 6.3%, up from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Entra ID Protection is 3.1%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Microsoft Security Suite Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Defender XDR6.3%
Microsoft Entra ID Protection3.1%
Other90.6%
Microsoft Security Suite
 

Featured Reviews

KO
House security operator at Cypress Creek Renewables
Advanced threat hunting saves significant time in tracking and responding to incidents
Microsoft Defender XDR could be improved with a lower price. My main suggestion would essentially be what Copilot is providing, which is a single pane of glass, so I don't have to go to different windows. That's just a workflow consideration for me. It would be great to have all the information centralized into one particular data app. If I need to open up extra ones, I can, however, I would appreciate a future where everything I need is right there on one single pane of glass. Beyond that, there's really nothing else I see that I would want Microsoft to improve.
reviewer2133984 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Security Analyst/Incident Response at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees
Conditional access provides detailed security customization
The best features of Microsoft Entra ID Protection are the conditional aspects, particularly the conditions that can be created. Microsoft Entra ID Protection has helped us because it gives us conditions that we can filter on or support, providing us more granularity. Microsoft Entra ID Protection allows blocking based on geolocation and similar parameters. The protections for handling identity threats in Microsoft Entra ID Protection, such as the automated remediation, are working effectively. With Microsoft Entra ID Protection, we are able to pivot off of particular alerts and stay abreast of them, which works to enhance our organization's security strategy. They definitely aid in threat detection with Microsoft Entra ID Protection.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Microsoft Security Suite solutions are best for your needs.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business47
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise38
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft 365 Defender?
Microsoft Defender XDR provides strong identity protection with comprehensive insights into risky user behavior and potential indicators of compromise.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft 365 Defender?
My experience with pricing, setup, costs, and licensing of Microsoft Defender XDR is tied to our E5 subscription, which is very straightforward for us. We also purchase the uplift for our mobile us...
What needs improvement with Microsoft 365 Defender?
I am not aware of a mobile app that would be available for my team. With a single analyst, if she is ever away, it would be beneficial to have easier access. While she can use the web portal, the e...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
The pricing for Microsoft Entra ID protection is not expensive. It varies based on the company's size and quality.
What needs improvement with Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
We explore the possibilities to use Purview to control our applications, though not very deeply as it's not very helpful at this moment.For us, the most important problem is access; we need an easy...
What is your primary use case for Azure Active Directory Identity Protection?
We are still deep involved in the use of Microsoft technology for databases and business intelligence, and in the last three years with Power Apps and Power Automate, all that means Azure services,...
 

Also Known As

Microsoft 365 Defender, Microsoft Threat Protection, MS 365 Defender
Azure Active Directory Identity Protection, Azure AD Identity Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Accenture, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, General Electric, IBM, Johnson & Johnson and many others.
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Microsoft Entra ID Protection and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.