We performed a comparison between ESET Endpoint Security and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: ESET Endpoint Security ultimately won out in this comparison. Our reviewers agree that ESET Endpoint Security is easy to install and easy to use. In addition, it has excellent customer support.
"The product's initial setup phase is very easy."
"The ease of deployment and configuration is valuable. It's very easy compared to other vendors like Sophos. Sophos' configuration is complex. Fortinet is a lot easier to understand. You don't need a lot of admin knowledge to do the configuration."
"Fortinet FortiEDR made our clients feel secure and more at ease, knowing that they had an EDR solution that would close the gap in their security posture."
"The setup is pretty simple."
"he solution is an anti-malware product that integrates well with other vendor products such as firewalls, SIEM, etc. It captures threat intelligence and gives you better visibility. The product also has sandboxing features."
"The console is easy to read. I also like the scanning part and the ability to move assets from one to the other."
"The main thing is that I feel safe. Because the processes that have been used to get a handle on the attackers are much better than other competitors"
"Ability to get forensics details and also memory exfiltration."
"The solution has very useful MDM features."
"The stability is good."
"The solution is stable."
"This solution has a traditional antivirus, I believe that signature-based detection is most valuable."
"The tool protects everything."
"The most valuable feature of ESET Endpoint Security is the antivirus for the endpoints."
"The most valuable features of ESET Endpoint Antivirus are the search engine, easy firewall setup, and ransomware scans."
"The most valuable feature in ESET Endpoint Security is the game mode to restrict notifications."
"Its simplicity is the most valuable. It also has very good integration. We like it."
"The investigation aspect is the most useful. It's user friendly and has a good user interface."
"We have just started to implement it. It is useful for protection from malware and ransomware."
"We like that it has a free version available."
"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 antivirus is the most valuable feature."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is quite good. We haven't really experienced any issues with it."
"The solution's latest features for threat analysis are updated to provide us with future protection against the latest threats worldwide."
"ZTNA can improve latency."
"Making the portal mobile friendly would be helpful when I am out of office."
"I haven't seen the use of AI in the solution."
"The solution should address emerging threats like SQL injection."
"They can include the automation for the realtime updates. We have a network infrastructure with remote sites. Whenever they send updates, they are not automated. We have to go into the console and push those updates. I wish it was more automated. The update file is currently around 31 MB. It could be smaller."
"We find the solution to be a bit expensive."
"We've encountered challenges during API deployment, occasionally resulting in unstable environments."
"The amount of usage, the number of details we get, or the number of options that can be tweaked is limited in comparison to that with other EDR solutions"
"Its initial setup process could be more straightforward."
"iOS compatibility for mobile security and parental control."
"It seems to have some issues with updates. When you do updates, it sometimes requests for a reboot, and even when you do the reboot, it still says that you need to reboot. Currently, on my computer, it says that a new ESET Endpoint Antivirus has been installed, and I need to restart the computer for the changes to take effect, but I've already done that, and the same message is still there, which is a little annoying. It should have a feature similar to the Intercept X feature in Sophos."
"They should focus more on the offline market as well. Everybody is connected nowadays, and they want to do everything via cloud or fast internet connections, however, that's still not possible in many situations."
"The console or GUI of ESET Endpoint Antivirus should improve. Additionally, they should provide an addon feature for HyperV and VMware."
"We are looking to move towards an EDR solution rather than EPP. EDR is a solution that can dynamically detect threats based on the process behavior. It would be better if this solution was an EDR and an EPP solution, this would increase security protection."
"The stability needs to be improved. There are bugs that you have to deal with."
"The solution should offer more security surrounding blacklisted websites."
"There's scanning going on that occasionally topples the memory, causing everything to freeze. This should be fixed."
"The profiling method currently in use is not very user-friendly and has ample scope for improvement."
"One thing that was lacking in Defender was web filtering. Its web filtering wasn't as comprehensive. Sophos was a little bit better than Defender for blocking URLs or installing programs."
"Defender could be more secure and stable."
"Its detection is not as quick. There should also be more frequent updates."
"This solution is not secure, which is why I have moved to Linux."
"The solution could use improvement on the interface."
"At times, the other antivirus products are now doing AI, in terms of understanding the behavior of the system and determining when there's an anomaly. This is something that Defender can improve on."
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ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is ranked 11th in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) with 97 reviews while Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is ranked 1st in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) with 182 reviews. ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is rated 8.2, while Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of ESET Endpoint Protection Platform writes "Easy to set up with good security and rapidly improving capabilities". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint writes "Eliminates the need to look at multiple dashboards by automatically providing one XDR dashboard to show the security score of each subscription". ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is most compared with Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business, CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity Complete, Check Point Harmony Endpoint and Fortinet FortiClient, whereas Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is most compared with Symantec Endpoint Security, Intercept X Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity Complete, CrowdStrike Falcon and Fortinet FortiClient. See our ESET Endpoint Protection Platform vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint report.
See our list of best Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) vendors, best Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) vendors, and best Anti-Malware Tools vendors.
We monitor all Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.