We compared ESET PROTECT Enterprise and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint based on our users' reviews in six categories. We reviewed all of the data, and you can find the conclusion below.
Features: ESET PROTECT Enterprise is praised for its performance and intuitive, powerful management interface, with dynamic folders and group capabilities. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint excels in file protection, encryption, and ransomware defense. It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft security products. Users appreciate its user-friendly interface and scalability.
Room for Improvement: ESET PROTECT Enterprise users have suggested that file downloads should be enabled in ESET File Security. They also want more automation and better dashboard reporting. Users say Microsoft Defender for Endpoint should improve its central console and auto-recovery feature. Users also requested better reporting capabilities and integration with third-party platforms.
Ease of Deployment: ESET PROTECT Enterprise is generally considered easy to set up, but some users struggled with proxy configuration. On-prem setups take longer and require additional configuration, but cloud setups are problem-free. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint's setup is straightforward. While it can be more complex for larger organizations, it is generally considered simple, particularly for smaller companies or those familiar with Microsoft environments.
Service and Support: Customers have had positive experiences with ESET’s customer service, rating it highly. Microsoft customer service garnered mixed feedback. Some praised the fast response times and expertise of the support engineers, while others were dissatisfied with slow replies and a lack of coordination among the support teams.
Pricing: ESET PROTECT Enterprise offers low licensing costs. Users find its pricing reasonable. Reviewers say Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is fairly priced, noting that it is typically included for free with Windows or Microsoft Office 365 subscriptions. However, some users believe that Microsoft's pricing could be more affordable, and others noted that their licensing models can be complex.
ROI: Users said that ESET PROTECT Enterprise delivered a positive ROI. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint delivers cost savings, enhanced efficiency, and heightened threat management.
Comparison Results: ESET PROTECT Enterprise is an affordable solution that is highly regarded for its impressive performance, resource efficiency, and hassle-free setup. At the same time, users say ESET PROTECT Enterprise could enhance its file downloading capability and automation. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers sophisticated protection against ransomware, easy deployment, and smooth integration with Microsoft solutions. However, Microsoft’s customer support has received middling reviews, and users would like better compatibility with third-party solutions.
"The most valuable feature of ESET Protect is the security while accessing any transaction, such as online banking systems. When I access a banking website a new browser opens which is more secure, which I find very useful."
"The solution offers a lot of configuration capabilities."
"ESET is better in some ways than other vendors because it fulfills many areas where we'd otherwise have to use different products."
"We can easily manage resources, disable or enable clients and update them."
"I like the dynamic groups feature. They give the ability to filter endpoint machines by any parameter, software, or hardware inventory, and that's a significant advantage when you need to, for example, automate a secondary firewall profile for endpoints outside your network. Or if you want to automatically isolate the computer from the rest of the network if the ransomware is found."
"The most valuable features of ESET File Security are the performance and it doesn't take too many resources."
"The solution doesn't have high memory usage."
"It's helped us with restrictions and knowing which users we can provide permissions to and which users we need to restrict."
"The integration of Defender, Security Center, and the Microsoft compliance score, is the feature we use most to share the results with our clients and to create a roadmap together."
"The ransomware and malware protection is the most valuable feature."
"The most valuable features of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint are the ease of use and it was available within the operating system."
"I've started to test it from the security point of view. There are plenty of features that are interesting, but at this time, the XDR functionality is most valuable. It is endpoint security on steroids."
"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 performance of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint has been a valuable feature."
"It's not really visible for the user - which is a benefit."
"We are a Microsoft shop, and Defender is a Microsoft solution that provides some security at a reasonable cost."
"The solution can be quite technical and therefore is challenging for new users."
"The availability and sustainability could also be improved."
"ESET Protect could improve the performance. The performance of the home computers and laptops becomes slow due to their heavy software load. It would be a benefit to make a lighter version of the software which does not have any impact on the performance of the computer's hardware."
"In the current version of ESET File Security, you cannot download a file, it always wants the real-time upload which you have to wait until the file is ready. This is annoying. In previous versions, you were able to use the downloaded engine."
"I would like to see more in managing mobile devices in an on-premise solution. The latest news I've heard is that ESET drops mobile management module development for the on-prem version. It's moving to the cloud. Like in endpoint client protection, I would also like to see more of the vulnerability management features and additional app control functionality in ESET Protect."
"I would like to see more features on the reporting side of things."
"Sometimes, the connection to the machine requires troubleshooting."
"The tool is complex and expensive."
"Alerts need to be sent immediately because as it is now, you see some of them without delay and others arrive perhaps 30 minutes later, and it leaves important gaps in terms of information gathering."
"The frequency of the patching, and the frequency of the updates, are not included with the free version."
"There are some areas in the proactive threats that are just overwhelming the SOC, so we've had to turn those off until we can figure out how to filter out the false positives."
"The integration and effectiveness of email security could be better. It's already built-in to the solution and checks emails, scans the links they contain etc."
"They're in the process of pulling more things together. They can continue with the integrations and provide a better way of seeing the impact of security changes, especially on the endpoint side. Before we actually flip the switch, we should be able to see the impact of security changes on the business or business applications. It would prevent breaking any business applications."
"Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is secure but when it comes to security all solutions could improve security."
"The solution could improve by providing more integration."
"Integration with third-party vendors could be better. It would be better if it integrates with other protection solutions or other products outside of Microsoft. Nowadays, anti-virus protection doesn't really have to be planned as overall protection for your environment in terms of security. There are really different avenues that bad actors can take to wreak havoc on your machine."
More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Pricing and Cost Advice →
ESET PROTECT Enterprise is ranked 14th in Anti-Malware Tools with 10 reviews while Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is ranked 1st in Anti-Malware Tools with 182 reviews. ESET PROTECT Enterprise is rated 9.0, while Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of ESET PROTECT Enterprise writes "Constantly improving their online resources to make it easier for new users to work with it". 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 PROTECT Enterprise is most compared with ESET Endpoint Protection Platform, Wazuh, Avira Antivirus, Cybereason Next-Generation Antivirus and F-Secure Total, whereas Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is most compared with Symantec Endpoint Security, Intercept X Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity Complete, CrowdStrike Falcon and Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks. See our ESET PROTECT Enterprise vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint report.
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