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 console is easy to read. I also like the scanning part and the ability to move assets from one to the other."
"NGAV and EDR features are outstanding."
"We have FortiEDR installed on all our systems. This protects them from any threats."
"The most valuable feature is the analysis, because of the beta structure."
"Fortinet is very user-friendly for customers."
"It is stable and scalable."
"It is a scalable solution...The initial setup of Fortinet FortiEDR was straightforward."
"The product detects and blocks threats and is more proactive than firewalls."
"It is a scalable solution."
"It's scalable."
"The solution's features and pricing are pretty good."
"The product does not slow down the machine."
"Ransomware protection is embedded in the solution."
"The most valuable features of ESET Endpoint Antivirus are the search engine, easy firewall setup, and ransomware scans."
"It can block certain web pages that may contain viruses or pose a threat to the computer."
"There are some great features in ESET Endpoint Antivirus when you are browsing on the internet. For example, they have a notification if within your LAN network something is suspected to be a threat. Additionally, the malware features are very good."
"It's stable."
"The comprehensiveness of Microsoft threat-protection products is great... Today, Microsoft Sentinel by itself is a leading Gartner SIEM tool. It has advantages over competitors because of the ability to integrate with Microsoft solutions and automate continuous monitoring of Microsoft AD and Office 365 data."
"Defender should be fine for home use. It has all the basic functionality you need. I can't speak to how well it works as an enterprise solution because I'm not in the space."
"The installation is straightforward."
"What I like most is the protection against phishing emails and anti-spam."
"Defender's analytics are much better than CrowdStrike's."
"There are some competitive products on the market, but the best is Microsoft Defender because it's very easy to integrate. That's one reason a lot of clients want Microsoft Defender. It's also very easy to implement compared to other solutions."
"It is stable and easy to use. Everything is okay, and there are no performance issues."
"Detections could be improved."
"Integration with Azure and SaaS provisioning tools could improve Fortinet FortiEDR."
"The solution should address emerging threats like SQL injection."
"Making the portal mobile friendly would be helpful when I am out of office."
"The only minor concern is occasional interference with desired programs."
"The dashboard isn't easy to access and manage."
"I would like the solution to extend beyond endpoint protection and include other attack surfaces such as other network components."
"Everything with Fortinet having to do with their cloud services. They need to invest more in their internal infrastructure that they are running in the cloud. One of the things I find with their cloud environment compared to others' is that they go cheap on the equipment. So it causes some performance degradation."
"The scalability could be better."
"If I were in an environment that required a large-scale deployment then I would choose another solution over ESET."
"While the pricing is good, they could always lower it a bit."
"The feature is somewhat lacking in security protection."
"The product should provide a one-click option to renew the licenses."
"I'm unsure as to if they could actually support a large enterprise."
"The detection could be better in ESET Endpoint Security. Sometimes it takes time to detect threats and might be because it's not holding all the memory. There are some features that have to mature. More features might be available in the higher-end product."
"Its initial setup process could be more straightforward."
"Sometimes, there are different skews. In a basic skew, they should have basic log analysis without the need to integrate with any third-party or SIEM solutions, like Sentinel. This would make it so much easier for users who don't have log collection or log analysis."
"Our team's knowledge of the solution needs to be improved, and Microsoft could do a better job conveying the necessary information to users. We could proactively use the tool more and explore capabilities we are not yet utilizing."
"The GUI is very complex and could be more user friendly."
"The detection of viruses could be a little bit better."
"Microsoft Windows Defender doesn't have a game mode."
"Localization is always a challenge, especially with new products you typically want. Solutions are designed to be deployed where the most licenses are being consumed, such as in the United States. They focus on US products, devices, and networks. Specialized deployments for other countries would allow for a smoother experience in transition."
"We encountered some issues when we were trying to enable automatic updates from our group policy."
"The price, in general, could always be a little bit cheaper."
More ESET Endpoint Protection Platform Pricing and Cost Advice →
More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Pricing and Cost Advice →
ESET Endpoint Protection Platform is ranked 11th in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) with 96 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 Microsoft Intune. 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.