Check Point Harmony Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint comparison

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Fortinet Logo
10,056 views|7,518 comparisons
82% willing to recommend
Check Point Software Technologies Logo
12,940 views|7,660 comparisons
96% willing to recommend
Microsoft Logo
60,745 views|47,911 comparisons
94% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Aug 28, 2022

We performed a comparison between Check Point Harmony Endpoint 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.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of both solutions agree that their initial setup is straightforward.
  • Features: Users of both products are happy with their security, stability, and scalability.

    Check Point Harmony users say it is robust, reliable, and has a useful and intuitive single dashboard. Several users mention that its alerting features need improvement.

    Defender for Endpoint users like its automated “Investigation and Response” feature and say it provides good vulnerability assessment. Some Defender for Endpoint users note that its UI needs enhancement.
  • Pricing: Most users of both solutions feel that they are expensive products. Defender for Endpoint does offer a free version.
  • ROI: Reviewers of both solutions report seeing an ROI.
  • Service and Support: Most users of both solutions report being satisfied with the level of support they receive.

Comparison Results: Check Point Harmony has a slight edge in this comparison. According to its reviewers, its interface is friendlier than that of Defender for Endpoint.

To learn more, read our detailed Check Point Harmony Endpoint vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Report (Updated: March 2024).
768,578 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"It notifies us if there's any suspicious file on any PC. If any execution or similar kind of thing is happening, it just alerts us. It doesn't only alert. It also blocks the execution until we allow it. We check whether the execution is legitimate or not, and then approve it or keep it blocked. This gives us a little bit of control over this mechanism. Fortinet FortiEDR is also very straightforward and easy to maintain.""I like FortiClient EMS. FortiEDR has a lot of great features like lockdown mode, remote wipes, and encryption. I can set malware outbreak policies and controls for detecting abnormalities. You can also simulate phishing attacks.""The stability is very good.""The features that I have found most valuable are the ability to customize it and to reduce its size. It lets you run in a very small window in terms of memory and resources on legacy cash registers.""Forensics is a valuable feature of Fortinet FortiEDR.""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""The product detects and blocks threats and is more proactive than firewalls.""We have FortiEDR installed on all our systems. This protects them from any threats."

More Fortinet FortiEDR Pros →

"They have a great knowledge base that you can leverage as a user.""It's pretty complete for preventing threats to endpoints. Its capabilities are great.""Cost-wise it's cheaper than other options.""SandBlast Agent is always working in the background collecting sensitive data, forensics, and notifying users whenever there is a chance of a brute-force attack into our systems. Otherwise, it has been protecting our data at various geographies along with the endpoints that we set up on the cloud. They have been able to filter out or thwart any attacks from the very word, "Go," and make our work very safe and smooth.""Its ease of use is the most valuable feature. We had existing endpoints and it was an easy upgrade process. The interface board is also easy to use.""We now feel more secure with our PCs, even more with the non-technical persons.""One of the coolest features is that it provides an HTML report on the laptop and the endpoint console for the administrator.""The license plans are also very nice and distributed - allowing for a separation between types of users with more basic or more advanced options."

More Check Point Harmony Endpoint Pros →

"A few years ago, when I was using a different product, I was affected by a virus that destroyed everything. Since using Microsoft Defender, I have not had this kind of problem.""The solution's main antivirus capabilities are okay. So far, they have kept us safe.""Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is free and part of the licensing stack of other Microsoft products.""Defender works in the background monitoring the traffic for viruses.""Because it has been integrated with the OS, we get the entire software inventories, and we even get access to the registries. Those are the primary features.""Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is quite good. We haven't really experienced any issues with it.""One feature I like the most is vulnerability management, which shows any vulnerable software or OS present in my environment. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides a complete overview and also recommends the steps to mitigate the vulnerabilities or threats. Most of the other antivirus or EDR solutions generally don't provide vulnerability management. It is an add-on that Microsoft Defender for Endpoint provides.""Easy to understand and easy to set up endpoint security solution. It's a multifeatured product with web content filtering and automated investigation features. It also has a fantastic vulnerability management dashboard."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Pros →

Cons
"Once, we had an event that was locked and blocked, but information about it came to us two or three days later.""Cannot be used on mobile devices with a secure connection.""The security should be strong for the cloud. Some applications are on-prem and some are on the cloud. Fortinet should also have strong security for the cloud. There should be more security for the cloud.""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.""I haven't seen the use of AI in the solution.""Integration with Azure and SaaS provisioning tools could improve Fortinet FortiEDR.""Making the portal mobile friendly would be helpful when I am out of office.""ZTNA can improve latency."

More Fortinet FortiEDR Cons →

"There are still functionalities that I have not been able to fully test and I would like to spend more time using the tool before offering an opinion to the IT Central community on this point.""The web filter service could be improved.""We know that Check Point has a very good database about threats even Check Point tries to make this EDR stable still there are some issues we were facing after upgrading or taking TAC to help its got resolved but Check Point really needs to work on metadata.""The heartbeat interval must be improved.""I would like to see simple sandboxing for malware analysis.""Unfortunately, the web (cloud) management system and log search performance are quite bad.""Off the top of my head, I can't think of a way it has improved my organization.""Sometimes the portal loads slowly which should be improved."

More Check Point Harmony Endpoint Cons →

"The solution could always be more secure.""Phishing and Malware detection could be better.""The time to generate certain alerts on our dashboard can take between 45 minutes to an hour, and I am unsure of the factors that influence this duration.""The solution should be updated by Microsoft with new features from time to time.""Microsoft Defender for Endpoint can improve by providing more and different types of reports.""Some of the integrations that Defender should include involve the use of the web app.""Where we stand right now, compared to other products that are there in the market, they still have to work on their threat intelligence and the overall maturity of detecting the malware.""There's scanning going on that occasionally topples the memory, causing everything to freeze. This should be fixed."

More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "I know it is tough to get big budget additions up front, but I highly recommend deploying environment wide and adding the forensic service."
  • "There are no issues with the pricing."
  • "The price is comprable to other endpoint security solutions."
  • "The pricing is typical for enterprises and fairly priced."
  • "I'm not familiar with pricing, but it looks a bit costly compared to other vendors I think."
  • "The pricing is good."
  • "I would rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."
  • "The hardware costs about €100,000 and about €20,000 annually for access."
  • More Fortinet FortiEDR Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "In addition to the standard licensing fees, there is a cost for support."
  • "We pay on an annual basis. There are no additional fees, they mostly tell us what we have to pay. We have budgeted for it."
  • "We pay roughly 80,000 Swedish krona per year. When it comes to the firewall, it's roughly 150,000 Swedish krona yearly. There's also maintenance, of course, which is roughly 10,000 krona per month."
  • "I bought them for 12 months and I genuinely cannot remember what I paid for them. I think it's about 100 pounds per user per year, so about 10 pounds a month per person."
  • "The licensing cost for Check Point is $3 USD or $4 USD per end-user."
  • "In terms of licensing, have a buffer zone around your projects in terms of the amount of endpoints that you want to have. You can always have more, but it is best to leave room for a little increase or growth."
  • "The solution is too pricey."
  • "One of the key factors that made us go with this solution was the pricing. On the licensing part, there was an initial complementary set of licenses offered in the initial onboarding package, either 15 or 20. Then, we had some complementary licenses in the initial purchase of the package. That was pretty useful."
  • More Check Point Harmony Endpoint Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The product is free of charge and comes integrated into Windows."
  • "The solution is free."
  • "This product is included in the pricing for Windows."
  • "If you don't purchase the advanced threat protection then there is no additional charge."
  • "It is affordable and comes in the Office 365 bundle."
  • "Microsoft Defender ATP is expensive."
  • "I pay for it through the Windows Professional or Standard license. It is a one-time cost for me, and I use the same license."
  • "When compared with other vendors, the pricing is very high."
  • More Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:I suggest Fortinet’s FortiEDR over FortiClient for several reasons. For starters, FortiEDR guarantees solid protection… more »
    Top Answer: Having all monitoring, response, tracking, and mitigation tools in one dashboard provides our analysts and SOC team… more »
    Top Answer:The pricing is significantly high. The implementation of this solution required us to allocate additional funds beyond… more »
    Top Answer:The pricing is reasonable. It is very good for security. We are focused on security. If the security is strong, we do… more »
    Top Answer:The heartbeat interval must be improved. Sometimes, when we change the policy in the console, it does not reflect in the… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface… more »
    Top Answer:We use Symantec because we do not use MS Enterprise products, but in my opinion, Microsoft Defender is a superior… more »
    Top Answer:The CrowdStrike solution delivers a lot of information about incidents. It has a very light sensor that will never push… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    enSilo, FortiEDR
    Check Point Endpoint Security, Endpoint Security, Check Point SandBlast Agent
    Microsoft Defender ATP, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, MS Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Antivirus
    Learn More
    Interactive Demo
    Overview

    Fortinet FortiEDR is a real-time endpoint protection, detection, and automated response solution. Its primary purpose is to detect advanced threats to stop breaches and ransomware damage. It is designed to do so in real time, even on an already compromised device, allowing you to respond and remediate incidents automatically so your data can remain protected.

    Fortinet FortiEDR Features

    Fortinet FortiEDR has many valuable key features, including:

    • Easily customizable
    • Real-time proactive risk mitigation & IoT security
    • Pre-infection protection
    • Post-infection protection
    • Track applications and ratings
    • Reduce the attack surface with risk-based proactive policies
    • Achieve analysis of entire log history
    • Optional managed detection and response (MDR) service

    Fortinet FortiEDR Benefits

    Some of the key benefits of using Fortinet FortiEDR include:

    • Protection: Fortinet FortiEDR provides proactive, real-time, automated endpoint protection with the orchestrated incident response across platforms. It stops the breach with real-time postinfection blocking to protect data from exfiltration and ransomware encryption.

    • Single unified console: Fortinet FortiEDR has a single unified console with an intuitive interface, which makes management easier. The solution automates mundane endpoint security tasks so your employees don’t need to do it.

    • Cost savings: With Fortinet FortiEDR you can eliminate post-breach operational expenses and breach damage costs.

    • Flexibility: Fortinet FortiEDR can be deployed on premises or on a secure cloud instance. With Fortinet FortiEDR, endpoints are protected both on- and off-line.

    • Scalability: Because Fortinet can be deployed quickly and has a small footprint, it is easy to scale up to protect hundreds of thousand endpoints.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Fortinet FortiEDR users.

    An Owner at a security firm says, "The features that I have found most valuable are the ability to customize it and to reduce its size. It lets you run in a very small window in terms of memory and resources on legacy cash registers. The customer has literally about 800 cash registers. That was the use case for Fortinet FortiEDR - to get that down into a tiny space. The only way to do that was to use this product because it had that ability to unbundle services that were a surplus.”

    Chandan M., Chief Technical Officer at Provision Technologies LLP, mentions, “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.” He also adds, “The security is also very good and the firewall response is good.”

    Harpreet S., Information Technology Support Specialist at Chemtrade Logistics, explains, "It notifies us if there's any suspicious file on any PC. If any execution or similar kind of thing is happening, it just alerts us. It doesn't only alert. It also blocks the execution until we allow it. We check whether the execution is legitimate or not, and then approve it or keep it blocked. This gives us a little bit of control over this mechanism. Fortinet FortiEDR is also very straightforward and easy to maintain."

    DeAndre V., Senior Network Administrator at a financial services firm, states, “The dashboard is easy to follow and use. The deployment and uninstalling were easy. I like the detailed information about the path of a file that might be suspicious. Being able to check that out was easy to follow. Exceptions are easy to create and the interface is easy to follow with a nice appearance.

    Check Point Harmony Endpoint is a robust security solution that enables users to use a single piece of software to accomplish tasks that often require the use of multiple pieces of software. It prevents impending threats from doing harm while at the same time enabling users to identify and deal with any harm that results from breaches. 

    Check Point Harmony Endpoint provides users with an excellent total cost of ownership. It combines six security solutions into a single powerful solution. Instead of being unwieldy, it is, in fact, a highly flexible solution. Users can easily manage and deploy it on site in their offices or via the cloud according to their needs. It upgrades effortlessly without ever causing disruptions to the work users are doing. The end result is a high return on a user’s investment.

    Benefits of Check Point Harmony Endpoint

    Some of the benefits of using Check Point Harmony Endpoint include: 

    • The ability to completely protect endpoints from all manner of immediate digital threats. Check Point Harmony Endpoint stops both malware and phishing sites from harming your networks. All files you receive or download are either run through Check Point Harmony Endpoint’s Threat Emulation sandbox, which scans it for malware, or sterilized by a Threat Extraction process. These prevent malware from ever entering your system. It also prevents phishing sites from stealing credentials. The software scans the sites and, if they are found to be malicious, they are locked out of the system. All of this occurs in real time. 
    • The ability to quickly recover from any attack which manages to do damage to your system. Check Point Harmony Endpoint’s automation responds to a threat once it is detected. Any device that is infected is automatically quarantined from the rest of the network and disinfected. This prevents further infection and allows administrators to render the machine safe for use. It also automatically creates reports which break down the nature of the attack and all other relevant details. These reports give users the information that they need to conduct triage and repair the damage done by an attack.

    Check Point Harmony Endpoint offers users a piece of security software which is completely cutting-edge. It stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are the raw power of the solution and the usefulness of Check Point Harmony Endpoint’s built-in automation. Check Point Harmony Endpoint has a high ceiling when it comes to dealing with threats. Users are given the ability to decide how aggressively they want to employ it, which creates a great deal of flexibility. Check Point Harmony Endpoint’s automation is constantly running in the background of the program. It creates reports that empower users to take appropriate steps to protect their systems.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Sumit B., a consultant at Cognizant, notes the usefulness of Check Point Harmony Endpoint’s built-in automation. He writes, “SandBlast Agent is always working in the background collecting sensitive data, forensics, and notifying users whenever there is a chance of a brute-force attack into our systems. Otherwise, it has been protecting our data at various geographies along with the endpoints that we set up on the cloud. They have been able to filter out or thwart any attacks from the very word, "Go," and make our work very safe and smooth.”

    A PeerSpot user who serves as a Network Technical Specialist at a manufacturing company adds that “It's pretty complete for preventing threats to endpoints. Its capabilities are great.”

    Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a comprehensive security solution that provides advanced threat protection for organizations. It offers real-time protection against various types of cyber threats, including malware, viruses, ransomware, and phishing attacks.

    With its powerful machine-learning capabilities, it can detect and block sophisticated attacks before they can cause any harm. The solution also includes endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities, allowing organizations to quickly investigate and respond to security incidents. It provides detailed insights into the attack timeline, enabling security teams to understand the scope and impact of an incident.

    Microsoft Defender for Endpoint also offers proactive threat hunting, allowing organizations to proactively search for and identify potential threats within their network. It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft security solutions, such as Microsoft Defender XDR, to provide a unified and holistic security approach. With its centralized management console, organizations can easily deploy, configure, and monitor the security solution across their entire network.

    Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a robust and scalable security solution that helps organizations protect their endpoints and data from evolving cyber threats.

    Sample Customers
    Financial, Healthcare, Legal, Technology, Enterprise, Manufacturing ... 
    Boston Properties, Independence Care System, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), Courtagen Life Sciences, Carmel Partners
    Petrofrac, Metro CSG, Christus Health
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm21%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Manufacturing Company11%
    Healthcare Company5%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company16%
    Government8%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Healthcare Company10%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company15%
    Comms Service Provider11%
    Government7%
    Construction Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Energy/Utilities Company7%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization22%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Government8%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business50%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise34%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise19%
    Large Enterprise50%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business45%
    Midsize Enterprise20%
    Large Enterprise35%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise21%
    Large Enterprise46%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business40%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise43%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise32%
    Large Enterprise45%
    Buyer's Guide
    Check Point Harmony Endpoint vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point Harmony Endpoint vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    768,578 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Check Point Harmony Endpoint is ranked 8th in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) with 101 reviews while Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is ranked 1st in Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) with 182 reviews. Check Point Harmony Endpoint is rated 8.8, while Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Check Point Harmony Endpoint writes "Excellent anti-ransomware protection, zero-day phishing protection, and web browsing filtering". 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". Check Point Harmony Endpoint is most compared with CrowdStrike Falcon, Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business, SentinelOne Singularity Complete and Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks, whereas Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is most compared with Symantec Endpoint Security, Intercept X Endpoint, CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity Complete and Trend Micro Apex One. See our Check Point Harmony Endpoint vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint report.

    See our list of best Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) vendors and best Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) 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.