Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. Symantec Endpoint Security

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (formerly Microsoft Defender ATP) is a holistic, cloud delivered endpoint security solution that includes risk-based vulnerability management and assessment, attack surface reduction, behavioral based and cloud-powered next generation protection, endpoint detection and response (EDR), automatic investigation and remediation, managed hunting services, rich APIs, and unified security management.
$2.50
per user/per month
Symantec Endpoint Security
Score 7.7 out of 10
N/A
Symantec Endpoint Protection is the company's flagship antivirus / endpoint security product.N/A
Pricing
Microsoft Defender for EndpointSymantec Endpoint Security
Editions & Modules
Academic
$2.50
per user/per month
Standalone
$5.20
per user/per month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Defender for EndpointSymantec Endpoint Security
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft Defender for EndpointSymantec Endpoint Security
Considered Both Products
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Enterprise Endpoint Protection: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is well suited for large organizations with numerous endpoints, such as desktops, laptops, and servers, as it provides centralized management and monitoring of security across the entire network. Microsoft …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Mostly it runs smoothly on host without impacting performance as other AVs like Symantec's impacts performance issue of host. Also because it's still a good product overall price range. Can upgrade to EDR solution with not much difficulty & onboarding on tool is not that …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We used to use Symantec's Endpoint Detection and Response Solution, and so that's actually what we replaced with Defender for Endpoint. So it's just lightyears ahead of that one. So personally, I've also used Webroot in the past for an antivirus solution and Kaspersky and …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
As we are using 90% of Windows devices and laptops in our organisation we figured out that Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a better solution for us as compared to above solutions mentioned. It is very easy and convenient to use this solution with Windows devices. The …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
As compared to some of the other products we have used in our organization over the years, Windows Defender has been a lot better at not using a lot of system resources when running on the clients. A lot of other commercial threat protection products on the market today, tend …
Symantec Endpoint Security
Chose Symantec Endpoint Security
In comparison with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Symantec Endpoint Security has, in my opinion, more scalable file inspection/spyware/antivirus settings. Plus it is more stable in a multi-OS user environment. But it also has numerous issues with itself and related Symantec …
Chose Symantec Endpoint Security
Symantec Endpoint Protection really shines against its competitors when it comes to centralized management. It falls a little short when it comes to cloud deployments.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Microsoft Defender for EndpointSymantec Endpoint Security
Endpoint Security
Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
8.2
53 Ratings
3% below category average
Symantec Endpoint Security
8.6
36 Ratings
2% above category average
Anti-Exploit Technology8.051 Ratings8.530 Ratings
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)8.551 Ratings9.333 Ratings
Centralized Management7.952 Ratings8.534 Ratings
Hybrid Deployment Support7.810 Ratings8.225 Ratings
Infection Remediation8.252 Ratings7.534 Ratings
Vulnerability Management8.350 Ratings8.931 Ratings
Malware Detection8.553 Ratings9.334 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft Defender for EndpointSymantec Endpoint Security
Small Businesses
SentinelOne Singularity
SentinelOne Singularity
Score 9.1 out of 10
SentinelOne Singularity
SentinelOne Singularity
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SentinelOne Singularity
SentinelOne Singularity
Score 9.1 out of 10
SentinelOne Singularity
SentinelOne Singularity
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
Score 8.7 out of 10
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
Score 8.7 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Microsoft Defender for EndpointSymantec Endpoint Security
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(84 ratings)
8.5
(63 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(4 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(4 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(5 ratings)
1.0
(11 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
6.4
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Defender for EndpointSymantec Endpoint Security
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
I would say, where it's well suited as certainly any device where you know that either you're potentially running a Kickstarter device as your own personal unit, but maybe you want to try to connect it to some resource like, "Hey, you know what? This is a small community device. Maybe I'll try connecting my email on the go." You're protected from that perspective with the vendor, even if it's something that might be a bit suspicious from a hardware perspective. There's also the case where any device that you know are running Defender for endpoint that you're good to go. You don't really have to worry about all the other solutions out there because Defender has recovered.
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Broadcom
Symantec Endpoint Security is a well-rounded product that provides a significant amount of functionality and covers many of our endpoint needs without needing to resort to multiple vendors that might clash in unpredictable ways when ultimately deployed to the endpoints in our estate. The default policies are adequate and tuning these requires some time as with all similar EDR products but the product is flexible enough to allow very granular whitelisting/blacklisting which is great. Low resource requirements are also fantastic and we've not had many complaints from developers who were getting slowed down when compiling complex code with other previous solutions.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • It integrates perfectly with Azure Sentinel. I mean, that's great. We can have a single pane of class with other platforms, like Defender for Cloud, Defender for endpoints, and Defender for servers, which is awesome as well. The ease of deployment is because Microsoft made sure around a year ago that every single workstation with Microsoft Windows came with Defender for Endpoints embedded.
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Broadcom
  • The virus and spyware protection has worked well for us, catching several things and quarantining the items or cleaning them.
  • The virus definitions very rarely fail to update for the users, so I feel confident that my client machines are kept up to date.
  • I like the report I get daily telling me about threats found and action taken without having to login to the console to look it up myself.
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Cons
Microsoft
  • While it's a very good product for auditing, it has a very hard time to distinguish what is malicious and is an attack, what is not. Very rarely we get indication of a real malicious attack. We got lots of hours for off the shelf malware that it cleans up automatically. So basically we never get to look at it, which is a positive thing, but threats are detected by the third party endpoint, so it will not be enough by itself.
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Broadcom
  • The system should have a better ability to auto repair, if an item is malfunctioning it should auto reinstall.
  • The cloud platform and the server do not talk well to each other and it would be great to get the same data on both platforms, this may be due to version though.
  • It seems the whitelisting on the cloud platform could use some work.
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Broadcom
Best of Breed. Symantec Endpoint Protection beats all other end point products I have used, tested and seen in presentation at this point in time.
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Usability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Broadcom
I think it works great. It's easy to administer. It's easy to see if it's working and how well. There's no real user interaction necessary.
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Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Broadcom
We've used it for years and the software is easy to use. The dashboard is easy to read, and you can easily figure out where to go to troubleshoot or deploy software. Symantec is there for emergencies like backup restoration or file retrieval. It's pretty low maintenance. Symantec is there when your IT infrastructure needs it
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Support Rating
Microsoft
The first time I tried to onboard my macOS endpoints to MDE I struggled for quite a bit. I had to reach out to Microsoft's MDE support team. The tech was very helpful in walking me through the steps during a screen share session
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Broadcom
Support is completely awful! You can never get anyone to help if you can even find a number to call. The support web portal is a joke and their response time if you're even able to submit a ticket is ridiculously slow.
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Implementation Rating
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Broadcom
Use a third party deployment tool and not the deployment option within the SEP Manager itself.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Tenable Security Center was a fantastic exposure detection tool but there was always a lag and servers would hang alot when being scanned causing resource traffic. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on the other hand does not use up most resources soo there is usually noo lag during scanning and it also provide more detailed insights on the network. Also Microsoft Defender for Endpoint integration power has helped us up our security game by delivering a smooth secure network.
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Broadcom
Symantec Endpoint Security offers very similar features to the above products, they all do the same thing in terms of protecting your endpoints against cybersecurity threats. Installation wise the products all install from a central management system and report back to this for central reporting. Ultimately we choose Symantec as the reseller was able to offer additional incentives which made their pricing very competitive.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Positive : Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers sophisticated threat detection and response capabilities, putting it into use helps increase security. Reduced security incidents, data breaches, and related expenses may arise from this.
  • Positive : A more secure environment means less time and effort spent by IT and security teams on remediation and incident response.
  • False Positives: Like any security solution, false positives can occur, leading to unnecessary investigations and potential disruptions to business operations. This may require additional resources to manage.
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Broadcom
  • The ROI from deploying this has led to fewer security issues which reduces costs.
  • Keeping track of security issues and how the were remedied is easier.
  • Deskside support can work with end users easily if something is triggered and this allows us to not have to overstaff.
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ScreenShots

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Screenshots

Screenshot of blocked activitiesScreenshot of Detects & respondsScreenshot of discovers vulnerabilityScreenshot of Eliminates blind spotsScreenshot of Risk management