Microsoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: 12 endpoint security tools compared
Teams look for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives for two opposite reasons. Some bought Microsoft 365 licences, found the endpoint tooling comes bundled with a security suite they have to administer in the Microsoft Defender portal, and want a vendor that does only endpoints. Others run mixed estates and want a managed service or an agent that is not tied to Microsoft tenancy. They move to standalone EDR platforms, to small-business suites, or to European vendors.
Short answer: The first three alternatives to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint in our endpoint security ranking are CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity and Sophos Endpoint. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. Choose CrowdStrike Falcon if you want a standalone EDR vendor with published per-device prices and an optional managed service. All 12 alternatives below are ranked products from Best Antivirus and Endpoint Security in 2026, and each says where it differs from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
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Pricing: Per user per month, published; included in E5
Established in: United States
Built for: An organisation already holding Microsoft 365 E5
Not for: A mixed fleet with many Macs and Linux boxes
01
Why buyers look past Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
01
It comes with the licence, and the licence decides what you get
Microsoft states that Microsoft 365 E5 and E5 Security include Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, while Plan 1, Plan 2 and Defender for Business are the other licensing routes. For a company already on E5 the endpoint product costs nothing extra, which is the main reason it is in the ranking. For everyone else the choice of plan, server add-ons and the Business edition makes the real price harder to compare than a single per-device figure.
02
It lives inside the Defender portal
Microsoft describes Defender for Endpoint as the endpoint pillar of its wider Defender portal, which correlates endpoint signals with identity, email and cloud alerts. That is a strength for a Microsoft estate. For a team that runs other identity and mail systems, the product is one tab in a portal built around services it does not use, and a dedicated endpoint console can feel simpler.
03
Small businesses meet a separate product and a 300 user cap
Microsoft sells a different edition, Defender for Business, to organisations of up to 300 users, and says that a tenant mixing it with Plan 2 defaults to the Defender for Business experience. Servers need an extra licence, priced by Microsoft at $3 per server instance for Defender for Business servers. A company that crosses 300 users, or has many servers, has to rethink its licensing.
Consumer anti-malware for a handful of Windows PCs, free to start
you protect a handful of Windows PCs and want a low-cost licence rather than a managed console
#7
03
What each one does differently
1
CrowdStrike Falcon
United States · Per device per year, published for Go, Pro and Enterprise; Complete MDR quoted
CrowdStrike sells a cloud endpoint platform in Go, Pro and Enterprise tiers, listed at $59.99, $99.99 and $184.99 per device per year, or $7.99, $14.99 and $19.99 per device per month. Falcon Complete adds 24/7 managed detection and response. It is not bundled with a productivity licence.
Switch from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if you want a standalone EDR vendor with published per-device prices and an optional managed service.
United States · Per endpoint per year, published for Complete and Commercial; Enterprise quoted
SentinelOne publishes Singularity Complete at $179.99 and Commercial at $229.99 per endpoint per year, with Enterprise listed without a price. It is a pure security vendor headquartered in Mountain View, California, with an EMEA base in Amsterdam, so the product stands apart from any email or office suite.
Switch from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if you want an independent endpoint platform and have no wish to depend on Microsoft licensing tiers.
Sophos sells endpoint protection as its own product, administered from a Sophos admin console that has a dedicated licensing guide in its documentation, rather than as part of a productivity licence. We could not confirm its list prices, so expect to request a quote.
Switch from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if you want a dedicated security vendor with its own console and are ready to ask for a quote.
Japan · Quoted; credits allocated across modules and workload types
TrendAI Vision One is a wider platform from Trend Micro that covers endpoint, email, network, cloud and data security under one product and offers a 30-day free trial. It is not an endpoint agent alone, so the scope is closer to Microsoft's full Defender family than to the endpoint product.
Switch from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if you want one non-Microsoft platform that spans endpoints, email and cloud.
ESET offers its PROTECT console both as a cloud service for up to 50,000 devices and as ESET PROTECT On-Prem, which you run yourself. Microsoft's console is a cloud portal only. The vendor is headquartered in Bratislava, Slovakia, and sells modules such as server security, encryption and patch management.
Switch from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if you want the option of running the management console on your own infrastructure.
Romania · Per endpoint per year, published for small business
Bitdefender sells GravityZone Business Security for 1 to 100 devices with endpoint protection, Network Attack Defense and Risk Management modules. The company is headquartered in Bucharest, Romania. The packaged small-business offer avoids Microsoft's split between Plan 1, Plan 2 and Defender for Business.
Switch from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if you are a small business under about 100 devices and want one packaged product from a European vendor.
WithSecure Elements comes from a Helsinki headquartered company that a CVC and Risto Siilasmaa consortium acquired through Diana BidCo, completing the squeeze-out of minority shares in March 2026 and delisting it from Nasdaq Helsinki. Pricing is quoted. It is a security-only vendor with no productivity suite.
Switch from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if you want a Finnish endpoint vendor and can accept a quote-based purchase.
United States · Quoted per organisation; enterprise agreements
Symantec Endpoint Security is now a Broadcom product. Broadcom's documentation covers a cloud console and the SEP 16 agent, and a migration path from on-premises installs to SES Complete. The scope is enterprise endpoint management with a long installed base, sold on quoted enterprise agreements.
Switch from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if you already run Symantec agents or need a vendor that supports both on-premises and cloud estates.
Kaspersky sells its Next range online in tiers: EDR Foundations, EDR Optimum, XDR Optimum and a managed MXDR Optimum. The company was founded in 1997 and its history places its headquarters in Moscow. That origin can matter to public-sector or regulated buyers, so check your own procurement rules first.
Switch from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if you want a tiered path from basic EDR to managed XDR and your procurement rules allow a Russian-origin vendor.
ThreatDown packages endpoint security into Core, Advanced, Elite and Ultimate bundles priced per device per year, with a discount for three-year terms. It began as Malwarebytes' business unit and became an independent company in 2026. It targets resource-constrained teams and lists managed detection and response and identity detection as options.
Switch from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if you run a small IT team and want bundled tiers rather than a licence-dependent product.
Avast Business sells Essential, Premium and Ultimate Business Security for 1 to 100+ devices, managed from the Avast Business Hub cloud console. It protects Windows PCs, Macs and Windows servers. It is an antivirus-style small-business product, not a platform with Microsoft's depth of investigation tooling.
Switch from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if you run a small office with Windows and Mac machines and want simple antivirus with a web console.
IObit Malware Fighter is a Windows security product with a free version and a Pro licence sold for 1 or 3 PCs, shown at $19.95 and $23.99 per year after a discount. Its Pro pages list Bitdefender real-time protection. It is a PC utility, not an enterprise endpoint platform.
Switch from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if you protect a handful of Windows PCs and want a low-cost licence rather than a managed console.
When Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is still the right choice
Defender for Endpoint remains the right choice when the organisation is already on Microsoft 365 E5 or E5 Security, because Plan 2 is included and the endpoint signals feed the same Defender portal as identity, email and cloud alerts. It also covers Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. If your security team already works in that portal, replacing the endpoint layer means paying twice for something you own and splitting the incident view across two consoles.
05
What moving off Microsoft Defender for Endpoint involves
01
Check what the licence covers before you cancel
Defender for Endpoint may be bundled in a Microsoft 365 plan you will keep paying for. Find out whether the endpoint product is a separate line or part of E5 or Business Premium, because removing it may not lower your Microsoft bill. Compare the total, not the per-device price of the new tool alone.
02
Run both agents side by side, then remove one
Two endpoint agents on one machine can conflict, so pilot the new product on a small group and switch Microsoft's protection to passive mode only according to Microsoft's own onboarding guidance. Move device groups in stages, and keep the rollback path open until alerts from the new console have matched your old ones for a few weeks.
03
Rebuild integrations and exclusions
Policies, exclusions, API integrations and any automation built on the Defender portal do not carry over. List them before you start and recreate them in the new console. Also check where your SIEM ingests endpoint alerts from, because Microsoft Sentinel integration is part of the Microsoft ecosystem the product advertises.
06
Questions about replacing Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
6 answers
Is CrowdStrike a good alternative to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint?
It is the most direct standalone comparison. CrowdStrike publishes per-device prices for Falcon Go, Pro and Enterprise and offers Falcon Complete as a managed 24/7 service. Defender for Endpoint wins on cost only if you already hold the licence that includes it.
Which Defender for Endpoint alternative suits a small business?
Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security covers 1 to 100 devices, Avast Business is built for 1 to 100+ devices, and ThreatDown sells bundled tiers. Microsoft also has its own small-business edition, Defender for Business, which is capped at 300 users.
Is there a European alternative to Defender for Endpoint?
ESET (Slovakia), Bitdefender (Romania) and WithSecure (Finland) are headquartered in Europe, according to their own sites. ESET also offers a console you can host yourself. The Microsoft product itself is a United States cloud service, though Microsoft documents its data handling in its Trust Center.
Does Defender for Endpoint work on Mac and Linux?
Yes. Microsoft lists Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS as supported platforms. Check each alternative's platform list as well, since small-business products such as Avast Business list Windows PCs, Macs and Windows servers.
Can I run an endpoint console on my own servers?
ESET offers PROTECT On-Prem for that, and Symantec's documentation covers an on-premises migration path to its cloud edition. Microsoft's Defender portal is a cloud portal. Most other vendors in this list manage devices from a cloud console.
Is the IObit option comparable?
No. IObit Malware Fighter is sold per PC, with a free version and a Pro licence for 1 or 3 PCs. It is aimed at home and very small setups, not at organisations that need a central console, investigation tools or a managed service.
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Sources
Checked 16 October 2026
Microsoft Learn: Defender for Endpoint overview: E5 and E5 Security include Plan 2, Plan 1, Plan 2 and Defender for Business licensing routes, supported operating systems, Defender portal integration.
Microsoft Learn: Defender for Business FAQ: Servers need an extra licence at $3 per server instance, no mixed licensing, Defender for Business experience applies in a mixed tenant.
CrowdStrike pricing: Falcon Go, Pro and Enterprise monthly and annual per-device prices, Falcon Complete managed detection and response.
SentinelOne pricing: Singularity Complete $179.99 and Commercial $229.99 per endpoint per year, Enterprise without a listed price.
SentinelOne company: Headquarters in Mountain View, EMEA base in Amsterdam, NYSE listing.
ThreatDown pricing: Core, Advanced, Elite and Ultimate bundles per device per year, three-year discount, MDR and ITDR options.
ThreatDown about: Malwarebytes origin, independent company in 2026.
WithSecure recommended cash tender offer: CVC and Risto Siilasmaa consortium offer via Diana BidCo, minority share redemption, delisting from Nasdaq Helsinki in March 2026.
Avast Business endpoint security: Essential, Premium and Ultimate Business Security for 1 to 100+ devices, Avast Business Hub, Windows PC, Mac and Windows Server.
IObit Malware Fighter: Pro pricing for 1 and 3 PCs, Bitdefender real-time protection listed, free version exists.
TrendAI Vision One: Platform scope across endpoint, email, network, cloud and data, 30-day free trial.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Written, edited and fact-checked by Sebastiaan Smits. Last reviewed
16 October 2026. How we review.
