CrowdStrike Falcon vs. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
CrowdStrike offers the Falcon Endpoint Protection suite, an antivirus and endpoint protection system emphasizing threat detection, machine learning malware detection, and signature free updating. Additionally the available Falcon Spotlight module delivers vulnerability assessment with no performance impact, no additional agents, hardware, scheduled scans, firewall exceptions or admin credentials.
$59.99
per endpoint/month (minimum number of endpoints applies)
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is a service available on Microsoft's Azure, that provides insights into vulnerabilities, risks, and exposures for web-based resources. It defines an organization’s unique internet-exposed attack surface and discovers unknown resources to help users proactively manage security posture.
$0.01
per day per asset
Pricing
CrowdStrike FalconMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Editions & Modules
Falcon Go (Small Business)
$59.99
per endpoint/month (minimum number of endpoints applies)
Falcon Go (Small Business)
$59.99
Falcon Pro
$99.99
per endpoint/month (for 5-250 endpoints, billed annually)
Falcon Enterprise
$184.99
per endpoint/month (minimum number of endpoints applies)
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
CrowdStrike FalconMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
CrowdStrike FalconMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Features
CrowdStrike FalconMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Endpoint Security
Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Product A and Product B
CrowdStrike Falcon
8.8
98 Ratings
3% above category average
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
-
Ratings
Anti-Exploit Technology9.089 Ratings00 Ratings
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)9.396 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized Management9.097 Ratings00 Ratings
Hybrid Deployment Support8.24 Ratings00 Ratings
Infection Remediation9.093 Ratings00 Ratings
Vulnerability Management7.772 Ratings00 Ratings
Malware Detection9.396 Ratings00 Ratings
Threat Intelligence
Comparison of Threat Intelligence features of Product A and Product B
CrowdStrike Falcon
-
Ratings
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
9.7
1 Ratings
19% above category average
Network Analytics00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Threat Recognition00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Vulnerability Classification00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Automated Alerts and Reporting00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Threat Analysis00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Threat Intelligence Reporting00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Automated Threat Identification00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Vulnerability Management Tools
Comparison of Vulnerability Management Tools features of Product A and Product B
CrowdStrike Falcon
-
Ratings
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
9.4
1 Ratings
13% above category average
IT Asset Realization00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Authentication00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Configuration Monitoring00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Web Scanning00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Vulnerability Intelligence00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
CrowdStrike FalconMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Small Businesses
ThreatLocker
ThreatLocker
Score 9.3 out of 10
Action1
Action1
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
BlackBerry Protect (CylancePROTECT)
BlackBerry Protect (CylancePROTECT)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Action1
Action1
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
Score 10.0 out of 10
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
CrowdStrike FalconMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(98 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
CrowdStrike FalconMicrosoft Defender External Attack Surface Management
Likelihood to Recommend
CrowdStrike
Crowdstrike is a unified platform for monitoring endpoint devices, whether they're workstations, servers, cloud-native machines, or even mobile devices. It uses AI/ML to monitor anomalies and suspicious behavior, including zero-day attacks. It is suitable for large organizations but may be costlier or less appropriate for smaller organizations, those who want an on-prem EDR setup, and those who need custom scanning based on compliance requirements.
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Microsoft
Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is particularly well-suited for discovering, inventorying, and continuously monitoring the external attack surface, especially in environments with heavy Microsoft adoption. It is less suitable as a standalone solution for internal scanning, real-time attack detection, automated remediation, or advanced application testing. Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management es especialmente adecuado para descubrir, inventariar y monitorear continuamente la superficie de ataque externa, sobre todo en entornos con fuerte adopción de Microsoft. Es menos adecuado como solución única para escaneo interno, detección de ataques en tiempo real, remediación automática o pruebas avanzadas de aplicaciones. Parts of this review were originally written in Spanish and have been translated into English using a third-party translation tool. While we strive for accuracy, some nuances or meanings may not be perfectly captured.
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Pros
CrowdStrike
  • The Log analysis is very detailed and easy to use.
  • Prevent and block all type of malwares.
  • Great threat intelligence which is very up-to-date with the recent cyber attacks
  • very user friendly in access and management
  • Automated feature of detecting, taking action and closing incidents using fusion workflow.
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Microsoft
  • Lack of visibility of external assets
  • Reduction of the risk of external attacks
  • Falta de visibilidad de activos externos
  • Reducción del riesgo de ataques externos
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Cons
CrowdStrike
  • Support - we are often tasked with running down problems rather than being directed by support.
  • The sales staff we have dealt with are not very responsive or timely.
  • I believe this is a product built for installations of 300 users or more.
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Microsoft
  • Asset Attribution and Ownership Clarity
  • Risk Prioritization and Business Context
  • Noise and False Positives
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Likelihood to Renew
CrowdStrike
Crowdstrike has a large suite of tools built for helping the engineers triage and respond to security event whenever identified. The ability to customize the security policies and implement more granular policies to different devices based on the functionality is unmatched. Crowdstrike provides so much of ability in a decent budget which ascertains the value for money or ROI.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Usability
CrowdStrike
I think it is a complete and very trustful XDR platform, with very few False Positives. It is very well supported by highly skilled professionals on all levels: from pre-sales engineers, Customer Account Managers and support engineers.
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Microsoft
We rate Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management’s overall usability as 10 out of 10 because it delivers a strong balance between depth of capability and ease of use, particularly within organizations already operating in the Microsoft security ecosystem.
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Support Rating
CrowdStrike
Any time we need to engage the Crowdstrike Falcon Complete Team, their response is switch, thorough, and they are sure to not close out any request until the customer confirms that they have provided an acceptable resolution. If I ever need anything from the account team related to the product, I also get a response from them within minutes typically to address my question. Top notch customer service!
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
In-Person Training
CrowdStrike
There is limited amount of learning that can be completed in an in-person training available. In my opinion, the self-paced learning provided by Falcon portal is more useful over in-person training. The support from Falcon is great and useful to overcome difficulties, if any.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Online Training
CrowdStrike
The training provided by Crowdstrike Falcon is complete in terms of the depth of technical knowledge and teaches the users about going through with the platform. There are lots of jargons for different tools that Crowdstrike Falcon has and this training teaches them all which helps in managing the platform better. Plus, the regular knowledge checks are also very helpful for the end user.
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
CrowdStrike
Read the documentation
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
CrowdStrike
It was just a legacy AV program onboarded during initial setup days. As the org. As it expanded, its threat landscape also grew, and we needed a next-gen solution to protect against evolving threat vectors. Falcon EDR was the one that solved all these in a single place.
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Microsoft
Because Microsoft Defender External Attack Surface Management is part of the broader Microsoft Defender family (including Defender XDR, Entra ID, Azure Security, Sentinel, etc.), it:
Shares identity, endpoint, and threat context across tools
Reduces the need for custom integrations or connectors
Works in a “single pane of glass” experience for SOC analysts
Why it matters:
Organizations already invested in Microsoft security tools gain greater contextual insight and lower operational overhead.
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Return on Investment
CrowdStrike
  • CrowdStrike Falcon's proactive threat mitigation has significantly reduced the risk of successful cyber attacks, resulting in tangible savings related to potential data breaches or system compromises.
  • The cloud-native architecture and automated features have improved operational efficiency.
  • The platform's real-time visibility and threat hunting capabilities have drastically improved incident response times.
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Microsoft
  • Reduced Business Risk from Unknown External Assets
  • Operational Efficiency and Cost Avoidance
  • Faster Risk Identification During Change Events
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ScreenShots