Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs. Tenable Nessus

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
Tenable Nessus
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
Tenable headquartered in Columbia offers Nessus, a vulnerability scanning and security assessment solution used to analyze an entity's security posture, vulnerability testing, and provide configuration assessments.
$2,790
Pricing
Microsoft Defender for EndpointTenable Nessus
Editions & Modules
Academic
$2.50
per user/per month
Standalone
$5.20
per user/per month
1 Year
$2,790.00
1 Year + Advanced Support
$3,190.00
2 Years
$5,440.00
2 Years + Advanced Support
$6,240.00
3 Years
$7,951.00
3 Years + Advanced Support
$9,151.00
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Defender for EndpointTenable Nessus
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 EndpointTenable Nessus
Considered Both Products
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Before we switched to using Endpoint, we were using McAfee and we weren't getting the most use out of that, weren't super happy with it, and so we switched, got rid of that and switched to just using all the endpoint features.
Tenable Nessus

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Microsoft Defender for EndpointTenable Nessus
Endpoint Security
Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
8.2
51 Ratings
4% below category average
Tenable Nessus
-
Ratings
Anti-Exploit Technology8.049 Ratings00 Ratings
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)8.550 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized Management7.950 Ratings00 Ratings
Hybrid Deployment Support7.810 Ratings00 Ratings
Infection Remediation8.250 Ratings00 Ratings
Vulnerability Management8.348 Ratings00 Ratings
Malware Detection8.551 Ratings00 Ratings
Threat Intelligence
Comparison of Threat Intelligence features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
-
Ratings
Tenable Nessus
5.1
1 Ratings
47% below category average
Network Analytics00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
Threat Recognition00 Ratings4.51 Ratings
Vulnerability Classification00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
Automated Alerts and Reporting00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Threat Analysis00 Ratings5.51 Ratings
Threat Intelligence Reporting00 Ratings7.31 Ratings
Automated Threat Identification00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Vulnerability Management Tools
Comparison of Vulnerability Management Tools features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
-
Ratings
Tenable Nessus
8.0
1 Ratings
6% below category average
IT Asset Realization00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
Authentication00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
Configuration Monitoring00 Ratings9.11 Ratings
Web Scanning00 Ratings4.51 Ratings
Vulnerability Intelligence00 Ratings8.21 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft Defender for EndpointTenable Nessus
Small Businesses
SentinelOne Singularity
SentinelOne Singularity
Score 9.1 out of 10
ThreatDown, powered by Malwarebytes
ThreatDown, powered by Malwarebytes
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SentinelOne Singularity
SentinelOne Singularity
Score 9.1 out of 10
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
Score 8.7 out of 10
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.1 out of 10
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User Ratings
Microsoft Defender for EndpointTenable Nessus
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(71 ratings)
8.5
(7 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.7
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(5 ratings)
7.1
(4 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Defender for EndpointTenable Nessus
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Usually we had lots two platforms tasked with scanning exposures, anti-malware and provision for information and threat management. But with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint we have an all inclusive platform that even integrate with other Microsoft security apps such as Microsoft Defender for Cloud for enhanced threat insights and visibility.
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Tenable
Nessus is perfectly suitable for performing comprehensive vulnerability assessment scans being a vulnerability scanner. It is less appropriate for performing penetration testing since it is not a penetration testing tool, it does not have the ability and modules to exploit the vulnerabilities of the system.
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Pros
Microsoft
  • It provides a unified security experience when combined with other Microsoft products such as Microsoft Defender for 365 and Azure Defender.
  • It has an excellent dashboard and centralized view that make it easy to see and control everything from one location.
  • It's an EDR tool designed to help you understand incidents and alerts better.
  • Real-time detection of attacks and prompt endpoint device responses. It effortlessly interacts with additional Microsoft security products.
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Tenable
  • With Nessus we can find the missing critical patches for a server or workstations.
  • Nessus points out any vulnerable or outdated software Technologies used in the system, thus eliminating any chances for security flaws being turned up.
  • Nessus typically points any configuration level issues in accordance with the OWASP guidelines. Even the configuration of SSL related which are most of the time handled by some vendors or 3rd parties.
  • Nessus not only lists out these Vulnerabilities but describes clearly the vulnerabilities in details with its thousands of plugins updated regularly, the tool also recommends solution with practical details of easy implementation.
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Cons
Microsoft
  • Does not allow for remediation from the management console.
  • The ticket system doesn't alert the person assigned to the ticket.
  • You have to submit requests for whitelisting applications.
  • Scanning exclusions are tricky to find.
  • Adding devices, especially Apple devices, is very cumbersome.
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Tenable
  • Could use an upgrade within reports.
  • Scans can take a long time to complete. Have to break them down in small sections.
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Tenable
Nessus is best and easy to use application for Vulnerabilities finding and reporting, it has multiple platforms and wide scope covering almost all devices for security improvement so far, thus we are very likely to continue its services.
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Usability
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Tenable
It's very much a plug and play application that the user can go into with limited knowledge and set-up scans in minutes.
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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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Tenable
I haven't needed to contact support yet. But issues are easily solved with a quick internet search which means support and by extension, the larger community are involved and knowledgeable.
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
in an overall protection sentinelone is providing better protection for us, but as it comes with subscription's limitation, we have to be really careful in managing the licenses, the MS Defender for endpoint is providing us a decent protection which we are not complaining about, why we chose them ? as mentioned, this is coming with our subscription
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Tenable
Sometimes when we identify a vulnerability with Nessus that has an exploit, we made a proof of concept with Metasploit in order to show to the IT managers the importance of the software/hardware hardening.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • By providing robust threat protection, Defender for Endpoint can prevent downtime caused by security issues. Employees can work without interruptions, leading to increased productivity.
  • By significantly decreasing the frequency of security incidents like malware infections and data breaches, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint can protect your network. The cost of incident response, cleanup, and potential regulatory fines are reduced as a result of the decrease in events.
  • The implementation and configuration of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint may require an initial investment in licensing, training, and deployment, which can temporarily affect ROI.
  • The cost of licensing can be substantial, especially for larger organizations. This cost needs to be factored into the ROI calculation.
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Tenable
  • Nessus certainly has a positive impact while me while performing my job, either as security research, or performing vulnerability assessments for clients. It gives a lot of information about the system/application after performing scans. The number of false positives is also less compared to other vulnerability scanners.
  • The professional edition is very useful as policy templates available in this edition are very handy and useful even to perform compliance scan like PCI DSS scan.
  • Also, the ability to export the scan results into reports in formats like HTML, PDF is very useful which could be for performing system/application reviews.
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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