Microsoft Defender XDR vs. Sophos Intercept X

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Defender XDR
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft 365 Defender combines SIEM and XDR capabilities for Microsoft 365 environments, encompassing threat detection, post-breach detection, automated investigation, and response for endpoints. Additionally, it protects cloud apps, emails and documents, and employee identities.N/A
Sophos Intercept X
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Sophos Endpoint Protection (Sophos EPP) with Intercept X is an endpoint security product providing an antivirus / antimalware solution that when upgraded with Intercept X or Intercept X Advanced provides advanced threat detection and EDR capabilities.
$28
per year per user
Pricing
Microsoft Defender XDRSophos Intercept X
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Intercept X Advanced
$28
per year per user
Intercept X Advanced with XDR
$48
per year per user
Sophos Managed Threat Response
$79
per year per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft Defender XDRSophos Intercept X
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPricing is for a 3-year commitment. Government and Education pricing available.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft Defender XDRSophos Intercept X
Considered Both Products
Microsoft Defender XDR
Chose Microsoft Defender XDR
We use Microsoft products and have a large group of users. It works easily with our system. There is a great deal of knowledge base out there, often a little overwhelming. But we feel it's the best tool for our network to use parallel to the rest of our back-end.
Chose Microsoft Defender XDR
We selected the Microsoft 365 Defender as we using Microsoft environment and integration with Microsoft 365 Services. Also its provide single dashboard from where we can manage and monitor security across different services, Which streamlines our security operations and …
Chose Microsoft Defender XDR
We've compared the solution to probably 5-10 others having selected just a handful of the more recent ones. Using this with one other, we feel like we've covered most areas as possible. The integration with the Microsoft stack cannot be beaten and it just feels natural to use …
Chose Microsoft Defender XDR
We liked the deep device integration and active threat monitoring for Sophos but ultimately we went with Microsoft 365 Defender integrated into our Microsoft 365 tenant because we could negotiate favorable pricing along with our 365 licensing. The additional expense of Sophos …
Sophos Intercept X
Chose Sophos Intercept X
We compared some different system of antivirus and endpoint protection system trend micro seems very good but have a high cost compared to features. Microsoft 365 Defender was good, I think, but we do not use Microsoft 365, so the total cost is very high.WatchGuard seems at a …
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Features
Microsoft Defender XDRSophos Intercept X
Endpoint Security
Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Defender XDR
-
Ratings
Sophos Intercept X
9.2
19 Ratings
8% above category average
Anti-Exploit Technology00 Ratings8.619 Ratings
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)00 Ratings9.619 Ratings
Centralized Management00 Ratings10.019 Ratings
Hybrid Deployment Support00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Infection Remediation00 Ratings9.819 Ratings
Vulnerability Management00 Ratings8.44 Ratings
Malware Detection00 Ratings9.919 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Microsoft Defender XDRSophos Intercept X
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
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.2 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 XDRSophos Intercept X
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(59 ratings)
9.3
(36 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(3 ratings)
9.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(1 ratings)
8.1
(12 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft Defender XDRSophos Intercept X
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
**Well Suited:**- **Enterprise Environments:** - Ideal for large-scale enterprise environments with a diverse IT infrastructure, offering comprehensive coverage across endpoints, networks, and cloud services.- **Integrated Microsoft Ecosystem:** - Excellently suited for organizations heavily invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, providing seamless integration with other Microsoft security tools and services.- **Proactive Threat Detection:** - Well-suited for organizations that prioritize proactive threat detection and response, leveraging advanced analytics and machine learning for early anomaly identification.- **Regulated Industries:** - Particularly beneficial for businesses in regulated industries, such as finance or healthcare, where compliance with stringent data protection regulations is crucial.**Less Appropriate:**- **Small Businesses with Limited Resources:** - Might be less appropriate for small businesses with limited resources or those with a simpler IT infrastructure, as the comprehensive features may exceed their specific needs.- **Highly Specialized Security Requirements:** - In scenarios where a business has highly specialized security requirements that necessitate specific, niche solutions, Microsoft Defender XDR might be less flexible compared to specialized security tools.- **Non-Windows Environments:** - Less appropriate for organizations predominantly using non-Windows operating systems, as it is optimized for integration within the Microsoft ecosystem.- **Organizations with Strict Bandwidth Constraints:** - In environments with strict bandwidth constraints, continuous monitoring and analysis by Defender XDR could potentially impact network performance.
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Sophos
To be frank, this product is fairly expensive. So I would recommend this to companies that are mid-sized or larger to condone the cost of the purchase. It does save me a significant amount of time in my day - being able to glance at the dashboard and see if there are any outstanding issues that require my attention, as not much digging must be done to accomplish this. So for our company, with a short-staffed IT department, it's incredibly helpful to us. We also qualify for Educational pricing which brings the cost down - which helps tremendously
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Pros
Microsoft
  • I am a huge fan of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint within Microsoft 365 Defender. It is one of the most professional and reliable EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) tool out there providing excellent features like vulnerability management, baseline assessments, device discovery etc.
  • Microsoft Defender for Office365 (Email Security) is yet another class apart product in this Microsoft 365 Defenderr stack. It is one of the easiest to use tools among all the other Microsoft security products yet at the same time offers such a wide variety of features like threat policies (anti-spam, anti-malware, anti-phishing etc.), attack simulation, message trace etc.
  • Incident Management is the main USP of Microsoft 365 Defender due to which it can actually be considered as a true XDR. The intuitive and user-friendly UI, the very useful attack story view, broad classifications, automated investigation etc. etc. etc.; the list of awesome features just goes on.
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Sophos
  • Sophos Intercept X is great at preventing malware infections and rolling back their effects. I have seen this happen hundreds of times since we installed it
  • When combined with Sophos Central, you have an easy to use dashboard where you can manage all installations from a single pane of glass.
  • It's easy to deploy on machines and stays updated.
  • Good reporting features including alerts sent to the admin if there's ever something wrong with it.
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Cons
Microsoft
  • Setting up Microsoft 365 Defender integration with other tools or platforms might be challenging and require technical know-how.
  • Improving its third-party security tools integration and simplifying the setup process would offer a smoother experience for security teams.
  • A simpler way to improve security operations is by having a more cohesive way of detecting and responding to threats across different security solutions.
Read full review
Sophos
  • Sophos OOTB policies are very strict and they don't offer anything less strict without you creating new custom policies. I'm sure this is deliberate because the product starts you out in the safest way possible but it means that you will have lots of calls to your tech support desk when you first deploy it unless you do somewhat extensive testing beforehand.
  • Sophos Intercept X is currently broken (at least the DLP component) by having secure boot turned on in the UEFI/BIOS. If any user wants to be able to write data to a USB drive or floppy from their PC (yes we still have a couple users who need to use floppies) we have to turn off secure boot on their PC, even if the DLP policy for that user/PC combination specifies that the user and PC are allowed to write to USB/floppy. This would be a very serious problem if it weren't for the fact that we have very few users who need to write files to USB. For us it's OK but I bet it would be a deal-breaker for others.
  • I don't see a whole lot of evidence that Intercept X is any different than any other anti-virus, so maybe their admin alerts just don't clearly identify when they have identified a zero-day threat or maybe we just haven't had any zero-day threats.
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Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Sophos
We have gotten a great product for the price. Easy to maintain and set up on new devices. Support is great and easy to work with and understand.
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Usability
Microsoft
Too complicated sometimes, doesn't explain the meaning of certain features or problems encountered.
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Sophos
Very easy to use
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Support Rating
Microsoft
Microsoft Support is really good in calls and uptime availability and they are helpful in understanding and fixing issues and reporting the bugs, also the first line support is amazing in fixing bugs and releasing the new patches.
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Sophos
Most of the support reps are fantastic. There have been a few though that have had to be escalated via Account Manager when they haven't followed up but this is a rare instance, and often followed up by the Support Manager for APAC.
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In-Person Training
Microsoft
Good and hard to find someonme who can explain everything for you beside Microsoft they provide you everything you need.
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Sophos
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Microsoft
Microsoft Provides a good training for the Microsoft 365 Defender and has a good learning paths to learn and take the exams and get your Certifications.
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Sophos
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Sophos
Best thing was the help pushing out via group policy and was able to get instructions for that on sophos site
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Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
We used the MS XDR as this is a bundle that we bought when we subscribed to the M365 platform, so having it was a bonus as we stated earlier, but due to limitation on licenses in Sentinelone, having this is just a blessing for us, so we can reduce around 200 licenses and can utilize it for other users
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Sophos
Webroot Endpoint Protection is not even in the same league as Sophos Intercept-X. I have tested and compared both sides by side, run simulations and it's not even close. Plus the Sophos central management is so much better. Easier to view user activities and apply policies and remediate threats. Sophos is the clear winner between these two products.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Depending on the licensing you pay for, Defender is included and a great ROI cost wise
  • In terms of time spent, Defender can be a large time suck but yield positive results for end users
  • Generally, it pays to learn and train in Defender BEFORE there is a problem and you need to really use it.
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Sophos
  • Once our technical and commercial areas got certified, the ROI over the time spent, is great. Actual customers, and/or new ones with other tools, feel safe and advised, once they get in touch with us.
  • When Sophos EndPoint is being compared against Web Management Tools (competitors), we have failed to deliver, nevertheless, there is a version of Sophos Central (Cloud) which achieves this requirement at 100% and more, since is Cloud Based (on AWS).
  • We are grateful to be on Sophos "Radar" as a Platinum Partner, and "The Americas" valued partner, we have seen our business grow, thanks to this kind of technology, throughout the years.
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ScreenShots

Microsoft Defender XDR Screenshots

Screenshot of AH Advanced ModeScreenshot of AH Guided modeScreenshot of CD exampleScreenshot of CD Supported actions

Sophos Intercept X Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of