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Endpoint protection · September 2026 Edition

Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Zero of twelve models named Microsoft Defender for Cloud first on the direct prompt; four named Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Microsoft Defender for Cloud was named by ten of the twelve models and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint by twelve and Microsoft Defender for Cloud carries 13 labels and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint 38, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

accepted challenger

Named in seven categories this edition.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

accepted challenger

Named in five categories this edition.

First-choice share22%18%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate0%5%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#3A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels1338A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Microsoft Defender for Cloud reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Bitdefender GravityZone was named alongside these two in nine of the twelve direct answers. Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Bitdefender GravityZone · Bitdefender GravityZone vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the endpoint protection page.

By framing

How many of the twelve models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Microsoft Defender for CloudFirst choices, of twelve modelsMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Direct04
Paraphrase12
Comparative03
Budget-constrained102
Scale-constrained01
Negative002 against Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Bars are first choices, 0 to 12 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to twelve.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint stood in it.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint first, Microsoft Defender for Cloud not the choice

4 of 12 modelsMicrosoft Defender for Cloud was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
GPT-5.4 miniCrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint, Sophos Endpoint
DeepSeek V4 FlashMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
Qwen 3.7 FlashMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
GLM 4.7 FlashXMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: Bitdefender, CrowdStrike Falcon, Cynet, SentinelOne, Sophos Intercept X

Neither was the first choice, one was named

4 of 12 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Perplexity SonarBitdefender GravityZone alternatives: Cynet, Huntress Managed EDR, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Sophos Endpoint
Grok 4.1 FastBitdefender GravityZone alternatives: ESET PROTECT, Huntress, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Sophos Intercept X
Mistral SmallBitdefender GravityZone alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint
MiniMax M2.5Bitdefender GravityZone, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Sophos Endpoint

Neither was named

4 of 12 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5Sophos Endpoint / Intercept X alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, Check Point Harmony Endpoint
Gemini 3.5 FlashSentinelOne Singularity alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon, Huntress, Microsoft Defender for Business / Defender for Endpoint, Sophos Intercept X + Sophos MDR
Llama 4 MaverickBitdefender GravityZone
Kimi K2Microsoft Defender for Business / Endpoint alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, SentinelOne Singularity

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Microsoft Defender for Cloud leads by fifty points.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud50%#1 of 13
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint0%#– of 13
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Microsoft Defender for Cloud leads by four points.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud22%#1 of 12
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint18%#3 of 12
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is not named for this buyer.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint43%#1 of 10
Microsoft Defender for Cloud—not named
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. One of one in this category shown.

“If you're already using Microsoft 365, Defender for Business often provides the best value since it may already be included in your subscription.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · budget prompt · first choice

What the models said about Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of three in this category shown.

“standalone Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (Plan 2) ... operate like a black box that spits out thousands of highly technical alerts” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“try Microsoft Defender for Endpoint first—it is a world-class product—and only pay extra for a third-party vendor if you find a gap it cannot fill.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
“If you're already on Microsoft 365 E5 → Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is the clear winner (included, integrated, and strong).” GLM 4.7 FlashX · paraphrase prompt · first choice
Also compared
Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Bitdefender GravityZoneBitdefender GravityZone vs Microsoft Defender for EndpointThe full endpoint protection standing

Comparisons are drawn for the top three products in each category. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.