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Endpoint protection · October 2026 Edition
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Sophos Intercept X
Three of fourteen models named Microsoft Defender for Endpoint first on the direct prompt; two named Sophos Intercept X. Both were named by all fourteen models and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint carries 40 labels and Sophos Intercept X 42, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in seven categories this edition.
Named in six categories this edition.
First-choice share22%5%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate5%12%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#5A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels4042A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.CrowdStrike Falcon was named alongside these two in ten of the fourteen direct answers. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Bitdefender GravityZone · Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud · Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs CrowdStrike Falcon
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen 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 fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Microsoft Defender for EndpointFirst choices, of fourteen modelsSophos Intercept X
Direct32
Paraphrase51
Comparative20
Budget-constrained40
Scale-constrained10
Negative002 against Microsoft Defender for Endpoint · 5 against Sophos Intercept X
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Sophos Intercept X were named in the same answer 138 times, of the 307 answers naming Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and the 275 naming Sophos Intercept X. In those answers Sophos Intercept X took the first choice five times and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint forty-six.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Sophos Intercept X stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | | | |
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | ||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | |||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | |||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | | ||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | ||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | ||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | |||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | | |
| GPT-6 Luna | | | | |||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | |
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Sophos Intercept X first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on the left and Sophos Intercept X on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Sophos Intercept X stood in it.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint first, Sophos Intercept X an alternative
3 of 14 modelsSophos Intercept X was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Grok 4.1 FastMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
Qwen 3.7 FlashMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint, Sophos Intercept X, Trend Vision One
Kimi K2Microsoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity
Sophos Intercept X first, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint an alternative
2 of 14 modelsMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Claude Haiku 4.5Sophos Intercept X alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
Gemini 3.5 FlashSophos Intercept X alternatives: Huntress Managed EDR, Microsoft Defender for Business / Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity
Neither was the first choice, one was named
7 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.GPT-5.4 miniCrowdStrike Falcon alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint, Sophos Intercept X
Perplexity SonarBitdefender GravityZone alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
DeepSeek V4 FlashSentinelOne Singularity alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Business / Endpoint, Sophos Intercept X
GLM 4.7 FlashXCrowdStrike Falcon alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Sophos Intercept X
MiniMax M2.5Bitdefender GravityZone, CrowdStrike Falcon alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Sophos Intercept X
GPT-6 LunaCrowdStrike Falcon alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity
Muse Glimmer 30BBitdefender GravityZone Business Security, Microsoft Defender for Business / Defender for Endpoint alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
Neither was named
2 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Mistral SmallBitdefender GravityZone, CrowdStrike Falcon alternatives: Acronis Cyber Protect
Llama 4 MaverickBitdefender GravityZone
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
Sophos Intercept X leads by three points.
Sophos Intercept X7%#4 of 12Microsoft Defender for Endpoint3%#6 of 12Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint leads at mid-market.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint22%#1 of 11Sophos Intercept X5%#5 of 11Enterprise
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint leads by forty-four points.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint44%#1 of 9Sophos Intercept X0%#7 of 9What 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. Two of two in this category shown.
“I'd suggest starting with a pilot of Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (if you're in the Microsoft ecosystem) or Bitdefender GravityZone” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Microsoft Defender and Bitdefender are especially recommended for their balance of cost, ease of use, and effectiveness for small businesses.” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice
What the models said about Sophos Intercept X
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of four in this category shown.
“Some platforms like Sophos Endpoint have received complaints about slow performance on older systems and high resource usage affecting productivity” MiniMax M2.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Platforms like CrowdStrike and Sophos can be prohibitively expensive for smaller organizations” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Good protection but consistent performance hits ... with user complaints about resource usage.” Grok 4.1 Fast · negative prompt · soft negative
“"Best for balanced SMB to mid-market coverage: Sophos Endpoint, strong endpoint protection software for business with simple admin."” Muse Glimmer 30B · paraphrase prompt · first choice
Also compared
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Bitdefender GravityZoneMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs Microsoft Defender for CloudMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs CrowdStrike FalconMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs SentinelOne SingularityMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs SentinelOne Singularity EndpointMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs ESET PROTECTBitdefender GravityZone vs Sophos Intercept XMicrosoft Defender for Cloud vs Sophos Intercept XCrowdStrike Falcon vs Sophos Intercept XSophos Intercept X vs SentinelOne SingularitySophos Intercept X vs SentinelOne Singularity EndpointSophos Intercept X vs ESET PROTECTAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full endpoint protection standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.