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Extended detection and response · October 2026 Edition

Microsoft Defender XDR vs Sophos Intercept X

Five of fourteen models named Microsoft Defender XDR first on the direct prompt; nine named Sophos Intercept X. Microsoft Defender XDR was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Sophos Intercept X by thirteen and Microsoft Defender XDR carries 61 labels and Sophos Intercept X 24, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Microsoft Defender XDR

endorsed leader

Named in seven categories this edition.

Sophos Intercept X

accepted challenger

Named in six categories this edition.

First-choice share40%19%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.

Negative rate15%8%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.

Rank in category#1#2A position in a field of 10; printed, not drawn.

Labels6124A count; the two differ.

The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Microsoft Defender XDR reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.SentinelOne Singularity was named alongside these two in eight of the fourteen direct answers. Microsoft Defender XDR vs CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR · Microsoft Defender XDR vs SentinelOne Singularity · Microsoft Defender XDR vs Stellar Cyber Open XDR

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 extended detection and response 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 XDRFirst choices, of fourteen modelsSophos Intercept X

Direct59

Paraphrase61

Comparative40

Budget-constrained80

Scale-constrained20

Negative009 against Microsoft Defender XDR · 2 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 XDR and Sophos Intercept X were named in the same answer forty-one times, of the 201 answers naming Microsoft Defender XDR and the 275 naming Sophos Intercept X. In those answers Sophos Intercept X took the first choice eight times and Microsoft Defender XDR eighteen.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Microsoft Defender XDR 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 XDR

Sophos Intercept X

first choice

named as an alternative

argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Microsoft Defender XDR 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 XDR and Sophos Intercept X stood in it.

Microsoft Defender XDR first, Sophos Intercept X an alternative

5 of 14 modelsSophos Intercept X was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.

GPT-5.4 miniCrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Microsoft Defender XDR alternatives: Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR

Grok 4.1 FastMicrosoft Defender XDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X

GLM 4.7 FlashXMicrosoft Defender XDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X

MiniMax M2.5Microsoft Defender XDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Sophos Intercept X

GPT-6 LunaMicrosoft Defender XDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR

Sophos Intercept X first, Microsoft Defender XDR an alternative

9 of 14 modelsMicrosoft Defender XDR was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.

Claude Haiku 4.5Sophos Intercept X alternatives: Microsoft Defender XDR, Rapid7 InsightIDR, SentinelOne Singularity

Gemini 3.5 FlashSophos Intercept X, Sophos MDR alternatives: Cynet 360 Auto XDR, Microsoft Defender for Business / Defender XDR, SentinelOne Singularity, Stellar Cyber Open XDR

Perplexity SonarSophos Intercept X alternatives: SentinelOne Singularity, Stellar Cyber Open XDR

Mistral SmallSophos Intercept X alternatives: Stellar Cyber Open XDR

DeepSeek V4 FlashSophos Intercept X alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Microsoft Defender XDR, SentinelOne Singularity, Stellar Cyber Open XDR

Llama 4 MaverickSophos Intercept X, Stellar Cyber Open XDR alternatives: Microsoft Defender XDR

Qwen 3.7 FlashSophos Intercept X alternatives: Microsoft Defender XDR, SentinelOne Singularity

Kimi K2SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Muse Glimmer 30BSophos Intercept X, Stellar Cyber Open XDR alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone XDR, Microsoft Defender XDR, Ontinue

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 XDR leads by nineteen points.

Microsoft Defender XDR#1 of 11

Sophos Intercept X#6 of 11

The full small business standing →

Mid-marketThe figures above

Microsoft Defender XDR leads by twenty-one points.

Microsoft Defender XDR#1 of 10

Sophos Intercept X#2 of 10

The full mid-market standing →

Enterprise

Microsoft Defender XDR leads by forty-four points.

Microsoft Defender XDR#1 of 8

Sophos Intercept X#– of 8

The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Microsoft Defender XDR

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

“it is recommended to avoid buying into the full enterprise-grade Microsoft Defender XDR” Llama 4 Maverick · negative prompt · hard negative

“Microsoft documents that some Defender TVM tables are not ingested into Microsoft Sentinel, so queries can behave differently across platforms.” GPT-5.4 mini · negative prompt · soft negative

“its correlation capabilities deteriorate significantly if your environment isn't fully integrated into the Microsoft 365 and Azure ecosystem” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative

“Microsoft Defender XDR is the most cost-effective entry into enterprise-grade XDR for organizations already running Microsoft 365.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · budget prompt · first choice

“I'd recommend starting with Microsoft Defender XDR if you're already in the Microsoft ecosystem, or CrowdStrike Falcon” MiniMax M2.5 · paraphrase prompt · first choice

“For a company on a tight budget, the best value is usually Microsoft Defender—especially if you already use Microsoft 365.” GPT-6 Luna · 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. Two of two in this category shown.

“For most mid-market B2B companies: Start with Sophos Intercept X/XDR. It offers the best balance of prevention, ease of use, and optional managed services” Qwen 3.7 Flash · direct prompt · first choice

“Sophos Intercept X or SentinelOne Singularity offer the best balance of protection, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · first choice

Also compared

Microsoft Defender XDR vs CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR Microsoft Defender XDR vs SentinelOne Singularity Microsoft Defender XDR vs Stellar Cyber Open XDR Sophos Intercept X vs CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR Sophos Intercept X vs SentinelOne Singularity Sophos Intercept X vs Stellar Cyber Open XDR All ten head-to-head pages and the full XDR 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.