Microsoft Defender · 7 categories · RankedMicrosoft Defender for Cloud
486Judge labels
144First choices
44Negative labels
12 of 12Models named it
7Categories
September 2026 Edition. Every number here is derived from the raw labels under vendor table vv2026-09.2, every buyer segment counted.
Best standing
50% in Endpoint protection for small business buyers
Rank 2 of 57 in the mid-market standingendorsed leader
3 of 12 models made it the first choice on the direct prompt; 4% of its 47 labels there were negative.
By buyer segmentStrongest at small business.
Small business1 of 67
46%61 labels
endorsed leader
Mid-market2 of 57
30%47 labels
endorsed leader
Enterprise2 of 35
28%49 labels
accepted challenger
In cnapp · each standing computed within its segment · bars are 0 to 100 · the accent bar is the product's own best reading
Standing by category
Every category where a model named Microsoft Defender for Cloud for a mid-market B2B company. Share is first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts; rank is within every product named in that category.
| Category | Function | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Quadrant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud-native application protection | Cloud and infrastructure | 30% | 2 of 57 | 4% | 47 | endorsed leader |
| Endpoint protection | IT operations and endpoint | 22% | 1 of 99 | 0% | 13 | accepted challenger |
| Cloud security posture management | Cloud and infrastructure | 14% | 3 of 53 | 15% | 53 | accepted challenger |
| Endpoint detection and response | Security operations | 14% | 4 of 54 | 0% | 10 | accepted challenger |
| Container and Kubernetes security | Cloud and infrastructure | 0% | 53 of 78 | 33% | 3 | under 10 labels · led by Aqua Security at 18% |
| Vulnerability management platforms | Security operations | 0% | 26 of 80 | 0% | 2 | under 10 labels · led by Rapid7 InsightVM at 45% |
| Extended detection and response | Security operations | 0% | 33 of 61 | 0% | 1 | under 10 labels · led by Microsoft Defender XDR at 63% |
Movement
This is the first edition on this tier, so no move can be computed for Microsoft Defender for Cloud yet. From the next edition this section shows, per buyer segment, whether its share moved by more than the measured noise floor.
By model
How each model treated Microsoft Defender for Cloud across every prompt where it was named for a mid-market B2B company. Twelve models, six prompts per category.
| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Negative | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Grok 4.1 Fast | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
| Mistral Small | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Kimi K2 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 16 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
By framing
Which of the six questions produced the naming. By model says how often; this says asked what. The first-choice count on the right carries the marks of the models that produced it.
FramingLabels by classFirst choices
Direct84 labels35
Paraphrase81 labels24
Comparative93 labels26not counted in share
Budget-constrained112 labels77
Scale-constrained42 labels8
Negative74 labels16not counted in share
First choiceAlternativeMentionNegative486 labels in all, every segment counted; 144 of the 186 first choices count toward share, since the comparative and negative framings do not. The bar is one segment per label class, to scale within the framing.
What the models said for it
Verbatim evidence the judge attached to positive labels.
“Wiz and Microsoft Defender for Cloud are the top recommended CNAPPs due to their balance of features, ease of use, and strong mid-market fit” Mistral Small · CNAPP · direct prompt · first choice
“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 · Endpoint protection · budget prompt · first choice
“the best EDR choice is usually Microsoft Defender for Business if you already use Microsoft 365, because it has the lowest entry price” Perplexity Sonar · EDR · budget prompt · first choice
“Best if you want CSPM as part of a broader CNAPP platform.... Choose Microsoft Defender for Cloud if you want a multicloud CNAPP” GPT-5.4 mini · CSPM · comparative prompt · first choice
And against it
Verbatim evidence attached to negative labels. A warning on a product with few labels is a warning; on a product with many, it is one voice among them.
“Avoid relying exclusively on AWS Security Hub, Azure Defender, or Google Security Command Center as your primary CNAPP.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · CNAPP · negative prompt · hard negative
“Ecosystem lock-in risk: While functional for Azure-heavy environments, native-first platforms create gravitational pull toward a single cloud ecosystem” Kimi K2 · CSPM · negative prompt · soft negative
“there are concerns about neutrality and potential vendor lock-in. Buyers with multi-cloud needs ... should negotiate strong roadmap-protection language” Mistral Small · CSPM · negative prompt · soft negative
“Reviewers of Microsoft Defender for Cloud note the UI can feel cluttered and policy customization can be cumbersome.” GPT-5.4 mini · CSPM · negative prompt · soft negative
Named alongside
The products named in the same answers as Microsoft Defender for Cloud, over the 478 answers that named it. Took the first choice instead counts the answers where the other product was the first choice and Microsoft Defender for Cloud was named but was not.
ProductSame answerTook the first choice insteadHead to head
A head-to-head page exists where both products are in a category's top three. The other rows are the same fact without a page behind them, so they link to the product instead.
What carried it into the answer
The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Microsoft Defender for Cloud. A fact about retrieval, not a lever on the model.
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list, four of the twelve in this edition, so these counts come from 413 of the 478 answers that named Microsoft Defender for Cloud and are not a share of its labels.
Domains cited
cyberpress.org304
gbhackers.com259
cybersecuritynews.com200
expertinsights.com171
cloudaware.com140
g2.com102
orca.security101
sentinelone.com97
gartner.com91
aikido.dev88
1,553 of the 1,553 domain citations in answers naming Microsoft Defender for Cloud came from somebody else's page.
Pages cited
Pages are listed as the models cited them.
Names read as Microsoft Defender for Cloud
What the judge wrote, as written, with how often. The vendor table decides that these count as Microsoft Defender for Cloud; a claim can dispute any of them.
Microsoft Defender for Business 22Defender for Cloud 5Microsoft Defender for Cloud (Free Tier) 2Azure Defender 1Azure Security Center 1Defender for Business 1Microsoft Defender 1Microsoft Defender CSPM 1Microsoft Defender for Business (or Defender for Endpoint Plan 1) 1Microsoft Defender for Cloud (MDC) 1Microsoft/Lacework Polygraph Data Platform 1
Is this your product?
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