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Index › IT › Cloud and infrastructure › CNAPP › Orca Security vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Cloud-native application protection · November 2026 Edition

Orca Security vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Six of fourteen models named Orca Security first on the direct prompt; zero named Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Both were named by all fourteen models and Orca Security carries 58 labels and Microsoft Defender for Cloud 59, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Orca Security

accepted challenger

Named in eleven categories this edition.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

accepted challenger

Named in fifteen categories this edition.

First-choice share23%17%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate10%7%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#3A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels5859A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Orca Security reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Wiz was named alongside these two in twelve of the fourteen direct answers. Wiz vs Orca Security · Wiz vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud · Orca Security vs Aikido Security

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 cloud-native application 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.
Orca SecurityFirst choices, of fourteen modelsMicrosoft Defender for Cloud
Direct60
Paraphrase40
Comparative30
Budget-constrained094 against Orca Security
Scale-constrained20
Negative002 against Orca Security · 4 against Microsoft Defender for Cloud
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 November 2026 Edition, Orca Security and Microsoft Defender for Cloud were named in the same answer 275 times, of the 426 answers naming Orca Security and the 719 naming Microsoft Defender for Cloud. In those answers Microsoft Defender for Cloud took the first choice forty-one times and Orca Security forty-seven.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Orca Security and Microsoft Defender for Cloud stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
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
Orca Security Microsoft Defender for Cloud first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Orca Security on the left and Microsoft Defender for Cloud on the right.

The direct prompt

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

Orca Security first, Microsoft Defender for Cloud an alternative

6 of 14 modelsMicrosoft Defender for Cloud was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Claude Haiku 4.5Orca Security alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Sysdig Secure
Gemini 3.5 FlashOrca Security, Wiz alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security, Datadog Cloud Security, Sysdig Secure, Upwind
Llama 4 MaverickOrca Security alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Wiz
Qwen 3.7 FlashOrca Security, Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud alternatives: Sysdig Secure, Tenable Cloud Security
Kimi K2Orca Security alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security, Wiz
Muse Glimmer 30BOrca Security, Wiz alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, SentinelOne Singularity Cloud Security, Sysdig Secure

Neither was the first choice, one was named

8 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
GPT-5.4 miniWiz alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security, Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Perplexity SonarWiz alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Orca Security, Sysdig Secure
Grok 4.20Wiz alternatives: FortiCNAPP, Orca Security, Sysdig Secure
Mistral SmallWiz alternatives: Orca Security, Sysdig Secure, TigerGate
DeepSeek V4 FlashWiz alternatives: Orca Security
GLM 4.7 FlashXWiz alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Orca Security, Tenable Cloud Security, Tenable One
MiniMax M2.5Wiz alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Orca Security, Prisma Cloud
GPT-6 LunaWiz alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Orca Security

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 fourteen points.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud30%#1 of 14
Orca Security16%#3 of 14
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Orca Security leads at mid-market.
Orca Security23%#2 of 12
Microsoft Defender for Cloud17%#3 of 12
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Microsoft Defender for Cloud leads at enterprise.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud20%#2 of 11
Orca Security4%#4 of 11
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Orca Security

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

“Avoid enterprise-only CNAPPs (e.g., Wiz, Prisma Cloud, Orca)” GLM 4.7 FlashX · budget prompt · hard negative
“These are top-tier but expensive” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · hard negative
“a purely agentless posture can leave gaps in runtime visibility, workload-level telemetry and certain advanced detection scenarios” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · soft negative
“Choose Orca Security if you want the fastest deployment, want to avoid managing agents, and want predictable pricing.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“Want fastest time-to-value, zero deployment friction, and best risk visualization | Wiz or Orca” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice

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. Three of three in this category shown.

“Some AI model recommendations advise avoiding it as a primary CNAPP for heavy multi-cloud enterprises due to limitations in full runtime/workload protection at ultra-large scales” Mistral Small · negative prompt · soft negative
“Standalone CNAPP value is weaker than Wiz or Prisma Cloud... Organizations running primarily on AWS or GCP should not choose Defender as their primary CNAPP.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“I'd suggest starting with Microsoft Defender for Cloud if you're on Azure, or Aikido Security for a more cloud-agnostic approach.” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared
Wiz vs Orca SecurityWiz vs Microsoft Defender for CloudOrca Security vs Aikido SecurityOrca Security vs Palo Alto Networks Cortex CloudOrca Security vs FortiCNAPPOrca Security vs Prisma CloudMicrosoft Defender for Cloud vs Aikido SecurityMicrosoft Defender for Cloud vs Palo Alto Networks Cortex CloudMicrosoft Defender for Cloud vs FortiCNAPPMicrosoft Defender for Cloud vs Prisma CloudAll twenty-one head-to-head pages and the full CNAPP 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.