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Cloud security posture management · November 2026 Edition

Orca Security vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Five of fourteen models named Orca Security first on the direct prompt; one named Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Both were named by all fourteen models and Orca Security carries 50 labels and Microsoft Defender for Cloud 67, 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 share18%15%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate8%10%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#3A position in a field of 13; printed, not drawn.
Labels5067A 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 fourteen of the fourteen direct answers. Wiz vs Orca Security · Wiz vs Microsoft Defender for Cloud · Orca Security vs Prowler

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 security posture management 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
Direct51
Paraphrase42
Comparative50
Budget-constrained163 against Orca Security · 1 against Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Scale-constrained10
Negative101 against Orca Security · 6 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.

Both were the first choice

1 of 14 modelsThe answer named them together, and the judge labeled each a first choice.
Kimi K2Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Orca Security alternatives: Wiz

Orca Security first, Microsoft Defender for Cloud an alternative

4 of 14 modelsMicrosoft Defender for Cloud was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Gemini 3.5 FlashOrca Security, Wiz alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security, Datadog Cloud Security Management
DeepSeek V4 FlashOrca Security alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Wiz
MiniMax M2.5Orca Security, Wiz alternatives: Prisma Cloud
Muse Glimmer 30BOrca Security, Wiz alternatives: AWS Security Hub, CrowdStrike, Intruder, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, SentinelOne Singularity CSPM

Neither was the first choice, one was named

9 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Claude Haiku 4.5Wiz alternatives: Aikido Security, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Orca Security
GPT-5.4 miniWiz alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Orca Security
Perplexity SonarWiz alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Rapid7 InsightCloudSec
Grok 4.20Wiz alternatives: Lacework FortiCNAPP, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Orca Security, Prisma Cloud
Mistral SmallWiz alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Llama 4 MaverickWiz alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Qwen 3.7 FlashWiz alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Orca Security, Snyk
GLM 4.7 FlashXWiz alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Prisma Cloud, Uptycs
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 twenty-six points.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud33%#1 of 11
Orca Security7%#6 of 11
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
The order flips: Orca Security leads at mid-market.
Orca Security18%#2 of 13
Microsoft Defender for Cloud15%#3 of 13
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Microsoft Defender for Cloud leads at enterprise.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud10%#3 of 9
Orca Security4%#4 of 9
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. Two of two in this category shown.

“Premium options like Wiz, Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, Orca Security, or Lacework ... making them unsuitable for tight budgets.” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · soft negative
“Wiz or Orca are the most commonly recommended starting points for agentless, prioritized risk visibility” Muse Glimmer 30B · direct 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. Two of two in this category shown.

“If you are not primarily an Azure shop ... recommend avoiding blind adoption due to limited effectiveness outside the Microsoft ecosystem” Mistral Small · negative prompt · soft negative
“G2 notes Microsoft Defender for Cloud "can be expensive for small to medium businesses" on paid plans, so stick to the Foundational tier” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · soft negative
Also compared

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.