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Identity threat detection and response · November 2026 Edition
Microsoft Defender for Identity vs CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection
Three of fourteen models named Microsoft Defender for Identity first on the direct prompt; one named CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection. Both were named by all fourteen models and Microsoft Defender for Identity carries 47 labels and CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection 42, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Microsoft Defender for Identity
accepted challengerNamed in four categories this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share26%10%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate6%21%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.
Labels4742A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Microsoft Defender for Identity reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Huntress Managed ITDR was named alongside these two in thirteen of the fourteen direct answers. Huntress Managed ITDR vs Microsoft Defender for Identity · Huntress Managed ITDR vs CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection · Microsoft Defender for Identity vs Silverfort ITDR
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 identity threat 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 for IdentityFirst choices, of fourteen modelsCrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection
Direct311 against CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection
Paraphrase711 against CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection
Comparative33
Budget-constrained101 against Microsoft Defender for Identity · 3 against CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection
Scale-constrained23
Negative002 against Microsoft Defender for Identity · 4 against CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection
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, Microsoft Defender for Identity and CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection were named in the same answer eighty times, of the 147 answers naming Microsoft Defender for Identity and the 126 naming CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection. In those answers CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection took the first choice twelve times and Microsoft Defender for Identity twenty-eight.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Microsoft Defender for Identity and CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection stood in it.
| Model | DirectMD | ParaphraseMD | ComparativeMD | Budget-constrainedMD | Scale-constrainedMD | NegativeMD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | MD | | ||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | MD | MD | | ||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | MD | ||
| Perplexity Sonar | MD | MD | | MD | ||
| Grok 4.20 | | MD | MD | MD | | |
| Mistral Small | MD | MD | MD | | ||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | MD | MD | MD | MD | MD | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | MD | MD | MD | | ||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | MD | MD | | |||
| Kimi K2 | MD | MD | MD | |||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | MD | MD | MD | MD | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | MD | MD | MD | MD | ||
| GPT-6 Luna | MD | | MD | MD | ||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | MD | MD | MD | MD |
MD Microsoft Defender for Identity CrowdStrike Falcon Identity ProtectionMD first choiceMD named as an alternativeMD argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Microsoft Defender for Identity on the left and CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection on the right.
CrowdStrike Falcon Identity ProtectionMD first choiceMD named as an alternativeMD argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Microsoft Defender for Identity on the left and CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Microsoft Defender for Identity and CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection stood in it.
Microsoft Defender for Identity first, CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection an alternative
3 of 14 modelsCrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.DeepSeek V4 FlashMicrosoft Defender for Identity alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection, Huntress Managed ITDR, Silverfort ITDR
Qwen 3.7 FlashMicrosoft Defender for Identity, Microsoft Sentinel, Zeitl alternatives: Keyfactor, Wiz
GLM 4.7 FlashXMicrosoft Defender for Identity alternatives: Delinea Identity Threat Protection, Huntress Managed ITDR, Silverfort ITDR
CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection first, Microsoft Defender for Identity not the choice
1 of 14 modelsMicrosoft Defender for Identity was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-5.4 miniCrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection alternatives: Huntress Managed ITDR, Silverfort ITDR
Neither was the first choice, one was named
6 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Perplexity SonarHuntress Managed ITDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Security, Microsoft Defender for Identity, Silverfort ITDR, Stellar Cyber Open XDR
Grok 4.20Huntress Managed ITDR alternatives: BeyondTrust Platform, CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection, Delinea Identity Threat Protection, Microsoft Entra ID, SentinelOne Singularity Identity, Silverfort ITDR
Mistral SmallHuntress Managed ITDR alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Identity, SentinelOne Singularity Identity, Silverfort ITDR
Llama 4 MaverickHuntress Managed ITDR alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Identity, SentinelOne Singularity Identity, Varonis Platform
Kimi K2Huntress Managed ITDR alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Identity, Silverfort ITDR, Sophos ITDR
MiniMax M2.5Huntress Managed ITDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection, Microsoft Defender for Identity, Secfolio, Sophos ITDR
Neither was named
4 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5Netwrix ITDR alternatives: Huntress Managed ITDR, Stellar Cyber Open XDR
Gemini 3.5 FlashCrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen Identity Protection alternatives: Huntress Managed ITDR, Microsoft Defender for Identity / Entra ID Protection, Silverfort ITDR
GPT-6 LunaHuntress Managed ITDR alternatives: Falcon Identity Protection, Microsoft Defender, Semperis Directory Services Protector
Muse Glimmer 30BMicrosoft Entra ID alternatives: CrowdStrike, Huntress Managed ITDR, SentinelOne Singularity Identity, Silverfort ITDR
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 Identity leads by six points.
Microsoft Defender for Identity6%#2 of 6
CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection0%#5 of 6Mid-marketThe figures above
Microsoft Defender for Identity leads by sixteen points.
Microsoft Defender for Identity26%#2 of 12
CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection10%#3 of 12Enterprise
Microsoft Defender for Identity leads by six points.
Microsoft Defender for Identity37%#1 of 11
CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection31%#2 of 11What the models said about Microsoft Defender for Identity
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.
“Microsoft Defender for Identity in particular is repeatedly flagged for needed improvements in alert tuning, agent flexibility, internal IP handling and technical support to reduce false positives.” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · soft negative
“if your requirements depend on unsupported integrations or older infrastructure... lists no VPN integration or syslog notifications” GPT-6 Luna · negative prompt · soft negative
“Microsoft Defender for Identity (but requires E5 licensing)” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · soft negative
“the best ITDR solution today is Microsoft Defender for Identity (or Microsoft Entra ID Protection) if you're already on Microsoft 365 / Entra ID” GLM 4.7 FlashX · direct prompt · first choice
“If you're already a Microsoft shop, this is often "free" (bundled) — the lowest-friction option with the deepest Microsoft-native telemetry” DeepSeek V4 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Highly rated and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft environments, making it a strong choice if you already use Microsoft 365 or Azure.” Mistral Small · paraphrase prompt · first choice
What the models said about CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Avoid enterprise-priced solutions like Silverfort, CrowdStrike Falcon Identity, and SentinelOne Singularity Identity” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · hard negative
“have been criticized for being enterprise-heavy, with high per-identity costs ... These can be overkill for mid-market companies” Mistral Small · negative prompt · soft negative
“Maximum value requires broader Falcon platform investment and premium pricing compared to standalone ITDR.” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · soft negative
“If your threat model prioritizes lateral movement & endpoint attacks: Consider CrowdStrike Falcon Identity or SentinelOne Singularity” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Best overall for most mid-market companies with an existing security team: CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen Identity Security” GPT-5.4 mini · direct prompt · first choice
“If you already use a major EDR platform (like CrowdStrike or Microsoft Defender XDR), test their identity module first.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
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.