# Endpoint protection for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "endpoint protection platform" and as "business antivirus and endpoint security tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/operations/endpoint-protection/2026-10/smb

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/operations/endpoint-protection/smb/index.md

**Standing:** Microsoft Defender for Cloud leads with 50% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 60 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Microsoft Defender for Cloud](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/microsoft-defender-for-cloud/index.md) | 50% | 2% | 53 |
| 2 | [Bitdefender GravityZone](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/bitdefender-gravityzone/index.md) | 13% | 7% | 42 |
| 3 | [Huntress Managed EDR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/huntress-managed-edr/index.md) | 10% | 0% | 31 |
| 5 | [Sophos Intercept X](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sophos-intercept-x/index.md) | 7% | 13% | 38 |
| 6 | [Microsoft Defender for Endpoint](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/microsoft-defender-for-endpoint/index.md) | 3% | 23% | 13 |
| 7 | [SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sentinelone-singularity-endpoint/index.md) | 2% | 21% | 19 |
| 12 | [ESET PROTECT](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/eset-protect/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 23 |
| 13 | [CrowdStrike Falcon Go](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/crowdstrike-falcon-go/index.md) | 0% | 6% | 18 |
| 14 | [SentinelOne Singularity](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sentinelone-singularity/index.md) | 0% | 19% | 21 |
| 46 | [CrowdStrike](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/crowdstrike/index.md) | 0% | 42% | 12 |
| 70 | [CrowdStrike Falcon](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/crowdstrike-falcon/index.md) | 0% | 67% | 18 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 70 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Microsoft Defender for Cloud; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone, CrowdStrike Falcon, Huntress Managed EDR
- GPT-5.4 mini: Bitdefender GravityZone, Microsoft Defender for Cloud; alternatives SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Huntress Managed EDR; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone, CrowdStrike Falcon Go, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, SentinelOne Singularity
- Perplexity Sonar: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone, Huntress Managed EDR, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint, Sophos Intercept X
- Grok 4.20: Sophos Intercept X; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone, ESET PROTECT, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, SentinelOne Singularity
- Mistral Small: Bitdefender GravityZone Small Business Security; alternatives Avast Business Antivirus, Microsoft Defender for Cloud
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Microsoft Defender for Cloud; alternatives CrowdStrike Falcon Go, Huntress Managed EDR
- Llama 4 Maverick: Bitdefender GravityZone Small Business Security; alternatives Avast Business, Microsoft Defender
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone, Huntress Managed EDR, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint, Sophos Intercept X
- Kimi K2: Microsoft Defender for Cloud; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone, CrowdStrike Falcon, Huntress Managed EDR, SentinelOne Singularity
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Sophos Intercept X; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone Small Business Security, CrowdStrike Falcon Go, SentinelOne Singularity
- MiniMax M2.5: Bitdefender GravityZone Small Business Security; alternatives ESET PROTECT, Trend Micro Worry-Free Services
- GPT-6 Luna: Microsoft Defender for Cloud; alternatives Microsoft 365, Sophos MDR
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Microsoft Defender for Cloud; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone Small Business Security, Huntress Managed EDR

## Sources the answers cite

76 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- guideflow.com: 43 answers, 44 citations
- huntress.com: 40 answers, 58 citations
- deel.com: 36 answers, 47 citations
- tekpon.com: 36 answers, 38 citations
- techrepublic.com: 26 answers, 35 citations
- techradar.com: 26 answers, 31 citations
- sentinelone.com: 23 answers, 34 citations
- g2.com: 22 answers, 27 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://guideflow.com/blog/best-endpoint-protection-software (43 answers)
- https://tekpon.com/insights/security-compliance/cybersecurity/best-endpoint-protection-software-for-business (35 answers)
- https://deel.com/blog/best-endpoint-protection-for-business (34 answers)
- https://huntress.com/internal-it-cybersecurity-guide/best-endpoint-protection-for-small-businesses (34 answers)
- https://techradar.com/news/best-endpoint-security-software (24 answers)
- https://sentinelone.com/cybersecurity-101/endpoint-security/best-edr-solutions-for-small-business (20 answers)
- https://expertinsights.com/endpoint-security/the-top-endpoint-security-solutions-for-business (19 answers)
- https://pcmag.com/picks/the-best-hosted-endpoint-protection-and-security-software (19 answers)
- https://cnicsolutions.com/cybersecurity-threat-protection/detection-response/best-endpoint-protection-edr-solutions-for-smbs (17 answers)
- https://techrepublic.com/article/antivirus-software-for-small-businesses (15 answers)

## Warned against

- CrowdStrike Falcon: 12 of 18 labels negative. "Avoid ... high‑end enterprise tools that are expensive, complex, and noisy (CrowdStrike without a dedicated SOC)" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- Symantec Endpoint Security: 6 of 7 labels negative. "platforms to avoid or approach with extreme caution ... near-total lack of customer support, frustratingly complex console migrations" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt)
- Avast Business: 5 of 8 labels negative. "Tools like Avast Free, AVG, or built-in Windows Defender alone (without proper management) give a false sense of security." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)
- CrowdStrike: 5 of 12 labels negative. "described as a poor fit for SMBs because the operational complexity and cost are misaligned with small-business needs" (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Microsoft Defender for Cloud at 46%.

- Bitdefender GravityZone Small Business Security: 15% to 7%, −8. Inside the floor by 3 points · rank 2 → 5 of 65.
- Sophos Intercept X: 0% to 7%, +7. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 13 → 4 of 65.
- Bitdefender GravityZone: 9% to 15%, +6. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 4 → 2 of 65.
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud: 50% to 46%, −4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 1 of 65, unchanged.
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: 2% to 4%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 10 → 6 of 65.
- SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 14 → 7 of 65.
- ESET PROTECT: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 5 → 12 of 65.
- Avast Business: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 6 → 59 of 65.
- Huntress Managed EDR: 11% to 11%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 3 of 65, unchanged.
- CrowdStrike Falcon Go: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 12 → 13 of 65.
- SentinelOne Singularity: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 15 → 14 of 65.
- CrowdStrike: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 16 → 42 of 65.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.