# Endpoint protection for enterprise buyers: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 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 an enterprise B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/operations/endpoint-protection/enterprise

**Standing:** Microsoft Defender for Endpoint leads with 53% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 47 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Microsoft Defender for Endpoint](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/microsoft-defender-for-endpoint/index.md) | 53% | 3% | 64 |
| 2 | [CrowdStrike Falcon](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/crowdstrike-falcon/index.md) | 34% | 15% | 61 |
| 4 | [SentinelOne Singularity](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sentinelone-singularity/index.md) | 2% | 5% | 39 |
| 5 | [Bitdefender GravityZone](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/bitdefender-gravityzone/index.md) | 2% | 20% | 25 |
| 6 | [CrowdStrike](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/crowdstrike/index.md) | 2% | 43% | 14 |
| 8 | [Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/palo-alto-networks-cortex-xdr/index.md) | 0% | 5% | 38 |
| 9 | [Sophos Intercept X](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sophos-intercept-x/index.md) | 0% | 14% | 43 |
| 10 | [SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sentinelone-singularity-endpoint/index.md) | 0% | 7% | 28 |
| 11 | [Trend Micro Apex One](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/trend-micro-apex-one/index.md) | 0% | 11% | 19 |
| 14 | [ESET PROTECT](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/eset-protect/index.md) | 0% | 20% | 10 |
| 62 | [Trellix Endpoint Security Suite](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/trellix-endpoint-security-suite/index.md) | 0% | 39% | 23 |
| 65 | [Symantec Endpoint Security](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/symantec-endpoint-security/index.md) | 0% | 56% | 16 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 65 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: no first choice
- GPT-5.4 mini: CrowdStrike; alternatives Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: CrowdStrike Falcon; alternatives Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, SentinelOne Singularity
- Perplexity Sonar: CrowdStrike Falcon; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
- Grok 4.20: CrowdStrike Falcon; alternatives Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Sophos Intercept X, Trend Vision One
- Mistral Small: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; alternatives CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: CrowdStrike Falcon; alternatives Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity
- Llama 4 Maverick: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; alternatives CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: CrowdStrike Falcon; alternatives Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, Trend Vision One
- Kimi K2: CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; alternatives Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X, Trend Micro Apex One
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: CrowdStrike Falcon; alternatives Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity, Symantec Endpoint Security
- MiniMax M2.5: CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; alternatives Sophos Intercept X
- GPT-6 Luna: CrowdStrike Falcon; alternatives Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; alternatives CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity

## Sources the answers cite

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

- microsoft.com: 42 answers, 77 citations
- g2.com: 34 answers, 43 citations
- crowdstrike.com: 23 answers, 44 citations
- av-comparatives.org: 22 answers, 28 citations
- huntress.com: 17 answers, 21 citations
- sentinelone.com: 15 answers, 20 citations
- deel.com: 15 answers, 15 citations
- techrepublic.com: 14 answers, 15 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/endpoint-security/microsoft-defender-endpoint (33 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/endpoint-protection-platforms/enterprise (17 answers)
- https://av-comparatives.org/tests/endpoint-prevention-response-epr-test-2024 (16 answers)
- https://deel.com/blog/best-endpoint-protection-for-business (15 answers)
- https://gane.ai/index/it/operations/endpoint-protection/enterprise (14 answers)
- https://huntress.com/enterprise-cybersecurity-guide/best-endpoint-protection-solutions-compared (14 answers)
- https://axis-intelligence.com/best-endpoint-security-solutions-2026 (11 answers)
- https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/kuppingercole-leadership-compass-endpoint-protection-detection-and-response-2024 (11 answers)
- https://crowdstrike.com/en-us/pricing/falcon-enterprise (8 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/best-endpoint-protection-software (8 answers)

## Warned against

- Symantec Endpoint Security: 9 of 16 labels negative. "Symantec Endpoint Protection is widely viewed as a candidate to avoid or replace." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- Trellix Endpoint Security Suite: 9 of 23 labels negative. "noted for its lack of mobile coverage and unclear pricing, making it a poor fit for large, heterogeneous enterprises" (Llama 4 Maverick, negative prompt)
- CrowdStrike Falcon: 9 of 61 labels negative. "the faulty sensor update that caused a global IT outage in July 2024 raised valid questions about update validation processes" (Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt)
- Kaspersky Endpoint Security: 5 of 9 labels negative. "The U.S. Department of Commerce ... enacted a full prohibition on Kaspersky software sales and signature updates within the United States." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint at 53%.

- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: 44% to 53%, +9. Inside the floor by 2 points · rank 1 of 65, unchanged.
- SentinelOne Singularity: 7% to 2%, −5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 3 → 4 of 65.
- CrowdStrike: 4% to 2%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 5 → 6 of 65.
- CrowdStrike Falcon: 35% to 34%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 2 of 65, unchanged.
- Bitdefender GravityZone: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 6 → 5 of 65.
- Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 8 of 65, unchanged.
- Sophos Intercept X: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 9 of 65, unchanged.
- SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 10 of 65, unchanged.
- Trend Micro Apex One: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 12 → 11 of 65.
- ESET PROTECT: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 23 → 14 of 65.
- Trellix Endpoint Security Suite: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 41 → 62 of 65.
- Symantec Endpoint Security: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 43 → 65 of 65.

## Record

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