# Endpoint protection: 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 a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/operations/endpoint-protection

**Standing:** Microsoft Defender for Cloud leads with 25% of first choices; verdict contested. 52 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) | 25% | 0% | 16 |
| 2 | [Microsoft Defender for Endpoint](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/microsoft-defender-for-endpoint/index.md) | 23% | 8% | 50 |
| 3 | [Bitdefender GravityZone](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/bitdefender-gravityzone/index.md) | 12% | 2% | 43 |
| 4 | [Sophos Intercept X](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sophos-intercept-x/index.md) | 12% | 12% | 50 |
| 5 | [SentinelOne Singularity](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sentinelone-singularity/index.md) | 10% | 0% | 24 |
| 6 | [CrowdStrike Falcon](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/crowdstrike-falcon/index.md) | 10% | 33% | 48 |
| 7 | [ESET PROTECT](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/eset-protect/index.md) | 2% | 9% | 23 |
| 12 | [Huntress Managed EDR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/huntress-managed-edr/index.md) | 0% | 0% | 16 |
| 13 | [Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/palo-alto-networks-cortex-xdr/index.md) | 0% | 26% | 19 |
| 14 | [SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sentinelone-singularity-endpoint/index.md) | 0% | 29% | 24 |
| 15 | [Trend Micro Apex One](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/trend-micro-apex-one/index.md) | 0% | 13% | 15 |
| 86 | [Kaspersky Endpoint Security](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/kaspersky-endpoint-security/index.md) | 0% | 42% | 12 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 90 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: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; alternatives CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: SentinelOne Singularity; alternatives CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Sophos Intercept X with MDR
- Perplexity Sonar: Sophos Intercept X; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone, Huntress Managed EDR, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity
- Grok 4.20: CrowdStrike Falcon; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
- Mistral Small: CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone, Sophos Intercept X
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; alternatives CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
- Llama 4 Maverick: SentinelOne Singularity; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone, CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Sophos Intercept X; alternatives Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint
- Kimi K2: SentinelOne Singularity; alternatives Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Sophos Intercept X; alternatives CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity
- MiniMax M2.5: CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Cloud; alternatives Bitdefender GravityZone, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, Sophos Intercept X
- GPT-6 Luna: Sophos Endpoint with Sophos MDR; alternatives CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint; alternatives CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X

## Sources the answers cite

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

- microsoft.com: 30 answers, 60 citations
- g2.com: 22 answers, 26 citations
- av-comparatives.org: 21 answers, 51 citations
- huntress.com: 20 answers, 30 citations
- deel.com: 18 answers, 19 citations
- expertinsights.com: 16 answers, 16 citations
- guideflow.com: 14 answers, 14 citations
- crowdstrike.com: 13 answers, 14 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://deel.com/blog/best-endpoint-protection-for-business (17 answers)
- https://microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/endpoint-security/microsoft-defender-endpoint (17 answers)
- https://av-comparatives.org/tests/endpoint-prevention-response-epr-test-2024 (15 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/best-endpoint-protection-software (13 answers)
- https://expertinsights.com/endpoint-security/the-top-endpoint-security-solutions-for-business (12 answers)
- https://huntress.com/internal-it-cybersecurity-guide/best-endpoint-protection-for-small-businesses (12 answers)
- https://iru.com/endpoint/compare/endpoint-security-software (10 answers)
- https://cyberpress.org/business-antivirus-by-business-size (8 answers)
- https://cynet.com/security-foundations/endpoint-security/11-endpoint-security-solutions-to-know (8 answers)
- https://microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/endpoint-security/microsoft-defender-business (8 answers)

## Warned against

- CrowdStrike Falcon: 16 of 48 labels negative. "Avoid pricier options like CrowdStrike Falcon or SentinelOne unless you have a bigger budget" (Grok 4.20, budget prompt)
- SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint: 7 of 24 labels negative. "Avoid pricier options like CrowdStrike Falcon or SentinelOne unless you have a bigger budget" (Grok 4.20, budget prompt)
- Sophos Intercept X: 6 of 50 labels negative. "Both could allow arbitrary code execution" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- Kaspersky Endpoint Security: 5 of 12 labels negative. "the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a final determination banning Kaspersky from providing antivirus and cybersecurity products in the United States" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
New leader: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (25%) to Microsoft Defender for Cloud (25%). Margin 2 points, within noise.

- Microsoft Defender for Cloud: 17% to 25%, +8. Inside the floor by 3 points · rank 3 → 1 of 90.
- Bitdefender GravityZone: 20% to 12%, −8. Inside the floor by 3 points · rank 2 → 3 of 90.
- Sophos Intercept X: 5% to 12%, +7. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 5 → 4 of 90.
- SentinelOne Singularity: 5% to 10%, +5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 6 → 5 of 90.
- SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint: 3% to 0%, −3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 7 → 14 of 90.
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: 25% to 23%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 1 → 2 of 90.
- CrowdStrike Falcon: 12% to 10%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 4 → 6 of 90.
- ESET PROTECT: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 8 → 7 of 90.
- Huntress Managed EDR: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 16 → 12 of 90.
- Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 15 → 13 of 90.
- Trend Micro Apex One: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 73 → 15 of 90.
- Kaspersky Endpoint Security: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 79 → 86 of 90.

## 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.