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Endpoint protection · November 2026 Edition
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs CrowdStrike Falcon
Four of fourteen models named Microsoft Defender for Endpoint first on the direct prompt; three named CrowdStrike Falcon. Both were named by all fourteen models and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint carries 50 labels and CrowdStrike Falcon 48, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in seven categories this edition.
Named in ten categories this edition.
First-choice share23%10%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate8%33%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#6A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels5048A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Sophos Intercept X was named alongside these two in eight of the fourteen direct answers. Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint · Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs CrowdStrike Falcon · Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Bitdefender GravityZone
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 endpoint protection 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 EndpointFirst choices, of fourteen modelsCrowdStrike Falcon
Direct433 against CrowdStrike Falcon
Paraphrase414 against CrowdStrike Falcon
Comparative26
Budget-constrained201 against CrowdStrike Falcon
Scale-constrained21
Negative104 against Microsoft Defender for Endpoint · 8 against CrowdStrike Falcon
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 Endpoint and CrowdStrike Falcon were named in the same answer 114 times, of the 324 answers naming Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and the 231 naming CrowdStrike Falcon. In those answers CrowdStrike Falcon took the first choice twenty-seven times and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint thirty-five.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and CrowdStrike Falcon stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | | | | | |
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint CrowdStrike Falcon first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on the left and CrowdStrike Falcon on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and CrowdStrike Falcon stood in it.
Both were the first choice
1 of 14 modelsThe answer named them together, and the judge labeled each a first choice.Mistral SmallCrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, Sophos Intercept X
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint first, CrowdStrike Falcon an alternative
3 of 14 modelsCrowdStrike Falcon was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-5.4 miniMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint
DeepSeek V4 FlashMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
Muse Glimmer 30BMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
CrowdStrike Falcon first, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint an alternative
2 of 14 modelsMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Grok 4.20CrowdStrike Falcon alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
MiniMax M2.5CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Cloud alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, Sophos Intercept X
Neither was the first choice, one was named
7 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Gemini 3.5 FlashSentinelOne Singularity alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Sophos Intercept X with MDR
Perplexity SonarSophos Intercept X alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, Huntress Managed EDR, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity
Llama 4 MaverickSentinelOne Singularity alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Qwen 3.7 FlashSophos Intercept X alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity Endpoint
Kimi K2SentinelOne Singularity alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
GLM 4.7 FlashXSophos Intercept X alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity
GPT-6 LunaSophos Endpoint with Sophos MDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Neither was named
1 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
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 Endpoint leads by five points.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint5%#5 of 13CrowdStrike Falcon0%#12 of 13Mid-marketThe figures above
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint leads by thirteen points.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint23%#2 of 12CrowdStrike Falcon10%#6 of 12Enterprise
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint leads by nineteen points.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint53%#1 of 12CrowdStrike Falcon34%#2 of 12What the models said about Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Two of two in this category shown.
“While leading enterprise EDRs (CrowdStrike, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne, Palo Alto Cortex XDR) are highly effective, you must evaluate vendor operational maturity.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Defender is usually the most natural choice because it connects closely with Intune, Entra ID, Microsoft Sentinel, and Microsoft 365 security workflows.” Perplexity Sonar · comparative prompt · first choice
What the models said about CrowdStrike Falcon
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of four in this category shown.
“Avoid pricier options like CrowdStrike Falcon or SentinelOne unless you have a bigger budget” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · hard negative
“these are often designed for large enterprises with dedicated security analysts. For a mid-sized company, switching to these might introduce management overhead” Qwen 3.7 Flash · paraphrase prompt · soft negative
“Known for its cloud-native approach, AI-powered threat detection, and strong EDR/XDR capabilities... making it a favorite for enterprises” Mistral Small · comparative prompt · first choice
“CrowdStrike pioneered cloud-native EDR... Widely regarded as having best-in-class threat intelligence and threat-hunting capabilities” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
Also compared
Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender for EndpointMicrosoft Defender for Cloud vs CrowdStrike FalconMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs Bitdefender GravityZoneMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs Sophos Intercept XMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs SentinelOne SingularityMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs ESET PROTECTBitdefender GravityZone vs CrowdStrike FalconSophos Intercept X vs CrowdStrike FalconSentinelOne Singularity vs CrowdStrike FalconCrowdStrike Falcon vs ESET PROTECTAll twenty-one head-to-head pages and the full endpoint protection standing
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.