Index › IT › IT operations and endpoint › Endpoint protection › Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs ESET PROTECT
Endpoint protection · November 2026 Edition
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs ESET PROTECT
Four of fourteen models named Microsoft Defender for Endpoint first on the direct prompt; zero named ESET PROTECT. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and ESET PROTECT by twelve and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint carries 50 labels and ESET PROTECT 23, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in seven categories this edition.
Named in five categories this edition.
First-choice share23%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate8%9%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#2#7A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels5023A 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.CrowdStrike Falcon was named alongside these two in ten of the fourteen direct answers. Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint · Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs ESET PROTECT · 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 modelsESET PROTECT
Direct40
Paraphrase40
Comparative20
Budget-constrained21
Scale-constrained20
Negative104 against Microsoft Defender for Endpoint · 2 against ESET PROTECT
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.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and ESET PROTECT 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 ESET PROTECT first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on the left and ESET PROTECT on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and ESET PROTECT stood in it.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint first, ESET PROTECT not the choice
4 of 14 modelsESET PROTECT 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
Mistral SmallCrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, Sophos Intercept X
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
Neither was the first choice, one was named
8 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
Grok 4.20CrowdStrike Falcon alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
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
2 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
MiniMax M2.5CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender for Cloud alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, Sophos Intercept X
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 13ESET PROTECT0%#8 of 13Mid-marketThe figures above
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint leads by twenty-one points.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint23%#2 of 12ESET PROTECT2%#7 of 12Enterprise
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint leads by fifty-three points.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint53%#1 of 12ESET PROTECT0%#10 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 ESET PROTECT
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of three in this category shown.
“Reviewers report agents losing connection with the management console, requiring reinstallation on affected machines.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“MITRE ATT&CK 2024: ~56% detection — surprisingly low for a historically solid vendor” Kimi K2 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Sophos Intercept X and ESET PROTECT are the best value options” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice
Also compared
Microsoft Defender for Cloud vs Microsoft Defender for EndpointMicrosoft Defender for Cloud vs ESET PROTECTMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs Bitdefender GravityZoneMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs Sophos Intercept XMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs SentinelOne SingularityMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint vs CrowdStrike FalconBitdefender GravityZone vs ESET PROTECTSophos Intercept X vs ESET PROTECTSentinelOne Singularity vs ESET PROTECTCrowdStrike 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.