Extended detection and response · November 2026 Edition
Microsoft Defender XDR vs Sophos Intercept X
Seven of fourteen models named Microsoft Defender XDR first on the direct prompt; four named Sophos Intercept X. Both were named by all fourteen models and Microsoft Defender XDR carries 61 labels and Sophos Intercept X 34, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in eight categories this edition.
Named in six categories this edition.
First-choice share48%7%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate11%6%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#3A position in a field of 12; printed, not drawn.
Labels6134A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Microsoft Defender XDR reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR was named alongside these two in thirteen of the fourteen direct answers. Microsoft Defender XDR vs CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR · Microsoft Defender XDR vs SentinelOne Singularity · Microsoft Defender XDR vs ESET PROTECT
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 extended detection and response 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 XDRFirst choices, of fourteen modelsSophos Intercept X
Direct74
Paraphrase90
Comparative30
Budget-constrained90
Scale-constrained20
Negative017 against Microsoft Defender XDR · 2 against Sophos Intercept X
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 XDR and Sophos Intercept X were named in the same answer seventy-eight times, of the 217 answers naming Microsoft Defender XDR and the 332 naming Sophos Intercept X. In those answers Sophos Intercept X took the first choice six times and Microsoft Defender XDR thirty-seven.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Microsoft Defender XDR and Sophos Intercept X 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 XDR Sophos Intercept X first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Microsoft Defender XDR on the left and Sophos Intercept X on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Microsoft Defender XDR and Sophos Intercept X stood in it.
Microsoft Defender XDR first, Sophos Intercept X an alternative
7 of 14 modelsSophos Intercept X was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.GPT-5.4 miniMicrosoft Defender XDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, SentinelOne Singularity
Perplexity SonarMicrosoft Defender XDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X, Sophos MDR, Stellar Cyber Open XDR
Grok 4.20CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Microsoft Defender XDR alternatives: Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X
Llama 4 MaverickMicrosoft Defender XDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Sophos Intercept X, Stellar Cyber Open XDR
Kimi K2Microsoft Defender XDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, SentinelOne Singularity
MiniMax M2.5CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Microsoft Defender XDR alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone XDR, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, SentinelOne Singularity
GPT-6 LunaCrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Microsoft Defender XDR alternatives: Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, SentinelOne Singularity
Sophos Intercept X first, Microsoft Defender XDR an alternative
4 of 14 modelsMicrosoft Defender XDR was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Claude Haiku 4.5Sophos Intercept X alternatives: Microsoft Defender XDR, SentinelOne Singularity, Stellar Cyber Open XDR
Gemini 3.5 FlashSentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X, Sophos MDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Microsoft Defender XDR, Trend Vision One
Mistral SmallCrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Sophos Intercept X alternatives: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint with E5 License, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
DeepSeek V4 FlashSophos Intercept X alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Cynet 360 AutoXDR, Microsoft Defender XDR, SentinelOne Singularity
Neither was the first choice, one was named
2 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Qwen 3.7 FlashStellar Cyber Open XDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Microsoft Defender XDR, SentinelOne Singularity
Muse Glimmer 30BBitdefender GravityZone XDR, Stellar Cyber Open XDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR, Cynet 360 AutoXDR, ESET PROTECT, Microsoft Defender XDR, Ontinue, SentinelOne Singularity, Sophos Intercept X, WithSecure Elements
Neither was named
1 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.GLM 4.7 FlashXCrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR alternatives: Bitdefender GravityZone XDR, Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, SentinelOne Singularity
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 XDR leads by thirty-five points.
Microsoft Defender XDR36%#1 of 12Sophos Intercept X2%#5 of 12Mid-marketThe figures above
Microsoft Defender XDR leads by forty-one points.
Microsoft Defender XDR48%#1 of 12Sophos Intercept X7%#3 of 12Enterprise
Microsoft Defender XDR leads by fifty-eight points.
Microsoft Defender XDR58%#1 of 10Sophos Intercept X0%#9 of 10What the models said about Microsoft Defender XDR
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Leading enterprise vendors (e.g., Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, Microsoft Defender XDR) offer powerful "Native XDR" solutions. However, they are designed to perform best when you use their proprietary firewalls” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Caution is warranted if you have a heterogeneous stack, need strong non-Microsoft SaaS/cloud telemetry, or have limited Microsoft-specific admin expertise.” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · soft negative
“it can feel "noisy" with alerts, has variable performance in non-Microsoft environments ... Avoid if you have heavy multi-cloud or heterogeneous setups.” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Microsoft Defender XDR — Most complete offering, especially strong if you're a Microsoft-first shop. Watch for restrictive licensing.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
“Microsoft has been named a leader in Forrester's XDR Wave (Q2 2024), scoring highest in strategy, current offering, and market presence.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · comparative prompt · first choice
“offers the most complete XDR offering according to Forrester, with the highest scores in endpoint native detection” MiniMax M2.5 · comparative prompt · first choice
What the models said about Sophos Intercept X
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Two of two in this category shown.
“The mid-market favorite, Sophos is built around answering the critical question... which is why it dominates the mid-market and MSP channel” Claude Haiku 4.5 · direct prompt · first choice
“For most mid-market B2B companies → Sophos (best overall value, managed capabilities, top peer ratings, easy deployment)” DeepSeek V4 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
Also compared
Microsoft Defender XDR vs CrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDRMicrosoft Defender XDR vs SentinelOne SingularityMicrosoft Defender XDR vs ESET PROTECTMicrosoft Defender XDR vs Stellar Cyber Open XDRMicrosoft Defender XDR vs Bitdefender GravityZone XDRCrowdStrike Falcon Insight XDR vs Sophos Intercept XSophos Intercept X vs SentinelOne SingularitySophos Intercept X vs ESET PROTECTSophos Intercept X vs Stellar Cyber Open XDRSophos Intercept X vs Bitdefender GravityZone XDRAll twenty-one head-to-head pages and the full XDR 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.