# Microsoft Defender for Identity alternatives: what AI models name instead, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. 130 of the 252 answers in the 1 category where Microsoft Defender for Identity holds a standing named it neither first nor as an alternative; these are the first choices those answers made. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/microsoft-defender-for-identity/alternatives

## Named instead, most often (every category and segment added)

- Huntress Managed ITDR: 22
- CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection: 13
- Microsoft Entra ID: 7
- Microsoft Defender for Identity / Entra ID Protection: 3
- BeyondTrust Platform: 2
- Defender for Identity: 2

## Identity threat detection and response

**Small business**: 35 of 84 answers did not name Microsoft Defender for Identity (Microsoft Defender for Identity is #2 of 6 at 6%).

- Huntress Managed ITDR: first choice in 14 of those 35
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud: first choice in 2 of those 35
- Microsoft Defender for Identity / Entra ID Protection: first choice in 2 of those 35
- Microsoft Entra ID: first choice in 2 of those 35
- Defender for Identity: first choice in 1 of those 35
- Guardz ITDR: first choice in 1 of those 35
- Microsoft 365: first choice in 1 of those 35
- Microsoft Defender for Identity / Microsoft Entra ID Protection: first choice in 1 of those 35

**Mid-market**: 46 of 84 answers did not name Microsoft Defender for Identity (Microsoft Defender for Identity is #2 of 12 at 26%).

- Huntress Managed ITDR: first choice in 5 of those 46
- CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection: first choice in 3 of those 46
- Microsoft Entra ID: first choice in 2 of those 46
- Silverfort ITDR: first choice in 2 of those 46
- CrowdStrike Falcon Next-Gen Identity Protection: first choice in 1 of those 46
- Defender for Identity: first choice in 1 of those 46
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps: first choice in 1 of those 46
- Microsoft Defender for Identity / Entra ID Protection: first choice in 1 of those 46

**Enterprise**: 49 of 84 answers did not name Microsoft Defender for Identity (Microsoft Defender for Identity is #1 of 11 at 37%).

- CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection: first choice in 10 of those 49
- Huntress Managed ITDR: first choice in 3 of those 49
- Microsoft Entra ID: first choice in 3 of those 49
- BeyondTrust Platform: first choice in 2 of those 49
- CrowdStrike: first choice in 1 of those 49
- Exabeam: first choice in 1 of those 49
- Microsoft Defender: first choice in 1 of those 49
- Microsoft Defender XDR: first choice in 1 of those 49

Published under CC BY 4.0. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.