Cybersecurity · alternatives
Alternatives to Microsoft Defender
24 cybersecurity tools sit alongside Microsoft Defender in this directory. Below is what separates each from Microsoft Defender on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 24
- With a free tier
- 2
- Cheaper to start
- 3
- Microsoft Defender starts at
- $12/month
Why people look past Microsoft Defender
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Microsoft Defender entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Microsoft Defender starts at $12/month. Across the 5 cybersecurity tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $4.99/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Microsoft Defender carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 2 of the 24 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
The world's most-loved password manager
- Starts $9.01 a month cheaper, at $2.99/month.
The world's #1 rated antivirus
- Starts $7.989999999999998 a year dearer, at $19.99/year.
Simplify online life with LastPass password manager
- Can be used without paying; Microsoft Defender cannot.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than subscription.
Powerful protection against evolving threats
- Starts $24 a year dearer, at $36/year.
Free TOTP two-factor authentication app that gained optional cloud sync in 2023
- Can be used without paying; Microsoft Defender cannot.
- Sold on a Free, no in-app purchases model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Microsoft Defender's 3.
Real-time transaction fraud and financial crime detection for banks and payment processors
- Sold on a quote model rather than subscription.
- 1 tier to Microsoft Defender's 3.
Every Microsoft Defender alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Microsoft Defender badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (2)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- LastPass , Free
- Google Authenticator , Free
Cheaper than Microsoft Defender (3)
Entry price under Microsoft Defender's $12/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- 1Password , $2.99/month
- Entrust Identity as a Service , $2/month
- Camio , $4.99/month
What you would be giving up
Microsoft Defender is most often brought in for endpoint security and threat protection, identity and access security, email threat protection, saas application security monitoring. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Microsoft Defender is broadly right and the question is cost, the Microsoft Defender pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Cybersecurity category lists everything the directory holds, and best cybersecurity tools ranks them.
Microsoft Defender runs on not recorded. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Microsoft Defender alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Microsoft Defender?
- 24 other cybersecurity tools are listed in this directory, led by 1Password, Bitdefender Total Security, LastPass, Norton 360. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Microsoft Defender?
- 2 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: LastPass, Google Authenticator.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Microsoft Defender?
- Yes. 3 of the alternatives below start under Microsoft Defender's $12/month: 1Password at $2.99/month, Entrust Identity as a Service at $2/month, Camio at $4.99/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Microsoft Defender?
- On the figures on record, 2 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Microsoft Defender?
- Microsoft Defender is most often brought in for endpoint security and threat protection, identity and access security, email threat protection, saas application security monitoring. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Microsoft Defender?
- None of the cybersecurity tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Microsoft Defender alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Cybersecurity, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Microsoft Defender against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Microsoft Defender covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every cybersecurity tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Cybersecurity category, 24 tools beside Microsoft Defender. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.