Cybersecurity · head to head
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint vs Syft
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Cybersecurity
Enterprise endpoint security built into Microsoft 365
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Syft
Cybersecurity
Generates a software bill of materials from images, filesystems and archives
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Syft has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint pricing not published on public websites; quote required from Microsoft sales; Syft lockfile parsing can drop packages silently. An open issue filed in August 2026 reports the yarn v1 cataloguer returning 118 of 745 packages with no error raised, which means a complete bill of materials and an 84 percent incomplete one look identical to the caller.
- They diverge on capability: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint covers Threat & vulnerability management, Syft covers Multi-format output.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Syft actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Syft |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | On request | Free |
| Pricing model | quote | Open source, no licence fee |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android | macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker |
| Founded | 1975 | Unknown |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
- Threat & vulnerability management
- Attack surface reduction
- Next-gen protection
- EDR
- Auto investigation
- Microsoft Threat Experts
- Threat analytics
- Secure score
Only in Syft
- Multi-format output
- Broad ecosystem coverage
- Binary classifiers
- In-toto attestations
- Library and CLI
- Pairs with Grype
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
- Enterprise endpoint security across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS via Plans 1 or 2not Syft
- Small and medium-sized businesses using Microsoft Defender for Business as alternativenot Syft
- Organisations using Microsoft 365 E5 which includes Defender for Endpoint Plan 2not Syft
Syft
- Producing a bill of materials for a customer or regulator that requires onenot Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
- Feeding an inventory into a vulnerability scanner rather than scanning images directlynot Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
- Recording what shipped in a build so a future disclosure can be answered quicklynot Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
- Public sector work where an SBOM is a contractual deliverablenot Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
- Pricing not published on public websites; quote required from Microsoft sales
- Defender for Endpoint Plan 1 and Plan 2 do not include server licenses; additional licensing required for server protection
- Specific feature differences between Plan 1 and Plan 2 require consulting Microsoft documentation
Syft
- Lockfile parsing can drop packages silently. An open issue filed in August 2026 reports the yarn v1 cataloguer returning 118 of 745 packages with no error raised, which means a complete bill of materials and an 84 percent incomplete one look identical to the caller.
- Fidelity varies sharply by ecosystem. Conan for C and C++, Haskell and Terraform get cataloguer support with no licence data, no dependency relationships and no file ownership, so a C and C++ shop gets the least from it.
- Binary classification yields no licence or dependency metadata, and vendored or statically linked code is exactly where supply chain risk hides, so the blind spot and the risk overlap.
- Incorrect CPE values and CPE collisions are recorded as open issues, and since Grype matches on CPE and PURL, an inventory error becomes a false negative in the security report downstream.
- An inventory is not a risk assessment. Even a perfect bill of materials says a vulnerable version is present, never that the vulnerable function is called, and the triage burden lands entirely on the reader.
Pricing, plan by plan
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint review.
Syft
Free- SyftFree
- Apache-2.0
- No usage limits
- Community support
- Anchore Enterprise$undefined/year
- Policy enforcement and reporting
- Federal and commercial tiers
- Pricing not published, quoted on request
Which should you pick?
Choose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint if
- You need threat & vulnerability management.
- You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
- You also want attack surface reduction.
Choose Syft if
- You need multi-format output.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
- You also want broad ecosystem coverage.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft Defender for Endpoint or Syft better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint starts at On request and Syft at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint or Syft?
- Syft has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and Free for Syft.
- Does Microsoft Defender for Endpoint or Syft run on more platforms?
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android. Syft runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
- Can I use Syft for free?
- Yes. Syft has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint starts at On request.
- What is Microsoft Defender for Endpoint best used for?
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is most often used for enterprise endpoint security across windows, macos, linux, android, and ios via plans 1 or 2, small and medium-sized businesses using microsoft defender for business as alternative, organisations using microsoft 365 e5 which includes defender for endpoint plan 2. Of those, enterprise endpoint security across windows, macos, linux, android, and ios via plans 1 or 2 and small and medium-sized businesses using microsoft defender for business as alternative are not what Syft is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft Defender for Endpoint do that Syft cannot?
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint covers Threat & vulnerability management, Attack surface reduction, Next-gen protection, EDR. Syft covers Multi-format output, Broad ecosystem coverage, Binary classifiers, In-toto attestations.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: How is Microsoft Defender for Endpoint priced?
Defender for Endpoint is bundled into Microsoft 365 enterprise subscriptions. Plan 1 is included in Microsoft 365 E3, and Plan 2 is included in Microsoft 365 E5. Individual pricing is not published separately.
SourceSyft: Does Syft find vulnerabilities?
No. It produces an inventory. Grype, from the same company, matches that inventory against vulnerability feeds. They are separate tools and the distinction is frequently lost.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: Does Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offer a trial?
Yes. A free trial is available for prospective customers to test the product before committing to a subscription.
SourceSyft: Does anything in the Anchore stack do reachability analysis?
No. Neither Syft, Grype nor the commercial Anchore platform performs call graph or reachability analysis, so none of them tells you whether a vulnerable code path is actually invoked.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: What is the difference between Plan 1 and Plan 2?
Plan 1 (in E3) includes unified security tools, device controls, network protection, firewall, web/URL controls, APIs, SIEM connectors, and app controls. Plan 2 (in E5) adds endpoint detection and response, deception techniques, automatic attack disruption, exposure management, and threat intelligence.
SourceSyft: Is it a CNCF or OpenSSF project?
No. It is single-vendor open source owned by Anchore, with no foundation governance. That is a different licence risk profile from Sigstore.
Syft: What does Anchore Enterprise cost?
Not published. The pricing page is contact-sales only, with named but unpriced commercial and federal tiers.
Syft: How do I know my SBOM is complete?
You largely cannot, which is the honest answer. Silent partial parsing is a known open defect, so a bill of materials used for compliance should be spot-checked against a known dependency list.
Related pages
More on Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
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