Endpoint Index
One EDR, one prevention product
These two are often shortlisted together, but they are different kinds of product. Microsoft Defender for Business lists EDR as included. Bitdefender lists it as not offered for Premium: its compare page pitches Premium at companies that want advanced attack prevention "without additional detection and response capabilities", and gives it no tick for cross-endpoint detection, threat hunting or one-click investigation and remediation. Those start at Business Security Enterprise.
What Premium adds over Bitdefender's entry tier is prevention: tunable machine learning, a cloud sandbox, fileless attack defense and attack forensics, which show how a blocked attack unfolded on one device. Ransomware rollback is included in Premium and not offered in Defender for Business. Both include device control and both sell self-serve: Premium from 5 devices, Defender for Business from a single user.
Neither product puts a person on your alerts. Bitdefender's 24/7 managed response is not offered because Bitdefender's MDR comes bundled with its Enterprise tier. Microsoft's is not offered: its Defender Experts services are for enterprise suites, so Defender for Business customers get managed response from an IT provider or MSP. If that is the gap you are trying to close, read Huntress or Microsoft Defender for Business instead.
The Microsoft licence you already hold decides most of these deals
Microsoft Defender for Business is priced per user, covers up to five devices per user and is licensed for up to 300 users. It is also included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium. A business on Business Premium therefore already owns an EDR product, and buying Bitdefender on top means paying for a second agent that does less detection work.
Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security Premium is priced per endpoint, and the per-endpoint price falls as you add seats: 100 endpoints come to $6,039.99 a year at list, against $3,600.00 for 100 Microsoft users, which Microsoft prices flat with no volume discount. Bitdefender's calculator showed a 30% promotional discount when we checked, and every figure on this page is list. Ask whether the promotion carries into year two.
Per-user licensing flatters Microsoft when each person carries a laptop and a phone. It flatters Bitdefender when you count machines more easily than people.
What Bitdefender's lab lead is worth
Bitdefender has the higher protection rate. In AV-Comparatives' Business Security Test for March to June 2026, Bitdefender protected against 99.8% of real-world threats with 4 false positives, and Microsoft Defender protected against 98.8% with none. At AV-Test, both scored the full 6 out of 6 for protection in their latest rounds (Bitdefender in December 2025, Microsoft in August 2026). Both took part in MITRE ATT&CK round ER6 in 2024, where MITRE's default results show Microsoft detecting 67 of 80 substeps and Bitdefender 58 of 80 before any configuration change; both skipped the 2025 round, and both results are now older than our 18-month limit, so we treat them as dated.
For a prevention product, the AV-Comparatives number is the one that counts, because nothing else stands between the threat and the file. For Defender for Business the MITRE result matters more, because its EDR is what catches the attack that prevention missed. In the Fit Scores (74 for Bitdefender, 75 for Microsoft), Microsoft's lower price and included EDR weigh against Bitdefender's efficacy lead.
Three mistakes specific to this pair
- Buying Premium as EDR. If a client contract, insurer or auditor asks for EDR, Premium does not meet it on Bitdefender's own description. Price Business Security Enterprise or Defender for Business instead.
- Assuming Defender for Business covers servers. Windows Server and Linux Server need the separate Defender for Business servers add-on at $3 per server instance. Bitdefender includes Linux in the base product, so a small firm with two Linux file servers should price both routes.
- Ignoring the ceilings. Defender for Business is licensed for up to 300 users, and Microsoft recommends Defender for Endpoint above that. Bitdefender publishes prices up to 100 endpoints; above that you are quoting with sales.
Pick by situation
Choose Microsoft Defender for Business if you want EDR at all, if you already pay for Microsoft 365 Business Premium, or if your staff each use several devices including phones. Microsoft offers a 30-day trial.
Choose Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security Premium if you want prevention with nobody reading alerts, if your fleet includes Linux servers, if you want ransomware rollback, which Defender for Business does not offer, or if you run Google Workspace rather than Microsoft 365. Bitdefender offers a one-month free trial.
Choose neither on its own if what you lack is someone to respond at night. Bitdefender sells MDR only with its Enterprise tier, Microsoft sells none for this product, and the managed-EDR products on this site include it.
Before you sign
For Microsoft: confirm in the Microsoft 365 admin centre whether you already hold Business Premium, note that the annual subscription auto-renews, and price the servers add-on if you run Windows Server or Linux.
For Bitdefender: ask whether the promotional price applies at renewal, since the subscription auto-renews, and if you may need EDR within the year, ask for the Business Security Enterprise price at the same seat count so you can compare the step up.