Endpoint Index
The price gap and what sits inside it
Microsoft Defender for Business and SentinelOne Singularity Complete both include EDR and device control. They split on recovery: SentinelOne's ransomware rollback is included, while for Microsoft it is not offered. Microsoft's documented remediation actions quarantine files, kill processes and remove registry keys, but none of them restores encrypted files, so a Microsoft shop recovers from ransomware through its backups.
Neither includes 24/7 managed response. For Microsoft it is not offered: its Defender Experts services attach only to enterprise suites, not to Defender for Business. For SentinelOne Complete it is also not offered; SentinelOne's package table offers MDR only from the pricier Singularity Commercial tier up.
The money does not overlap. At 100 seats Microsoft comes to $3,600.00 a year and SentinelOne to $17,999.00. Neither discounts for volume at list. Microsoft's unit is also more generous: one user licence covers up to five devices, where SentinelOne charges per endpoint. And Microsoft 365 Business Premium already includes Defender for Business, so many small businesses would be paying SentinelOne for EDR they already own.
Lab evidence favours Microsoft, narrowly and recently
Microsoft Defender took the maximum protection score in AV-Test's August 2026 round, and AV-Comparatives' first-half 2026 business test put it at 98.8% protection without a single false positive. SentinelOne's name has been missing from both labs' business reports since 2017.
MITRE ATT&CK is close. In the 2024 round (ER6), MITRE's default results show SentinelOne detecting 72 of 80 substeps and Microsoft 67 of 80 before configuration changes; both sat out the 2025 round, and both results now fall outside our 18-month freshness limit. That leaves Microsoft as the only one of the two with current independent evidence, and that evidence is a large part of why its Fit Score is 75 against SentinelOne's 33. We do not read this as proof that Microsoft stops more attacks. We read it as proof that SentinelOne asks you to pay more on less recent evidence.
Reasons that do justify SentinelOne
SentinelOne Singularity Complete has four arguments that hold up.
- Rollback. SentinelOne can reverse ransomware changes on an endpoint. Microsoft's business tier has no equivalent action, so recovery depends on your backups.
- Independence from Microsoft. A business that already trusts Microsoft with email, identity and files may not want the same vendor watching its endpoints. That is a legitimate concentration-risk position, and SentinelOne is an obvious answer to it.
- Linux. SentinelOne covers Linux in the base product. Microsoft needs the separate Defender for Business servers add-on, at $3 per server instance.
- Federal paperwork. SentinelOne holds FedRAMP High authorisation and publishes CMMC material. Our record for Microsoft does not capture its CMMC or FedRAMP position for this product, so check the Microsoft Trust Center if that matters to you.
Microsoft has its own advantages beyond price: phones are covered in the base licence, where SentinelOne's mobile protection is an add-on, and you can buy it by card after a 30-day trial. SentinelOne publishes no trial for Complete; its small-business page offers a demo instead.
Contracts: both auto-renew, one adds an uplift
Microsoft Defender for Business is an annual subscription that auto-renews. SentinelOne Singularity Complete also auto-renews, and its Master Subscription Agreement (section 11.1) adds a sting: a customer who neither cancels in writing 30 days ahead nor issues a new purchase order pays 120% of the previous order for the renewal term. SentinelOne also sells only through partners, and says its list price is not the final price, so treat the figure above as the start of a negotiation.
Two expensive mistakes
- Buying SentinelOne for a Business Premium estate without switching anything off. You end up paying twice for EDR on the same machines.
- Counting on Defender for Business to undo ransomware. It has no rollback. If you choose Microsoft, test a full restore from backup before you need one.
Checks before you commit
Look in the Microsoft 365 admin centre for Business Premium before you shop at all, and count your Windows and Linux servers, which Microsoft licenses separately. If you are heading to SentinelOne, ask the partner to put the negotiated seat price and the renewal clause on paper, and diarise the non-renewal date. If you want someone watching alerts overnight, budget for it separately with either product: an IT provider or MSP, or a different product with managed response included. Defender for Business is licensed for up to 300 users, and Microsoft recommends Defender for Endpoint above that. SentinelOne publishes prices only for 5 to 100 workstations, so outside that range both routes end in a quote.