# Is Microsoft Defender for Business Enough for a Small Business? > What Microsoft Defender for Business includes, what it leaves out, how it compares with third-party endpoint security, and the situations where it is and isn't enough. Endpoint Index research (Reference). Published 2026-09-25, updated 2026-09-30, data as of 2026-10-02. Source: https://endpointindex.com/research/is-microsoft-defender-for-business-enough/ ## Executive summary **For most small businesses, Microsoft Defender for Business is enough, provided someone will act on its alerts and patching is handled elsewhere.** As of 30 September 2026 it includes EDR with automated investigation and remediation, has current results from both AV-Test and AV-Comparatives, and costs $36.00 per user per year. The lowest published EDR price in this database is $36.00 (Microsoft Defender for Business). Ransomware rollback is not offered: Microsoft's list of remediation actions quarantines files and stops processes but has no step that restores encrypted files. Its SMB Fit Score is 75, ranked #3 overall. It stops being enough in four situations: nobody will respond to alerts (24/7 managed response is not offered), you need patching in the same product (not offered), you run servers without budgeting for the separate servers licence, or you grow past 300 users, the licence limit above which Microsoft recommends Defender for Endpoint. Many businesses already own it through Microsoft 365 Business Premium and do not know it. ## Is Defender Antivirus the same as Defender for Business? No. The two names sound alike and protect a business very differently: | | Microsoft Defender Antivirus | Microsoft Defender for Business | |---|---|---| | What it is | Protection built into Windows | A paid business security product | | Management | Each PC on its own | One central console for all devices | | EDR | No | Yes | | Cost | Included with Windows | $36.00 per user per year, or bundled in Microsoft 365 Business Premium | Defender Antivirus on its own gives a business no central view of which devices are protected and no investigation tools. That is the gap Defender for Business fills. ## Do you already own it? Check your Microsoft 365 licences before buying anything. Microsoft's [Defender for Business page](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/endpoint-security/microsoft-defender-business) (checked 30 September 2026) says it is included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium. A business on Business Premium that also pays for a third-party antivirus is paying twice for overlapping protection. The standalone licence is per user, not per device. Microsoft allows up to five devices per user, up to 300 users. For a team where each person has a laptop and a phone, per-user licensing is cheaper than per-device rivals at the same list price. ## What Defender for Business includes, and what the rivals add

Product	EDR	24/7 managed response	Ransomware rollback	Device control	Patch management	macOS	Mobile
Microsoft Defender for Business	Included	Not offered	Not offered	Included	Not offered	Included	Included
ThreatDown Elite	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Included	Add-on
ThreatDown Advanced	Included	Not offered	Included	Included	Included	Included	Add-on
Huntress Managed EDR	Included	Included	Not offered	Not offered	Not offered	Included	Not offered
SentinelOne Singularity Complete	Included	Not offered	Included	Included	Add-on	Included	Add-on

From each vendor's product and pricing pages. "Add-on" means available at extra cost. Follow a product link for sources and verification dates.

Defender for Business matches the paid EDR products on detection, device control and platform coverage. It falls short in three columns: managed response, patch management and ransomware rollback. ThreatDown Advanced includes patching and Windows rollback; ThreatDown Elite and Huntress include analysts; SentinelOne Complete includes rollback. Everything else in this table costs more. ## Where it falls short

Licensed for up to 300 users. Above that, Microsoft recommends Defender for Endpoint. source · 2026-10-02
Patch deployment and email security are not part of Defender for Business. Its vulnerability management finds and ranks weaknesses; email protection comes from Defender for Office 365, which Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes along with Intune Plan 1. source · 2026-10-02
No managed SOC or MDR is included. Microsoft's Defender Experts services are not offered for Defender for Business; the Defender Experts Suite is an add-on to Microsoft 365 E5, E7 or Microsoft Defender Suite, sold through Microsoft sales. source · 2026-10-02
Did not participate in MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations 2025 (ER7), citing a focus on the Secure Future Initiative. source · 2026-10-02
Not for: Organisations over 300 users: Defender for Business is licensed for up to 300 users, and Microsoft recommends Defender for Endpoint above that. source · 2026-10-02
Not for: Linux-heavy server environments: Linux Server needs the separate Defender for Business servers add-on, and Microsoft points to a different licence above 60 servers. source · 2026-10-02

Two of those limits catch small businesses by surprise. Windows Server and Linux Server machines are not covered by the user licence; each needs the "Microsoft Defender for Business servers" add-on, which Microsoft's FAQ prices per server instance. And patch deployment is not part of the product, so Defender for Business alone will tell you a device is vulnerable without fixing it. Business Premium adds Intune Plan 1 for device management. ## How it does in independent tests

Product	AV-Test protection	AV-Comparatives protection	MITRE ATT&CK Evaluation
Microsoft Defender for Business	6.0/6 2026-08	98.8% 2026-H1	83.8% coverage 2024 Dated
Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security Premium	6.0/6 2025-12	99.8% 2026-H1	72.5% coverage 2024 Dated
CrowdStrike Falcon Go	No public result	98.5% 2026-H1	98.9% coverage 2025
ThreatDown Advanced	No public result	No public result	Participated 2024 Dated
SentinelOne Singularity Complete	No public result	No public result	90% coverage 2024 Dated

Latest published round per lab, as recorded on each product page. Results marked "Dated" are past the freshness window and score zero in the SMB Fit Score. MITRE does not rank or score vendors.

Defender for Business has current results from both AV-Test and AV-Comparatives, with zero false positives in AV-Comparatives' March to June 2026 round. No other EDR product here has current results from both labs. Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security Premium, shown for comparison, does, but Bitdefender sells it as prevention "without additional detection and response capabilities". Microsoft skipped the 2025 MITRE round, citing its [Secure Future Initiative](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoftdefenderatpblog/microsoft%E2%80%99s-participation-in-mitre-attck%C2%AE-evaluations-enterprise-2025/4422639), so its MITRE result is from 2024. ## When is Defender for Business enough?

Under 25 devices, no IT staff: Defender for Business is the default choice for a Microsoft 365 office under 300 users. It adds EDR and automated investigation and remediation for less per user than most rivals charge for plain antivirus, and AV-Comparatives recorded zero false positives in its first-half 2026 test. The trade-off: alerts land in the Defender portal with nobody paid to watch them unless you hire a partner or MSP to do it; Microsoft does not sell its Defender Experts service for this product.
25 to 250 devices, MSP-managed: MSPs manage Defender for Business through Microsoft 365 Lighthouse, which works well when clients already live in Microsoft 365 and awkwardly when they do not. Sentinel is the only named SIEM, so reporting stays inside Microsoft's own consoles. Each client tenant tops out at 300 users.
Regulated (HIPAA, PCI, CMMC): For a practice already on Microsoft 365, the included EDR keeps device timelines for incident review, and Defender for Endpoint, the engine under Defender for Business, is in Microsoft's PCI DSS scope. There are gaps. Microsoft's HIPAA BAA covers a published list of services, and neither Defender for Endpoint nor Defender for Business is on it, so a covered entity should ask Microsoft before relying on it. We hold no CMMC record for this product, and Microsoft sat out MITRE's 2025 evaluation, so its newest MITRE result dates from 2024.

In practice, Defender for Business is enough when all four of these hold: - your team already uses Microsoft 365, so identities and devices are managed in one place; - someone, in-house or at your IT provider, reviews alerts promptly, including out of hours for critical ones; - patching is handled, through Intune or your IT provider; and - you have 300 users or fewer, and either no servers or a budget for the servers add-on. ## When to choose something else - **Nobody will act on alerts.** Microsoft offers no managed response for Defender for Business; its Defender Experts services attach to enterprise suites such as Microsoft 365 E5. A small business gets alert monitoring from an IT provider or MSP, or picks a product with managed response in the price, compared in [Managed EDR and MDR for small business](/research/managed-edr-mdr-small-business-buyers-guide/). - **You want patching and protection in one product.** ThreatDown Advanced includes patch management. - **Your MSP standardises on another platform.** Integration with its RMM and PSA stack may matter more than licence price. See [endpoint security for MSPs](/research/endpoint-security-for-msps/). - **You are a Google Workspace or Mac-first business.** Defender for Business still works on Macs, but much of its advantage comes from sitting inside Microsoft 365. ## Mistakes to avoid with Defender for Business - **Assuming Windows' built-in antivirus is the same thing.** It has no central console and no EDR. - **Buying a second product on top of Business Premium** without a specific reason. - **Leaving alerts unread.** EDR with nobody watching records an attack in detail and stops only what it can stop automatically. - **Leaving devices off the console.** Check that every laptop, including home machines used for work, appears in the device inventory. - **Expecting it to patch.** It reports vulnerabilities; Intune or your IT provider fixes them. - **Counting on it to undo ransomware.** It has no rollback, so backups you have tested are the recovery plan. ## How its price compares

Product	Per unit per month	10 seats / yr	25 seats / yr	100 seats / yr
Microsoft Defender for Business	$3.00 /user/mo	$360.00	$900.00	$3,600.00
ThreatDown Advanced	$6.58 /endpoint/mo	$790.00	Via sales (online up to 20)	Via sales (online up to 20)
Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security Premium	$7.33 /endpoint/mo	$879.99	$1,869.99	$6,039.99
ThreatDown Elite	$8.25 /endpoint/mo	$990.00	Via sales (online up to 20)	Via sales (online up to 20)
SentinelOne Singularity Complete	$15.00 /endpoint/mo	$1,799.90	$4,499.75	$17,999.00
Huntress Managed EDR	Min 50 seats	Min 50 seats	Min 50 seats	$9,588.00

Annual totals from each vendor's store or calculator at list price. "Quote only" means the vendor publishes no online price at that seat count; "Min N seats" means the vendor's smallest purchase is larger.

## Frequently asked questions ### Is Microsoft Defender for Business good enough for a small business? For most small businesses using Microsoft 365, yes, if someone will act on its alerts. It includes EDR, has current independent test results, and costs $36.00 per user per year. It doesn't include 24/7 managed response, patch management or ransomware rollback. ### Is the free Windows Defender enough for a business? No. The Defender Antivirus built into Windows protects each PC individually, with no central management or EDR. A business can't see which devices are protected or investigate an incident across them. Defender for Business, or another business endpoint product, fills that gap. ### Is Defender for Business included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium? Yes. Microsoft includes Defender for Business in Microsoft 365 Business Premium, so businesses on that plan should not buy the standalone licence. ### Is Defender for Business better than Bitdefender or CrowdStrike? On the SMB Fit Score it scores 75, against 74 for Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security Premium and 62 for CrowdStrike Falcon Go. Neither of those includes EDR. See [how it ranks against the other EDR products](/research/edr-comparison-small-business-2026/) on price, tests and effort. See the [Defender vs Bitdefender comparison](/compare/bitdefender-gravityzone-business-security-premium-vs-microsoft-defender-for-business/), and the [Defender vs Huntress comparison](/compare/huntress-managed-edr-vs-microsoft-defender-for-business/) if you need managed response. ## Methodology and caveats All facts about Microsoft Defender for Business, including price, capabilities, limitations, lab results and score, are drawn at build time from its [Endpoint Index product page](/products/microsoft-defender-for-business/), each with a Microsoft or lab source and verification date. The five-devices-per-user allowance and the Business Premium inclusion were checked on Microsoft's product page on 30 September 2026. Microsoft's licensing and bundles change often; confirm current terms with Microsoft or your reseller. ## Sources 1. Microsoft. [Microsoft Defender for Business](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/endpoint-security/microsoft-defender-business). Checked 30 September 2026. 2. Microsoft Tech Community. [Microsoft's participation in MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations Enterprise 2025](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoftdefenderatpblog/microsoft%E2%80%99s-participation-in-mitre-attck%C2%AE-evaluations-enterprise-2025/4422639). 3. AV-Test Institute. [Tests of business endpoint protection](https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/business-windows-client/). 4. AV-Comparatives. [Business Security Test 2026 (March to June)](https://av-comparatives.org/tests/business-security-test-2026-march-june/). 5. Endpoint Index. [Microsoft Defender for Business product page](/products/microsoft-defender-for-business/). Last price verification in this dataset: 2026-10-02.