WithSecure vs. Microsoft
WithSecure is the European alternative to Microsoft’s E5 and Business Premium — augmenting and building on your existing Microsoft investment with enterprise-grade detection and response, flexible co-security services and the expert coverage that Microsoft’s technology alone leaves out.
The European midmarket alternative to Microsoft Defender XDR — with flexible services
Microsoft’s E5 and Business Premium deliver broad coverage — but at a cost and complexity that assumes large, well-resourced security teams.
WithSecure gives midmarket businesses and MSPs the same enterprise-grade protection on a single platform, with flexible services and on-demand expert support, without forcing you to take the full package or build a team solely to manage the technology.
WithSecure™ comparison
Built for resource constrained midsize businesses and MSPs
WithSecure is purpose-built for European midmarket businesses and MSPs — organizations that need enterprise-grade protection without enterprise-grade complexity or cost. Every product, service and partnership model is designed around the way resource-constrained teams actually work.
Built for well resourced enterprises or highly specialized MSSPs
Microsoft is built for large enterprises with deep pockets and dedicated security teams. Midmarket organizations end up over-licensed, under-supported, and managing complexity that was never designed for them.
Built the European way
WithSecure treats NIS2, DORA and GDPR as service outcomes — not compliance checklists. Managed detection and response, incident reporting support and regulatory documentation are built into the partnership from day one, giving European organizations the clearest path from security investment to auditable compliance.
Compliance tooling. Not a compliance outcome.
Microsoft offers compliance tooling, but achieving NIS2 and DORA readiness requires multiple separately licensed products and significant configuration expertise. For midmarket organizations without a dedicated compliance function, the gap between technology and auditable outcome is wide.
Delivered from Europe.
WithSecure is headquartered in Helsinki and all services delivered from Europe, subject exclusively to European laws. Data is stored, processed and acted upon entirely within European borders — by analysts located in Europe, under European governance, with no exceptions and no fine print.
EU data center. US legal jurisdiction.
Microsoft is subject to the CLOUD Act, which allows US authorities to compel access to customer data — including data stored in EU data centers. EU data residency options exist, but European legal jurisdiction over your data and the teams monitoring your environment cannot be guaranteed.
Seven consecutive years of best-in-class protection
WithSecure is a 7-time winner of AV-TEST Best Protection as the industry’s most rigorous real-world malware test. Multi-layer protection delivers 100% ransomware and 0-day detection, with ransomware attacks automatically reverted without manual recovery.
Full capability locked behind premium E5/E7 licensing.
Protection deeply integrated with the Microsoft Windows — but full capability requires E5 or E7 licensing that most midmarket organizations find difficult to justify. Microsoft has received the AV-TEST Best Protection award only once for business, compared to WithSecure’s seven.
High-fidelity detection. Low noise. Proven since day one.
Accurate and highly automated Broad Context Detection in modern IT envrionment across endpoints, identities, and cloud platforms without unnecessary noise caused. Strong detection-to-alert ratio in 2025 MITRE ATT&CK® Evaluation with only 4 high/critical alerts. Response across endpoints and identities with option to automate, broad range of 30+ guided investigation and response actions.
Multiple portals. Slow support. High admin overhead.
Mature EDR with broad workspace integration designed for large enterprises with dedicated teams and roles — but multiple separate portals, KQL queries, slow support resolution and significant configuration overhead add friction for lean IT teams and MSPs. Microsoft did not participate in 2025 MITRE ATT&CK® Evaluation, but generated 345 alerts in the 2024 evaluation that is 4x compared to WithSecure.
Flexible tiers, EU team, incident response included.
The only vendor offering flexible co-security tiers — on-demand Elevate, co-monitoring, full 24/7 MDR, and proactive Infinite — with incident response included and threat hunters located entirely within Europe.
Technology only. You’re on your own.
No MDR service unless you’re a large enterprise — technology only, leaving midmarket organizations and MSPs to operate detection and response entirely with their own in-house resources. Expert guidance requires separate engagement, not a built-in partnership.
One agent. One portal. Everything included.
Single cloud-native Elements platform, one agent, one portal — covering EPP, EDR, exposure management, M365 protection and identity security without separate consoles or premium licensing tiers.
Fragmented portals. Dedicated Microsoft team required.
Broad platform coverage but fragmented across separate portals for endpoint, cloud and identity — significant admin overhead for organizations without a dedicated Microsoft security team.
MSP-ready from day one. Not bolted on later.
Built from the ground up for MSPs — cloud-native multi-tenant management, white-label services, partner expert escalation and usage-based licensing all included as standard.
Licensing complexity makes MSP delivery inefficient.
Delegated admin model requires considerable setup; licensing complexity and product fragmentation make Microsoft difficult to manage efficiently as a scalable MSP offering.
Recognized independently
Industry recognition
We believe the recognition from independent evaluations, industry analyst firms, and our own partners and customers is the best evidence of innovation, expertise and security outcomes delivered by WithSecure.
As the most notable highlight, WithSecure has been recognized in both the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Exposure Assessment Platforms and the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Endpoint Protection Platforms.
Recognition
Among Notable Vendors in XDR Platforms by Forrester
Forrester named WithSecure among Notable Vendors in the Forrester report, The Extended Detection and Response Platforms Landscape, Q1 2026. XDR is defined as the evolution of endpoint detection and response, which unifies security-relevant detections from endpoints and other detection surfaces, such as email, identity, and cloud.
Recognition
A Strong Performer in MDR Services in Europe by Forrester
Forrester named WithSecure a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Managed Detection and Response Services In Europe Q3 2025 with the highest possible scores in the criteria of Innovation, Data sovereignty and European Service Delivery, and Service localization.
Let’s find the right fit for your business.
- Tell us about your business and security needs.
- We’ll match you with the right solution and a local partner.
- We start with a conversation, not a contract.
WithSecure benefits
- Proactive security that stays ahead of threats — not just reactive to them. Elements continuously identifies exposures and reduces your attack surface before attackers find a way in.
- Full visibility across your entire environment. Endpoints, identities, cloud, email, and collaboration tools — all monitored from a single platform
- AI-powered detection that acts at attack speed. Elements blocks 99.98% of threats automatically, with a full visibility and fast response.
- Expert backup, 24 hours a day. From on-demand guidance to full Managed Detection and Response, our security experts are one click away — whether it’s 2pm or 2am.
- Compliance built in, not bolted on. Elements is aligned with NIS2, DORA, GDPR, and ISO 27001 from day one — so you’re protected and audit-ready without extra effort.
- Elements is available through a network of certified partners who understand your market, your compliance requirements, and your business — so you get the right level of protection, with people you can trust nearby.
- European by design, trusted by 140,000 customers. Built and operated in Europe, with data processed under EU standards and backed by over 35 years of cybersecurity expertise.
Source: Gartner Peer Insights, Voice of the Customer for Managed Detection and Response (31 March 2026). Based on 20 reviews.
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