KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus vs. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
PhishER is presented as a lightweight Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) platform to orchestrate threat response and manage the high volume of potentially malicious email messages reported by users. And, with automatic prioritization of emails, PhishER helps InfoSec and Security Operations team cut through the inbox noise and respond to the most dangerous threats more quickly.
$0.75
per month (billed annually) per seat
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (formerly Microsoft Defender ATP) is a holistic, cloud delivered endpoint security solution that includes risk-based vulnerability management and assessment, attack surface reduction, behavioral based and cloud-powered next generation protection, endpoint detection and response (EDR), automatic investigation and remediation, managed hunting services, rich APIs, and unified security management.
$2.50
per user/per month
Pricing
KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER PlusMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Editions & Modules
3001-5000 Monthly Pricing Per Seat
$0.75
per month (billed annually) per seat
2001-3000 Monthly Pricing Per Seat
$0.85
per month (billed annually) per seat
1001-2000 Monthly Pricing Per Seat
$1.00
per month (billed annually) per seat
501-1000 Monthly Pricing Per Seat
$1.15
per month (billed annually) per seat
101-500 Monthly Pricing Per Seat
$1.50
per month (billed annually) per seat
Academic
$2.50
per user/per month
Standalone
$5.20
per user/per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER PlusMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER PlusMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Considered Both Products
KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
We evaluated the Titan options because we have already used their DNS filtering product. However, KnowBe4 came in with a better price per user and a significantly stronger product lineup, particularly with its security awareness training component.
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
Hands down superior
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
Email customization looks like a carbon copy. Layout is more convoluted. We would have to purchase three separate elements to achieve what we get with KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus at double/triple the cost. The KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus product lineup is better, more …
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
Only tool that has features like rip and flip
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
KnowBe4's PhishER was the deciding factor for us.
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
Harmony does not provide security awareness training or simulated phishing emails like KnowB4. However, it does provide a phish alert button & workflow similar to PhishER & we may stop using PhishER because the Phish Alert reports from PhishER don't feed into Harmony to help …
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
None of the other security awareness applications we used or considered offered a similar product to PhishER or their overall security awareness application was so subpar that we didn't even consider if they had an option similar to PhishER.
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
No comparison in their capabilities.
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus had a better user interface and a greater option for growth
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
We decided on KnowBe4 PhishER to make our response process smoother and cut down on the time and effort needed to handle threats. We wanted to reduce manual work and focus our team on real threats. PhishER’s fast analysis and response were key in our decision. Overall, …
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
we have not looked at other products
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
Our organization has always solely trusted KnowBe4.
Recommended by our outside IT vendor- they continuously do random research on other similar products and time and time again, find KnowBe4 to be the best out there for value and product
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
Arctic Wolf also offers a similar product to PhishER using their Phish Tell engine. However, it was severely lacking in terms of workflow automation. Switching to Arctic Wolf's email reporting and response product would have increased the number of manual hours spent on email …
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
Microsoft's backed in email reporting tool is good but the time to resolution varies for all messages. It claims that it will help train filters to better classify messages into the tenant, but we have not seen much of that.

Barracuda offered a similar product to PhishER but …
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
Some other providers offer similar training but have found Phisher tends to be where we get the most value compared to other products
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
We researched several, however, KnowBe4 was our first choice and we've been with them since the beginning of our time with these types of products.
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
Abnormal is on an entirely nother level both in cost and functionality. Costs is 25x but is borderline magic. Barracuda was finicky and cost more. Defender for email we already had but falls short in a lot of areas, especially with the reporting piece.
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
We use the two tools in parallel to ensure that we can effectively manage and report on Phishing and further enhance our training campaigns.
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
We liked the integration and ease of use.
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
PhishER is an add-on to the email client which makes it easy to setup and readily available to use for all staff. Other products require much more indepth setup and can be confusing for untrained staff. PhishER is easy to use for all staff and this encourages staff to use it …
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
I think that KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus is better than Huntress by precisely telling you in real time what your other defenses are missing. Encourage targeted, just-in-time training against actual threats. Provides evidence and data to demonstrate a true risk reduction.
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
We view KnowBe4 PhishER as another piece to the security puzzle. It works well alongside the other security applications and services in use at our organization.
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
We only have evaluated and/or used PhishER since it is a part of the complete KnowB4 package that we subscribe to.
Chose KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
KnowBe4 PhishER requires less hands-on involvement from our small (but mighty) IT team. Threats are alleviated quickly without our team having to drop something important that they are working on to respond to a phishing email.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
It's very convenient and very well integrated with our environment.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Majorly because our suite is Microsoft, so make totally sense to have this in the company and the price. It is Microsoft is better than CrowdStrike.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Sophos. Because of the integration with Microsoft ecosystem, we selected Defender.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We have not used anything else other than Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Maybe we've used other antivirus software like Sophos and things like that. They're just not all encompassing and that's why we moved to use this product.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I have been working with customers that they are transitioning from Sentinel One, CrowdStrike to Defender for Endpoint, right? So I think it's because they see the value in the product and also they see how much they can save in terms of the cost for companies because they …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We previously used CrowdStrike on our servers. However, the seamless integration of Microsoft Defender (MD) with XDR and the entire Microsoft ecosystem led us to choose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE).
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
What we love more about this product is the way this pro gets integrated into the other family of solutions, especially Defender for Identity or the XDR solutions. We think that the market, the customers are full of unattended consults coming out from different vendors and that …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
The technical features, usability and the support was nice as compared to the other products.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is more advantageous in our windows heavy infrastructure and it was unparalled in the ease of integration with windows endpoints. Security breaches, system crashes and outages with other competitors like Crowdstrike made it easier for us to go …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Norton is much much more expensive and difficult to use. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easy to use and can be operated by a new joiner as well.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
CrowdStrike Falcon is also a good solution for endpoint protection which offer EDR Soultion, threat hunting and AI driven threat protection. Sophos Intercept X combines next-gen antivirus with advanced EDR capabilities with its deep learning technology, exploit prevention, and …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is unique for its effortless deployment into the Microsoft ecosystem, where it taps the broadest set of threat intelligence from more than 1.5 billion endpoints. Its state-of-the-art AI-powered automated investigation and remediation minimize …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We started onboarding macOS devices on jamf and started managing it. Because Defender for Endpoint is not working as expected for and compared to price and functionality we are switching from it.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
CrowdStrike and SentinelOne. CrowdStrike, you have to deploy it, but it's the defender, it's already baked into the operating system. Same thing with SentinelOne.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Easier to integrate, less hidden fees, easier to maintain, and easier to update. Support is much better on the Microsoft side than CrowdStrike.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I don't think, it's not really something that we were just using Microsoft and it was just an easy thing to do.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I'm not familiar. It's just been one year plus that I started using, so I've just started using Defender, so I really don't know how to compare it with others.
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I would say at the end all they are doing the same, but with the benefit that we don't need to install anything. So it's just kind of enabling and then the functionality is available, so other products need to be installed, which is not necessary with the defend
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
We use Defender in the cloud. We are currently using Defender in the cloud and also evaluating the XDR solution for programmatic. It's just arguments, the defense in depth. You have Defender Endpoint and then you have what you have in the cloud as well, so it's just augmenting …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Before using Defender for Endpoint, we basically had the starter version of the Microsoft product, which comes prebuilt into the system. We had them using in the initial run, but then what usually happened was the employees started disabling it, and that usually made, we guys …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I am a big fan of Tanium actually, so I think it is good. Tanium seemed like it was maybe a little bit easier, but maybe the capability was lacking. Maybe that's the reason why it seems like Defender for Endpoint might be a little harder to understand. There might just be more …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
CrowdStrike Falcon, and Sentinel One are other big ones that we use a bit. Cisco Secure Endpoint we've evaluated as well. Cisco Secure endpoint capability-wise doesn't match up to Defender, SentinelOne, and CrowdStrike both do, but the cost profiles are a bit higher. So most of …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I would say not to name specific company names, because I'm a partner with one of them and that's the account that I work with. But I use some competing solutions that I would say are pretty heavy from an overhead perspective with the agent that has to be installed in the …
Chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Because this product is easier to use and has a lot of development and Microsoft's behind it.
Features
KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER PlusMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Incident Response Platforms
Comparison of Incident Response Platforms features of Product A and Product B
KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
8.7
Ratings
1% below category average
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
-
Ratings
Company-wide Incident Reporting8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Other Security Systems8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized Dashboard8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Machine Learning to Prevent Incidents8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Live Response for Rapid Remediation8.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Endpoint Security
Comparison of Endpoint Security features of Product A and Product B
KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus
-
Ratings
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
8.3
Ratings
3% below category average
Anti-Exploit Technology00 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Centralized Management00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Hybrid Deployment Support00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Infection Remediation00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Vulnerability Management00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Malware Detection00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Best Alternatives
KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER PlusMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Small Businesses
ThreatDown, powered by Malwarebytes
ThreatDown, powered by Malwarebytes
Score 8.8 out of 10
ThreatLocker
ThreatLocker
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.0 out of 10
BlackBerry Protect (CylancePROTECT)
BlackBerry Protect (CylancePROTECT)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
CrowdStrike Falcon
CrowdStrike Falcon
Score 9.0 out of 10
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
BeyondTrust Endpoint Privilege Management
Score 9.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER PlusMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.3
(0 ratings)
8.4
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
7.3
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER PlusMicrosoft Defender for Endpoint
Likelihood to Recommend
PhishER comes with some good features, such as PhishML, PhishRIP, PhishFlip, etc. These features help us manage phishing email reporting incidents. From reporting emails via Phish Alert Button plug-in to collecting all reported emails in one place at the PhishER dashboard. Now, the PhishML comes into play, scanning all reported emails and tagging each as clean, spam, or threat. With the help of this machine learning-based algorithm, our investigation process becomes easier. Other features, such as PhishRip, help to search and quarantine phishing emails, and PhishFlip converts a real phishing campaign to a test phishing campaign.
Read full review
Because of its integration with Windows, it is very easy to deploy and manage. Any IT department should be able to leverage the software and interface. The admin portal provides weighted recommendations that comprise the Secure Store, offering admins, security teams, and business owners valuable insights into their security footprint without requiring a strong security background. The software would be ideal for small and mid-sized businesses that cannot dedicate resources to security. Larger enterprises would also benefit, but may require the enhanced license.
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Pros
  • Well structured KMSAT, PAB is a great addition.
  • Good Training Library, ability to customize templates
  • Phish/ER opens a windows to types & volume of suspect emails and allows admins to act upon.
  • "Rooms" in Phish/ER, to me, is considered my entry point to start my admin duties.
  • PAB and Phish/ER work very well together.
  • KnowBe4 Learner App is a great addition.
Read full review
  • One, it's crazy lightweight, so compared to some of the competitors that we also have used with our security services, it's really lightweight and so I don't have a lot of overhead on the system that it's running on.
  • It does really fantastic PowerShell integration.
Read full review
Cons
  • Issues with Global Blocklist
  • Email Template Modification - Simplification
  • Target Specific Users vs. Groups
  • PhishRIP info tabs (i.e. if improperly check ripped emails are turned into tests. This has caused issues.) Info tabs or markers allow user to hover and get more information about what action a check box or slider provides.
Read full review
  • So the fact that Defender for Endpoint still works with signatures is actually, I don't know, a little difficult for us because, I mean, since Microsoft trusts those signatures, you can easily inject code. And we've done it many times. To show that you can inject code through vulnerabilities like CV 2013, 99, and 33 but still keep the signature. So because of the trust of those signatures, the malware just kind of slides into the environment without Defender knowing. That's the first part. The second part is that the behavioral analysis is not precisely its Prime. It's not Defender's best capability for endpoints. So, Defender does not identify all behaviors considered by other EDRs in the market.
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Likelihood to Renew
When we first discovered that KnowBe4 released something like this, we saw a demo of it and were floored at what it could do and how it could help us from a security standpoint. Gone are the days of us in IT sending out a mass email saying please don't click on anything in the email from sender "X", and it allows us to quietly and easily ensure that people don't take any action on malicious emails.
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Microsoft Defender is closely catching -up in market with existing competitors they have added DLP endpoint & DLP Network and Cloud DLP solution last year with OCR capabilities. I would say Microsoft Defender is not legacy Vendor in end point security, the need to learn from other vendors in market and focus on new XDR technologies, which is going to be new battle for all vendors
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Usability
I think that the system is well designed and makes it easy to fine phishing emails that have been reported. It also has a simple user interface that allows you to review and address threat emails also providing an automated component that allows for automated threat mitigation and customized feedback responses to users
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Because in terms of the usability is easy to understand, it's easy to manage, obviously you need to have specific skills to do that, but I would say that even the console and the product is walking through the flow that you are looking for on this console.
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint chugs along just fine no matter what we throw at it and what systems it's running on. It doesn't take up a lot of resources either, so that's welcomed.
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Performance
No answers on this topic
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easy on memory and resources on clients.
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Support Rating
Responses to questions were answered quickly and accurately.
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Overall support is really good for this product. Since it's a Microsoft product, you will get good support from a number of different resources, including knowledgebase articles on the web, support from Microsoft technicians, and documentation (which tends to very thorough). Also, there is a vast user support community for this product, so user support forums would also be another valuable channel to get help if needed. I don't envision too many people will have issues/problems with the product, as it tends to run good overall.
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Implementation Rating
It was very simple to implement - with just a few settings needed to connect it to our O365 environment
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Deployment was handled by our team here and everything went pretty smoothly. We did have a few hiccups in our test group, but that only took a bit to get ironed out.
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Alternatives Considered
We evaluated the Titan options because we have already used their DNS filtering product. However, KnowBe4 came in with a better price per user and a significantly stronger product lineup, particularly with its security awareness training component.
Read full review
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint offers strong integration with Microsoft 365 and Azure services, which provide a unified security experience. While McAfee Trellix is known for solid antivirus, Microsoft Defender excels in integration in the ecosystem.
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is easily scaled from small orgs to giant enterprises.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • There has been a 700% increase in emails being reported now. Previously, staff were only reporting 4 emails a month. It is easier for us to promote the phish alert button, receive automated remediation and rapidly respond.
  • We had no reports on the amount of phishing emails were coming through Mimecast but now we have reports for the board of trustees.
  • Every Wednesday we talk about cyber security to all staff, PhishER allows us to point out the trend and what to look out for which raises awareness. Never before were we able to talk about cyber security like this.
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  • Reduced incidents of security breaches lead to lower remediation costs and avoid potential financial losses and reputational damage.
  • Reduces the need for additional third-party security solutions and training, thereby lowering overall security management costs.
  • Increased efficiency and productivity of IT staff lead to better allocation of resources and cost savings.
  • Reduces the risk of fines and sanctions associated with non-compliance, ensuring business continuity and protecting revenue.
Read full review
ScreenShots

KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus Screenshots

Screenshot of how PhishER Plus enables a critical workstream to help IR teams work together to mitigate the phishing threat and is suited for any organization that wants to automatically prioritize and manage potentially malicious messages.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Screenshots

Screenshot of blocked activitiesScreenshot of Detects & respondsScreenshot of discovers vulnerabilityScreenshot of Eliminates blind spotsScreenshot of Risk management