AgileBlue Cerulean Agent vs Microsoft Defender XDR: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

AgileBlue Cerulean Agent

Mid-market and enterprise security teams managing hybrid infrastructure will get the most from AgileBlue Cerulean Agent because its behavioral analytics catch threats that signature-based detection misses, and the lightweight agent actually deploys without grinding endpoints to a halt. The tool covers four NIST CSF 2.0 functions across detection and incident response, with particular strength in continuous monitoring and threat analysis. Skip this if your team needs deep forensic replay or extensive third-party integrations; Cerulean Agent prioritizes real-time detection over post-incident investigation depth.

Microsoft Defender XDR

Mid-market and enterprise teams already invested in Microsoft 365 should use Defender XDR because automatic attack disruption stops compromises mid-chain without waiting for human intervention, cutting response time from hours to minutes. Its NIST RS.MI (Incident Mitigation) strength,auto-healing of affected assets and real-time containment,means threats don't expand while your analysts are still triaging. Skip this if your environment is non-Microsoft heavy; XDR's correlation engine is built around Microsoft signals, and bolting on third-party tools dilutes that advantage.