Arctic Wolf Aurora Endpoint Security vs Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

Arctic Wolf Aurora Endpoint Security

Mid-market and enterprise teams without dedicated SOC staff should pick Arctic Wolf Aurora Endpoint Security for its 24x7 managed detection model; you're not buying an EDR tool, you're outsourcing threat hunting to security experts who deliver concierge-level response. The $3M Security Operations Warranty and built-in MDR integration mean your team gets incident investigation and mitigation handled by Arctic Wolf's analysts, not left to you. Skip this if you need fine-grained endpoint controls or plan to keep detection and response entirely in-house; Aurora assumes you want the vendor shouldering investigation work.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Mid-market and enterprise teams already running Microsoft 365 will get immediate value from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint because it integrates directly into your existing infrastructure without the deployment friction of standalone EDR tools. The platform covers six of eight NIST CSF 2.0 functions, with particular strength in continuous monitoring and incident analysis, meaning detection and response happen faster when you're not context-switching between products. Skip this if your environment is heavily non-Windows or you need best-of-breed EDR capabilities independent of your productivity suite; Microsoft Defender prioritizes platform convenience over the specialized threat hunting depth that pure-play EDR vendors deliver.