Microsoft Defender for Business is Microsoft’s endpoint security solution for small and medium-sized organisations. It goes beyond the antivirus protection built into Windows, adding capabilities such as endpoint detection and response (EDR), vulnerability management and automated investigation and remediation.
If you’re already running Microsoft 365, it’s worth understanding what Defender for Business actually adds to your security stack before buying another endpoint product.
If you’re reviewing your current endpoint protection, our cyber security team can also help you work through what makes sense for your environment, rather than simply adding another security tool.
At a basic level, Defender for Business protects the devices your organisation relies on from threats including malware, ransomware and other attacks.
But it’s more than traditional antivirus.
Defender for Business is built on Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and includes capabilities such as:
Microsoft positions Defender for Business specifically for organisations with up to 300 users. It can be purchased as a standalone product or included as part of Microsoft 365 Business Premium.
That last point is particularly important for Microsoft-heavy environments. You may already be paying for some of these capabilities without realising it.
The main reason is that it gives your IT team significantly more visibility and control over endpoint security than simply relying on the antivirus that comes with Windows.
For an IT team, that can mean being able to:
It also makes sense when you want to consolidate your security tooling around Microsoft 365 rather than managing a completely separate endpoint platform.
The important question, however, isn’t simply “Is Defender for Business good?”
It’s “Does it fit the way our IT and security team operates?”
There aren’t really multiple “tiers” of Defender for Business in the same way you might see with some security products. The main decision is whether you need Defender for Business standalone or whether Microsoft 365 Business Premium is the better fit.
Defender for Business is available as a standalone subscription for eligible organisations with up to 300 users.
Microsoft currently lists the Australian price at AU$4.50 per user/month when paid annually, excluding GST. Pricing can change, so check Microsoft’s current pricing before budgeting around it.
This can make sense if you already have Microsoft 365 Business Basic or Business Standard and simply want to add endpoint protection.
Business Premium includes Defender for Business alongside a broader set of Microsoft security and productivity capabilities.
That includes:
Microsoft currently lists Business Premium at AU$32.90 per user/month when paid annually, excluding GST, with a lower price for the no-Teams version.
For organisations already using Microsoft 365 extensively, Business Premium can therefore be a more complete security package than buying endpoint protection separately.
This is where the licensing names get confusing.
Defender for Business isn’t simply a cheaper “tier” of Defender for Endpoint. It’s a separate offering designed for SMBs, although it’s built on the Defender for Endpoint platform.
Microsoft says Defender for Business includes the capabilities of Defender for Endpoint Plan 1, some capabilities from Plan 2 and additional features designed to simplify security management for smaller organisations.
If your organisation is growing beyond the 300-user limit or needs more advanced enterprise capabilities, Defender for Endpoint may be the more appropriate option.
No.
This is one of the more common points of confusion.
You can use Defender for Business without Intune. Microsoft specifically supports standalone Defender for Business environments and provides default security policies and management through the Microsoft Defender portal.
Intune can make the overall setup more powerful, particularly if you want to manage devices, applications, compliance and security policies from a central platform.
But they’re not the same thing.
A simple way to think about it is:
Defender for Business = endpoint security
Intune = device and application management
They work well together, but you don’t need Intune just to deploy and use Defender for Business.
If you’re buying Microsoft 365 Business Premium, however, Intune Plan 1 is already included. That can make the combination particularly attractive for organisations looking to standardise device management and security.
Before rolling it out, check that you have:
The technology is only one part of the equation. An endpoint security platform that nobody is watching isn’t doing much for you.
There isn’t a universal winner here. Both are serious endpoint security platforms, but they can make more sense in different environments.
Microsoft Defender for Business is particularly compelling if your organisation is already heavily invested in Microsoft 365. It keeps endpoint protection closely connected to the wider Microsoft security ecosystem and can reduce the number of separate security products your team needs to manage.
SentinelOne takes a different approach, with its Singularity platform focused heavily on autonomous endpoint protection, behavioural AI, automated response and rollback capabilities.
When comparing the two, look beyond the feature checklist.
If you’re already using Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Entra, Intune and other Microsoft security services, Defender may fit naturally into your existing environment.
An EDR product generates useful information, but someone still needs to investigate incidents and respond appropriately.
Both platforms offer automated detection and response capabilities, but their approaches and workflows differ. Make sure you test what happens during a real incident rather than relying on a product comparison table.
Compare the total cost of licensing, deployment, management and monitoring, rather than just the endpoint licence price.
A platform your team can confidently configure, monitor and respond to may be more useful than a theoretically stronger product that isn’t properly managed.
In other words, don’t choose an endpoint platform in isolation. Look at the people, processes and other security controls around it.
This is another naming problem Microsoft hasn’t made particularly easy.
Microsoft Defender Antivirus is built into Windows 10 and Windows 11 and provides core antivirus protection, including real-time, behaviour-based and cloud-delivered protection.
Microsoft Defender for Business builds on that foundation with additional business-focused capabilities.
Think of it this way:
Windows Defender Antivirus |
Defender for Business |
| Built into Windows | Paid business security service |
| Core antivirus protection | Endpoint protection platform |
| Primarily device-level protection | Centralised business management |
| Malware and threat protection | EDR and automated response |
| Basic Windows security controls | Vulnerability management |
| Designed into the operating system | Designed for managed business environments |
So if your business has Windows 11 devices, you already have Microsoft Defender Antivirus.
That doesn’t mean you already have Defender for Business.
The difference is largely about visibility, management, detection and response at an organisational level.
Yes, and this is where the conversation gets more interesting than simply choosing one product over another.
Huntress has an integration with Microsoft Defender for Business that allows its managed security service to use Defender telemetry alongside its own capabilities. Huntress says its Managed EDR service can extend Defender with monitoring, threat hunting and response from its security operations team.
That means Defender and Huntress don’t necessarily have to be competing products.
For example, an organisation could use:
Microsoft Defender for Business
→ Endpoint protection, EDR, vulnerability visibility and Microsoft-native security controls
Huntress
→ Managed detection and response, threat hunting and a security team monitoring activity around the clock
This can be particularly useful for lean IT teams that don’t have the resources to monitor endpoint alerts themselves.
The right combination will depend on your existing Microsoft licensing, internal skills, security requirements and how much monitoring you want to outsource.
For a broader review of your environment, cyber security consulting can help identify where your existing controls fit, where the gaps are and what is actually worth adding.
Endpoint protection is important, but it isn’t your entire security strategy.
Defender for Business won’t replace things such as:
It’s one layer of a broader security approach.
For example, understanding the common ways attackers get into an organisation can help you work out which controls need attention beyond the endpoint itself. Our guide to types of cyber attacks businesses should protect against is a useful place to start.
For IT leaders, the practical goal isn’t to collect as many security products as possible. It’s to make sure the controls you have are configured properly, monitored consistently and actually work together.
Microsoft Defender for Business is a strong option for organisations that want business-grade endpoint protection without moving away from the Microsoft ecosystem.
It’s particularly worth considering if you’re already using Microsoft 365 and want to consolidate endpoint security, vulnerability management and detection and response into your existing Microsoft environment.
You don’t need Intune to use it, although Intune and Defender for Business work well together. And you don’t necessarily need to choose between Defender and Huntress either. Depending on your environment, a managed security service can sit alongside Defender and provide the monitoring and response capacity your internal team doesn’t have.
The best choice comes down to your existing licences, devices, internal capability and wider security strategy.
If you’re not sure whether Defender for Business, SentinelOne, Huntress or a combination makes sense for your environment, get in touch with our team and we can help you work through the options.
A note on pricing and product information: Information in this article is correct at the time of writing and may change as Microsoft updates its products, licensing and pricing. For the latest information, always check the official Microsoft website.
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