- The organization already operates Microsoft Defender and Intune: The product uses Defender endpoint signals and can send tracked remediation requests into Intune or Configuration Manager.
- A buyer wants full endpoint vulnerability management while retaining another EDR: Microsoft explicitly positions the standalone product as a way to complement other EDR solutions.
Security & Privacy / Vulnerability Management Software
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management Review, Pricing, Pros & Cons
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management is a cloud-managed vulnerability-management product for continuous endpoint discovery, risk-based prioritization, security recommendations, remediation tracking, and premium asset assessments.
Research by Global Tool Radar Research SystemEvidence checked: Aug 10, 2026AI-assisted · No Global Tool Radar hands-on testView research methodology
Buying snapshot
Quick buying snapshot
A compact view of who this tool fits, what it costs, and what to confirm before choosing it.
- The primary scope is web applications, external attack surfaces, or broad cloud posture: Those scopes require separate AppSec, ASM, Security Exposure Management, or Defender for Cloud products and are not proven by the standalone endpoint VM license.
- The buyer needs vulnerability findings to deploy patches without a separate management system: The product provides recommendations, requests, blocking controls, and tracking; actual patch deployment depends on Intune, Configuration Manager, or another endpoint-management tool.
- Per-user annual subscription for the premium add-on or standalone product, with core and server capabilities also available through separate Defender plans.
- Defender Vulnerability Management Add-on · $2.00 USD · per user · per month · U.S. add-on annual-payment rate · billed annually · one-year commitment · Requires eligible Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 or Microsoft 365 E5 licensing
- 90 days for both add-on and standalone evaluation routes
Product scope
Product functionality and purchase scope
This profile evaluates the standalone product and premium add-on, while clearly separating core capabilities bundled with Defender for Endpoint, server entitlements in Defender for Cloud, EDR/XDR protection, broader exposure management, and patch deployment.
Product checked: Aug 10, 2026
- Defender Vulnerability Management Standalone
- Defender Vulnerability Management Add-on for eligible Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 and Microsoft 365 E5 customers
- Core vulnerability-management capabilities included with Defender for Endpoint Plan 2
- Premium endpoint inventories, baselines, network-share analysis, authenticated Windows scanning, and vulnerable-application blocking
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint EDR and antivirus capabilities
- Microsoft Defender XDR incident detection and response
- Microsoft Security Exposure Management broader exposure graph
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Defender for Servers cloud-workload licensing
- Microsoft Intune patch and device management
- Web application security testing and external attack-surface management
Pricing plans
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management pricing table
Pricing checked: Aug 10, 2026
Official factConfidence 100%1 linked source
The U.S. official page explicitly binds both prices to yearly payment and an annual commitment. The add-on requires an eligible Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 or Microsoft 365 E5 base entitlement; standalone can complement another EDR. Server coverage follows separate Defender for Servers licensing.
Official pricing pagePricing cautions
- The lowest public amount is an add-on rather than a standalone product price: USD 2.00 requires an eligible Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 or Microsoft 365 E5 base entitlement; standalone is USD 3.00.
- Endpoint and server purchase routes differ: Server vulnerability-management capabilities are licensed through Defender for Servers plans rather than the per-user standalone endpoint route.
PlanPriceKey differencesBest for
Defender Vulnerability Management Add-onPremium add-on for eligible Microsoft security subscriptionsSupporting pricing evidence
- $2.00 USD · per user · per month · U.S. add-on annual-payment rate · billed annually · one-year commitment · Requires eligible Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 or Microsoft 365 E5 licensing
- Add-on trial: 90 days; Eligible Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 customers; Global Administrator role required for onboarding.
Defender Vulnerability Management StandaloneStandalone Defender Vulnerability ManagementSupporting pricing evidence
- $3.00 USD · per user · per month · U.S. standalone annual-payment rate · billed annually · one-year commitment · Standalone endpoint vulnerability management that can complement another EDR
- Standalone trial: 90 days; New customers or eligible Defender for Endpoint P1 or Microsoft 365 E3 customers; Global Administrator role required.
License calculator
License cost scenarios
Adjust the license quantity to compare public recurring rates across the available plans.
PlanPriceMonthly equivalent12-month license-rate estimateStated-term license cost
Defender Vulnerability Management Add-onU.S. add-on annual-payment rate · one-year commitment$2.00 USD / user / month$10.00 USD$120.00 USD$120.00 USDCalculated from the structured public rate and stated commitment term
License-rate calculation only. It excludes implementation, migration, training, support, taxes, add-ons, usage charges, and negotiated discounts unless they are explicitly included in the displayed public rate.
What is included, connected, or sold separately
Product scope
What is included, connected, or sold separately
Material capabilities are separated by their verified relationship to the target product.
Cloud workload and server vulnerability managementRelationship not verified
Server entitlements follow Defender for Cloud licensing rather than the standalone endpoint offer.
Plan: Defender for Servers Plan 1: Not verified · Defender for Servers Plan 2: Not verifiedMicrosoft Defender for Servers
Endpoint detection and responseRelationship not verified
Defender Vulnerability Management is a separate solution even though core capabilities are bundled with Defender for Endpoint Plan 2.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Enterprise exposure graph and attack pathsRelationship not verified
Do not attribute the full exposure-management graph to the standalone VM license.
Microsoft Security Exposure Management
Patch deploymentRelationship not verified
The VM product submits and tracks remediation work; device-management products execute updates.
Plan: Defender Vulnerability Management: Not verifiedMicrosoft Intune or Configuration Manager
How the score is calculated
Scoring method
How the score is calculated
The score uses the category-specific buying dimensions below and their displayed weights.
This page is based on public product information, official sources, structured feature data, and multi-model AI evaluation. It is not a hands-on lab test unless explicitly stated. Confidence percentages describe our research indicators, not the probability that a claim is true or a measured accuracy rate.
- Evidence confidence
- 76%
- AI claim confidence
- 100%
- Required-field evidence status
- 100%
- Evidence freshness
- 54%
- Field traceability
- 100%
- Model agreement
- 93%
Why this confidence level
- Evidence confidence uses source level and claim-to-source support; AI claim confidence is shown separately.
- Required-field evidence status measures whether weighted required claims have evidence links; it does not mean every product behavior was independently verified.
- 8 of 8 weighted claims have evidence links.
- 0 A1 documentary official sources and 6 A2 official product sources are linked.
- 3 independent review sources are retained, including 0 professional sources with an explicit hands-on method.
- 4 weighted claims are past the review window.
- No blocking evidence conflict was identified.
Discovery and assessment coverage19%
86Covers continuous endpoint discovery and authenticated Windows network scanning, though it does not provide cloud posture or web application scanning.
Risk prioritization quality18%
89Weights risk dynamically by combining threat actor activity, exploit availability, and asset-specific business value.
Remediation operations16%
77Enables vulnerable-application blocking and triggers remediation tasks, but depends on integrations with Intune and Configuration Manager rather than deploying patches natively.
Vulnerability intelligence and accuracy14%
85Authenticated Windows network scanning, configuration assessment, and asset-context prioritization support more grounded vulnerability intelligence, but the facts do not establish validation breadth beyond Microsoft endpoint-focused assessment.
Scale and deployment13%
77The service is cloud-managed and offers continuous endpoint assessment, which supports distributed administration, but the supplied facts do not provide explicit scale limits, performance metrics, or deployment boundaries.
Reporting and integrations10%
78Intune and Configuration Manager task integration provides a direct operational connection for remediation, yet the integration scope is specifically Microsoft management tooling rather than a broader reporting and export ecosystem.
Support and total cost10%
73The add-on starts at USD 2.00 per user per month with an eligible base entitlement and the standalone route starts at USD 3.00 per user per month, both billed annually with one-year commitment, so total cost depends on licensing path and existing Microsoft subscriptions.
Public review signals
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management receives favorable product-level ratings
Three retained exact-product review profiles are consistently favorable. Users value Microsoft ecosystem integration, continuous assessment, prioritized recommendations, and centralized reporting; recurring cautions concern licensing complexity, onboarding, portal refresh behavior, and reliance on other Microsoft services for remediation execution.
Public review signals updated: Aug 10, 2026
Commonly reported strengths
- Strong integration with Microsoft Defender and Intune
- Continuous inventory and actionable vulnerability prioritization
- Centralized recommendations, reporting, and remediation tracking
Commonly reported concerns
- Licensing and plan boundaries can be difficult to evaluate
- Configuration and onboarding require Microsoft security expertise
- Some workflows depend on other Microsoft products and portal data refresh
G24.4/5
- Review count
- 34 reviews
- Source context
- Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management on G2Exact product
Gartner Peer Insights4.3/5
- Rating count
- 44 ratings
- Source context
- Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management on Gartner Peer InsightsExact product
PeerSpot4.1/5
- Review count
- 18 reviews
- Source context
- Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management on PeerSpotExact product
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management tag profile
Company size
- Enterprise
- Mid-market
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management core capabilities
- Continuous endpoint and software inventory
- Device discovery and authenticated Windows network scanning
- Vulnerability and configuration assessment
- Threat-, exploit-, exposure-, and business-context prioritization
- Security recommendations, exceptions, and remediation tracking
- Intune and Configuration Manager task integration
Detailed strengths and purchase cautions
Why it is worth considering
- It supports continuous endpoint and software inventory together with authenticated Windows network scanning, which gives security teams a broader discovery base for asset and vulnerability review.
- It combines threat-, exploit-, exposure-, and business-context prioritization with security recommendations and remediation tracking, which supports triage and follow-through in the same workflow.
- It integrates remediation task handling with Intune and Configuration Manager, which can align vulnerability work with Microsoft endpoint management processes.
- It includes browser extension, certificate, network-share, hardware, and firmware assessment, which expands coverage beyond only software findings.
What to confirm before buying
- The lowest public add-on price depends on an eligible Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 or Microsoft 365 E5 base entitlement, so the entry price is not standalone for those buyers.
- Pricing for the endpoint product is billed annually with a one-year commitment, so budget approval needs to account for that commercial structure.
- Server vulnerability-management capabilities use separate Defender for Servers licensing, so endpoint and server buying paths are not the same.
- Some premium actions depend on Defender Antivirus, Intune, Configuration Manager, Entra roles, or other Microsoft services, so buyers should verify their existing Microsoft stack before purchase.
Cross-model buying perspectives
Multi-AI review
Cross-model buying perspectives
Multiple AI models assess this tool against the same buying criteria, so you can compare scores, confidence, fit, cautions, and final views.
AI assessment updated: Sep 23, 2026
Score comparisonGeminiGPTxAIRange
Discovery and assessment coverage8588853
Risk prioritization quality9090882
Remediation operations7878744
Vulnerability intelligence and accuracy8883835
Scale and deployment85767015
Reporting and integrations82807210
Support and total cost80726812
vuln discovery scan coverage8589864
vuln risk prioritization quality9090882
vuln remediation workflow8079746
vuln asset context accuracy8584823
vuln reporting exposure visibility85777312
- Scale and deployment: 70–85 (15-point range)
- Support and total cost: 68–80 (12-point range)
- vuln reporting exposure visibility: 73–85 (12-point range)
GeminiAI-assisted buyer perspective84
This product delivers continuous endpoint discovery and risk prioritization within the Microsoft ecosystem, but buyers must account for its dependency on external configuration tools for remediation and separate licensing requirements for servers.
- Review confidence
- 84/100
Model details
- Strengths
- Continuous endpoint and software inventory paired with detailed hardware, firmware, browser extension, and certificate assessments.
- Dynamic risk prioritization utilizing real-time threat, exploit, exposure, and custom business context.
- Native task integration with Microsoft Intune and Configuration Manager to manage and track endpoint remediation workflows.
- Cautions
- Absence of native, direct patch-deployment capabilities, making remediation execution dependent on Microsoft Intune, Configuration Manager, or other management utilities.
- Licensing boundaries that exclude server coverage from standard user pricing, requiring separate Defender for Servers plans.
- Operational dependencies on Defender Antivirus, specific Entra roles, or additional Microsoft services for certain premium actions.
GPTAI-assisted buyer perspective82
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management fits buyers that already use Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and need continuous endpoint vulnerability discovery, risk-based prioritization, and remediation tracking, or buyers that want a standalone Microsoft vulnerability-management option alongside another EDR. The main purchase check is whether the required base entitlement, management tooling, and server licensing path match the intended deployment.
- Review confidence
- 82/100
Model details
- Strengths
- It supports continuous endpoint and software inventory together with authenticated Windows network scanning, which gives security teams a broader discovery base for asset and vulnerability review.
- It combines threat-, exploit-, exposure-, and business-context prioritization with security recommendations and remediation tracking, which supports triage and follow-through in the same workflow.
- It integrates remediation task handling with Intune and Configuration Manager, which can align vulnerability work with Microsoft endpoint management processes.
- It includes browser extension, certificate, network-share, hardware, and firmware assessment, which expands coverage beyond only software findings.
- Cautions
- The lowest public add-on price depends on an eligible Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 or Microsoft 365 E5 base entitlement, so the entry price is not standalone for those buyers.
- Pricing for the endpoint product is billed annually with a one-year commitment, so budget approval needs to account for that commercial structure.
- Server vulnerability-management capabilities use separate Defender for Servers licensing, so endpoint and server buying paths are not the same.
- Some premium actions depend on Defender Antivirus, Intune, Configuration Manager, Entra roles, or other Microsoft services, so buyers should verify their existing Microsoft stack before purchase.
xAIAI-assisted buyer perspective79
Fit for Microsoft endpoint environments that need continuous inventory, threat- and business-context prioritization, and remediation tracking, provided the buyer accepts one-year annual commitments, eligible base licensing for the add-on route, and Intune or Configuration Manager for actual patch execution.
- Review confidence
- 79/100
Model details
- Strengths
- Continuous endpoint and software inventory plus device discovery and authenticated Windows network scanning support ongoing vulnerability and configuration assessment on endpoints.
- Prioritization incorporates threat, exploit, exposure, and business context so teams can order work beyond raw severity alone.
- Security recommendations, exceptions, and remediation tracking integrate with Intune and Configuration Manager task flows for operational handoff.
- Standalone licensing can complement another EDR while the add-on path extends eligible Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 or Microsoft 365 E5 estates.
- Cautions
- The USD 2.00 add-on requires an eligible Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 or Microsoft 365 E5 base entitlement, so the lowest list rate is not a standalone entry price.
- Both add-on and standalone offers carry a one-year commitment billed annually at the stated per-user monthly rates.
- The product creates and tracks remediation requests but is not a standalone patch-deployment engine without Intune, Configuration Manager, or another management tool.
- Server vulnerability-management capabilities require separate Defender for Servers licensing rather than the per-user endpoint routes.
Research transparency
How this page was researched
A compact record of the evidence used, what was not tested, and which conclusions still need verification.
- Official sources
- 6
- Broad product review sources
- 3
- Marketplace and app-store sources
- 0
- Editorial sources
- 0
- Latest evidence check
- Aug 10, 2026
Research basis
Global Tool Radar generated this assessment from structured facts linked to public sources. No Global Tool Radar hands-on test is recorded in this page's research data. Any external hands-on assessment is identified separately and does not affect the Global Tool Radar score.
Conflict handlingNo unresolved evidence conflict is currently recorded.
View research methodologyVerified findings90 days for both add-on and standalone evaluation routes
- Per-user annual subscription for the premium add-on or standalone product, with core and server capabilities also available through separate Defender plans.
- USD 2.00 per user per month for the add-on; USD 3.00 per user per month for standalone
- The U.S. official page explicitly binds both prices to yearly payment and an annual commitment. The add-on requires an eligible Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 or Microsoft 365 E5 base entitlement; standalone can complement another EDR. Server coverage follows separate Defender for Servers licensing.
- Continuous endpoint and software inventory Device discovery and authenticated Windows network scanning Vulnerability and configuration assessment Threat-, exploit-, exposure-, and business-context prioritization Security recommendations, exceptions, and remediation tracking Intune and Configuration Manager task integration Security baselines and vulnerable-application blocking Browser extension, certificate, network-share, hardware, and firmware assessment
Verification notes and unresolved itemsCurrent Microsoft product, pricing, plan-comparison, FAQ, inventory, and remediation sources confirm the exact standalone and add-on product.
- EDR/XDR, Defender for Cloud server licensing, Security Exposure Management, Intune patch execution, AppSec, and ASM remain separate.
- The two U.S. numeric offers preserve Microsoft's explicit yearly payment and annual commitment.
Sources checked
Sources checked
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management source links
Security recommendationsMicrosoftLevel A2Linked to 0 scored claimsChecked Aug 10, 2026
Software inventoryMicrosoftLevel A2Linked to 0 scored claimsChecked Aug 10, 2026
Defender Vulnerability Management FAQMicrosoftLevel A2Linked to 1 scored claimChecked Aug 10, 2026
Compare Defender Vulnerability Management plans and capabilitiesMicrosoftLevel A2Linked to 4 scored claimsChecked Aug 10, 2026
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management Plans and PricingMicrosoftLevel A2Linked to 3 scored claimsChecked Aug 10, 2026
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability ManagementMicrosoftLevel A2Linked to 0 scored claimsChecked Aug 10, 2026
FAQ
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management FAQ
Can Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management work with another EDR?
Yes. Microsoft explicitly positions the standalone USD 3 per-user monthly rate, paid yearly with annual commitment, as a way to complement other EDR solutions.
What is included with Defender for Endpoint Plan 2?
Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 includes the core vulnerability-management capabilities. Premium capabilities require the add-on or standalone route; the EDR product itself remains a separate scope.
How long is the trial?
Microsoft documents a 90-day trial for both the premium add-on and the standalone product.
Does the product install patches?
It creates and tracks remediation requests and integrates with Intune or Configuration Manager. The reviewed evidence does not make it a standalone patch-deployment product.
Popular comparisons
Common Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management comparisons
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