Best Endpoint Protection Software in 2026

Bitdefender has been a security provider since 2001 and is headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, where its corporate office doubles as a research and innovation hub; it says more than half its employees work in research and development and that it protects users in 170 countries. GravityZone Business Security, its entry business product, bundles modern endpoint protection, network attack defence and risk management in a single cloud console, with ransomware mitigation that restores files from backups after abnormal encryption is blocked, and web and content filtering against malicious sites and phishing. Email security, patch management, full-disk encryption and mobile security are optional add-ons, and the online configurator covers from one to 100 devices. In AV-Comparatives' Business Security Test for August to November 2025, Bitdefender blocked 99.8% of 461 real-world test cases with two false alarms and 99.9% of 1,015 malware samples, and its false-positive rate on non-business files was rated low. Higher GravityZone tiers add EDR and XDR. Prices are not displayed on the product page in a readable form, and the trial length is not stated, so buyers need the store or a reseller quote.

ESET cites more than 30 years of security work, 11 research and development centres and more than 850 researchers and technology experts; its North American business is in San Diego. The ESET PROTECT platform is sold in tiers. Core, the base plan, includes next-generation antivirus, firewall, web and device control and ESET LiveGuard cloud analysis of suspicious files, plus what ESET calls quantum-ready encryption; a Plus add-on adds email and Microsoft 365/Google Workspace protection, automated vulnerability and patch management and multi-factor authentication; Premium adds 24/7 expert oversight. Higher tiers include ESET Inspect for detection and response. In AV-Comparatives' 2025 Business Security Test, ESET blocked 100% of real-world test cases with six false alarms and 100% of malware samples, with a low false-positive rate on non-business files. ESET offers ready-made plans with a free trial that needs no credit card. Prices are priced per device per year but are loaded dynamically and could not be verified for this review.

Microsoft Defender for Business is the small-business edition of Defender for Endpoint. It costs US$3.00 per user per month paid yearly, covers up to 300 users with up to five devices each and no minimum device count, protects Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, and includes wizard-based onboarding and endpoint detection and response with automatic attack disruption. It is also included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium, listed at US$22.00 per user per month. Larger organisations use Defender for Endpoint Plan 1 or Plan 2; Microsoft 365 E5 includes Plan 2, and Defender for Endpoint's documented capabilities include next-generation protection, attack surface reduction and vulnerability management alongside EDR. The underlying Microsoft Defender Antivirus (Enterprise) scored 17.5 of 18 points and earned AV-TEST's TOP PRODUCT award in July–August 2026, and in AV-Comparatives' 2025 business test Microsoft blocked 99.1% of real-world cases with two false alarms. The cap of 300 users and the dependence on Microsoft's management tools are the main limits.

CrowdStrike's small-business bundles use the same Falcon sensor as its enterprise products. Falcon Go costs US$59.99 per device a year or US$7.99 a month for up to 100 devices, and lists next-generation antivirus, device control, mobile device protection, firewall management and express support among its modules; Falcon Pro costs US$99.99 per device a year and adds descriptions of centralised host firewall management; Falcon Enterprise, at US$184.99, adds continuous endpoint visibility and managed threat hunting. A 15-day trial needs no credit card, and annual subscriptions can be cancelled within 30 days for a full refund. In AV-Comparatives' 2025 Business Security Test CrowdStrike blocked 99.3% of real-world cases and 99.8% of malware samples, but recorded 20 false alarms in the real-world test and a very high false-positive rate on non-business files, the highest among the vendors in this list. That trade-off favours aggressive blocking over quiet operation, which small teams without time to triage false positives should weigh.

Sophos Endpoint, the product line long sold as Intercept X, emphasises ransomware and exploit prevention. CryptoGuard monitors file contents for malicious encryption, blocks the responsible process and reverts files to their original state, while master boot record protection guards against ransomware that renders machines unbootable. More than 60 proprietary exploit mitigations are enabled by default on every process without per-application configuration, and Adaptive Attack Protection switches the endpoint into a more aggressive mode when hands-on-keyboard attacker activity is detected. Sophos EDR, XDR and MDR build on the same agent. Sophos Intercept X Advanced scored 17.5 of 18 in AV-TEST's July–August 2026 business test and earned TOP PRODUCT; in AV-Comparatives' 2025 business test it blocked 98.0% of real-world cases with five false alarms and 99.5% of malware samples. A 30-day free trial is offered, including through AWS Marketplace, but prices are not on the product page.

ThreatDown began as the business unit of Malwarebytes and in 2026 became an independent company with its own product roadmap, board and investors, while Marcin Kleczynski remains chief executive of both companies. It sells four bundles: Core, which combines next-generation antivirus with EDR-based protection; Advanced, which adds detection and recovery with built-in ransomware rollback; Elite MDR, with 24/7 human-led monitoring and response; and Ultimate MDR Plus, a fully managed service across devices and identities. The feature list across bundles includes device control, application blocking, vulnerability assessment, browser phishing protection, patch management, host firewall management and drive encryption, and DNS filtering, email security, server protection and mobile security are optional add-ons. Identity threat detection and premium support are add-ons below Ultimate. The pricing page offers a 20% saving for three-year terms, but per-endpoint prices did not render at the time of review and the page does not clearly separate which features belong to which bundle, so buyers should confirm inclusions in writing. ThreatDown was not among the products in the AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives business rounds cited in this list.

WatchGuard Endpoint Security blocks ransomware, zero-day and fileless attacks and is sold in four tiers: Basic, Prime, 360 and Elite. All tiers include attack surface reduction, malware and ransomware protection and AI-based behavioural detections. Higher tiers add anti-exploit detection, endpoint isolation and response, MITRE ATT&CK-mapped alerts with root-cause analysis, ThreatSync XDR remediation and compatibility with WatchGuard's MDR service; the top tiers add a zero-trust application service and lateral-movement detection, and Elite adds advanced investigation tools. Add-on modules provide patch management, deeper visibility and data protection. The main reason to choose WatchGuard is integration with its Firebox firewalls through ThreatSync, which lets endpoint and network detections trigger joint responses, and a strong MSP channel. The tier comparison on the product page is not fully labelled, and no prices are shown, so buyers should obtain a written tier matrix.

Symantec endpoint products are now sold by Broadcom. Endpoint Security Enterprise extends Symantec Endpoint Protection to all operating systems and devices, including mobile, with cloud management, while Endpoint Security Complete, the flagship, adds attack surface reduction, endpoint detection and response, threat hunting and Active Directory defence. Both use a single agent with fully cloud-based, on-premises or hybrid management, a choice few cloud-native rivals offer. Symantec Endpoint Security Complete 14.3 scored 17.5 of 18 in AV-TEST's July–August 2026 business test and received TOP PRODUCT. Active Directory defence, aimed at attacks on directory services, is a capability few endpoint rivals list. Purchasing is through Broadcom or partners and no prices are published. Broadcom's product pages offer limited technical detail, so evaluation depends on partner engagement.

Harmony Endpoint is Check Point's endpoint product. A single client provides endpoint protection, EDR and XDR capabilities, including anti-ransomware, a Behavioral Guard that identifies fileless attacks and malicious behaviour, and posture management that reduces attack surface through automated vulnerability and patch management. Detection draws on Check Point's ThreatCloud AI, which the company says uses more than 60 AI engines for zero-day protection. Check Point states that it achieved 100% detection in the 2024 MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations. The product is a natural fit for organisations already using Check Point firewalls, sharing threat intelligence across network and endpoint. Licensing packages and prices are not described on the product page; a free trial and demo are offered. Harmony Endpoint was not in the AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives business rounds cited here.

Elastic provides endpoint protection as part of its security platform, with behaviour-based prevention of ransomware and malware, host-based behaviour analytics and automated actions that stop, pause or quarantine threats on Windows, macOS and Linux. Since 23 March 2026 its serverless security pricing has not charged per-endpoint fees: the Essentials tier includes Elastic Defend with ransomware prevention and memory and behaviour prevention, and the Complete tier adds response actions, tamper protection and device control, with charges based on data ingest and retention. In AV-Comparatives' 2025 Business Security Test Elastic blocked 100% of real-world cases and 100% of malware samples, but had 13 false alarms in the real-world test and a high false-positive rate on non-business files. Elastic also cites a top result in AV-Comparatives' 2026 Endpoint Prevention and Response test. The product suits teams comfortable with Elastic's query-driven tooling; small businesses wanting a simple antivirus console will find it more complex than packaged EPP suites.

Cisco Secure Endpoint is sold in Essentials, Advantage and Premier tiers. Essentials provides protection powered by Cisco Talos intelligence and automated responses such as one-click isolation of an infected host; Advantage adds advanced EDR and a malware analysis and threat intelligence portal; Premier adds Talos threat hunting by Cisco analysts. Prevention-oriented features include USB device control that allows only approved devices and risk-based vulnerability management from Kenna Security. In AV-Comparatives' 2025 Business Security Test Cisco blocked 100% of malware samples but 96.3% of real-world cases, the lowest real-world score among the vendors in this list, with three false alarms and a very low false-positive rate on non-business files. Prices are not shown on the product page, and the tier feature matrix is on a separate licensing page.

Kaspersky's business line is now sold as Kaspersky Next in tiers: EDR Foundations, covering endpoint protection, anti-ransomware, network security, cloud monitoring and root-cause analysis on Windows, macOS, Android and iOS; EDR Optimum, adding cloud security, essential EDR and Microsoft Office 365 security; and XDR and managed XDR tiers above. Its products perform at the top of independent testing: Kaspersky Endpoint Security 14.0 and Small Office Security scored a full 18 of 18 in AV-TEST's July–August 2026 business test, and in AV-Comparatives' 2025 Business Security Test Kaspersky blocked 100% of real-world cases with zero false alarms, the cleanest result in that test. It is ranked last here because of a legal restriction: on 20 June 2024 the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security announced a final determination prohibiting Kaspersky software for US customers, under which Kaspersky could provide signature and codebase updates only until 29 September 2024. US organisations therefore cannot use it, and organisations elsewhere should assess similar procurement rules in their own jurisdictions.