Top 5 alternatives to Kaspersky for endpoint security in India
Top 5 alternatives to Kaspersky for endpoint security in India
Where Kaspersky still tests best, and where ESET, Trend Micro, Trellix, Symantec or Microsoft Defender clear the procurement question. Priced for India.
When Kaspersky still fits
Before you switch, check whether you are actually in the group that should stay put. We sell and service Kaspersky, so this list is honest.
Half the firms that ask us to rip out Kaspersky are answering a question the product never failed. Kaspersky still wins independent lab tests, AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives, year after year. The agent is light. The price is lower than the premium EDR names. If your endpoints are quiet and your procurement team is not asking where the vendor is headquartered, the reason to switch has not arrived yet.
Start with what Kaspersky is good at, because it is a lot. A single lightweight agent that does not slow the machine. A GReAT research team that found Stuxnet and the Equation Group, which is not marketing, it is the reason the detection scores hold. Kaspersky Next gives you EDR Foundations through XDR Expert on the same console, and MDR if you have no night shift. For an SMB or mid-market estate on a real budget, that is a strong hand.
The reason to leave is almost never the malware engine. It is a filing question with a jurisdiction attached. In June 2024 the US Commerce Department issued a Final Determination banning Kaspersky for US persons, effective September 2024, and government systems across the US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia are barred. If you sell to those buyers, or if your own board has put Russian-origin software on the risk register, the finding in your next tender review will not be about detection rates. It will be about where the company is organised.
So the real test is who asks the question. A domestic Indian firm with no US-facing contracts and no government tender exposure can stay, re-negotiate, and keep the lower bill. A firm mid-way through a procurement review, a US subsidiary, or a vendor-risk assessment that flags country of origin cannot, whatever the lab scores say. We say that out loud because the switch here is a compliance decision wearing a security costume.
If you do have to move, the good news is the category is deep and every close alternative is available in India at channel pricing. The rest of this page is the honest map: which alternative is the like-for-like, which one carries a server-heavy estate, and which one your CFO already half-paid for inside Microsoft 365.
Kaspersky at a glance
The brand you are benchmarking everything else against.
Kaspersky
- What it is
- Endpoint security and EDR/XDR from a single lightweight agent, managed through Kaspersky Next tiers.
- Current India line-up
- Endpoint Security for Business (Select, Advanced), Kaspersky Next (EDR Foundations, Optimum, XDR Expert), KATA and MDR.
- Where it tests well
- Consistently top-rated at AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives, backed by the GReAT research team and a low system footprint.
- Why people leave
- US Commerce ban on Kaspersky for US persons from September 2024, and government bars across the US, UK and EU; procurement and tender risk.
- Why people stay
- Strong detection, competitive pricing, a single agent, and a solid SMB and MSP program.
- Sirius Star relationship
- Authorized reseller in India. We quote and service Kaspersky as well as every alternative on this page.
The 5 alternatives, honestly compared
Every brand below is one Sirius Star supplies and services in India. We make money either way, which is exactly why we can be straight with you.
ESET
The lightweight single-agent swap, priced for India.
- Very low system footprint, the nearest match to Kaspersky’s light agent
- Strong INR channel pricing, with users citing 50 to 60 percent lower per-endpoint cost than premium EDR
- Single ESET PROTECT console across EPP, EDR and encryption, with a deep Indian partner network
The honest downside: EDR and XDR breadth is thinner than CrowdStrike or SentinelOne, and the PROTECT console has a learning curve.
View the ESET page →Trend Micro
For estates where the real risk sits on servers and cloud workloads.
- Vision One consolidates endpoint, email, network IPS and cloud workload in one XDR
- A decade-plus lead in hybrid-cloud workload security via Deep Security
- Number one in public vulnerability disclosure through the Zero Day Initiative
The honest downside: The portfolio is sprawling and confusingly named, and new modules keep arriving as paid add-ons.
View the Trend Micro page →Trellix
McAfee and FireEye telemetry under one SecOps roof.
- 2025 SE Labs enterprise endpoint winner, with repeated top MITRE ATT&CK detections
- Integrated endpoint, NDR, data and email across 40,000-plus customers
- Trellix Wise GenAI over 68 billion telemetry queries a day
The honest downside: High CPU and memory use on older hardware, and EDR, XDR and DLP are licensed separately with no public pricing.
View the Trellix page →Symantec
The entrenched enterprise platform where DLP leads the buy.
- Global Intelligence Network, one of the largest civilian threat-telemetry feeds
- Single agent spanning endpoint, DLP, email and web security
- Deep on-prem, hybrid and cloud deployment flexibility for regulated estates
The honest downside: Broadcom’s renewal increases and audit posture are steep, and small and mid-market accounts report feeling deprioritized.
View the Symantec page →Microsoft Defender
The consolidation argument your CFO already made.
- Bundled with Microsoft 365 E5, so the licence cost is often already paid
- Deep native Windows telemetry, with no third-party agent to deploy
- Tight integration with the rest of the Microsoft security stack
The honest downside: Out-of-the-box Defender is not configured Defender; budget real engineering time, or the bundle buys a false sense of cover.
View the Microsoft Defender page →Kaspersky vs the alternatives: factor by factor
The specifics Indian buyers actually decide on. Scroll right on mobile.
| Factor | Kaspersky | ESET | Trend Micro | Trellix | Symantec | Microsoft Defender |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core strength | Top lab scores, light agent | Lightest footprint, INR value | Server and cloud workload XDR | Integrated XDR plus SecOps telemetry | Enterprise DLP plus single agent | Native Windows telemetry, bundled |
| Best-fit estate | SMB and mid-market, no procurement flag | SMB and mid-market swap | Cloud and datacentre heavy | SecOps and SIEM-led enterprises | Large enterprise and government | Microsoft 365 E5 estates |
| India price band | Under Rs.1L | Under Rs.1L | Rs.1L-5L | Rs.1L-5L | Rs.1L-5L, steep renewals | Bundled in the E5 licence |
| EDR and XDR depth | Kaspersky Next, Foundations to XDR Expert | ESET Inspect, thinner than CrowdStrike | Vision One, broad XDR | Full XDR plus NDR plus email | SES Complete plus EDR and Threat Hunter | Defender for Endpoint P2, needs tuning |
| Procurement and jurisdiction | Russia jurisdiction, banned for US persons | EU (Slovakia), no flag | Japan-listed, no flag | US (STG-owned), no flag | US (Broadcom), no flag | US (Microsoft), no flag |
| Support and India reality | Local channel, MSP program | Deep Indian partner network | Number one channel worldwide | Slow on lower tiers | 3 to 5x support cost, audit-heavy | Via Microsoft partner or CSP |
When switching from Kaspersky pays off, and when it does not
Switching off Kaspersky pays off cleanly when the driver is procurement, not performance. If a tender, a US-facing contract, or your own vendor-risk register has flagged Russian-origin software, no lab score reverses that finding, and the migration cost is simply the price of clearing the gate. In that case move deliberately, keep both agents running through the cutover so no endpoint goes dark, and pick the replacement on fit rather than on urgency.
It does not pay off when the only thing that changed is a headline. Ripping out a working endpoint platform means re-imaging policy across every machine, re-training the person who knows the console, and living through a window where two agents fight for the same hooks. On a quiet estate with no compliance exposure, that is cost without a matching finding. Re-negotiate the renewal instead, and put the saved project weeks somewhere they earn.
The break-even is the procurement question. If someone with sign-off is asking where the vendor is headquartered, switch, and price ESET or Microsoft Defender first as the closest fits. If nobody is asking, the honest move is to stay and re-scope. We supply Kaspersky and all five alternatives, so we will quote the stay as seriously as the switch.
How Sirius Star shortlists your Endpoint Security
Free review first. Then a written quote in 24 working hours.
Site survey + sizing
Free 30-min call. We map load, runtime need, and current estate.
Shortlist quoted
Written quote in 24 working hours. Two or three brands, itemised, GST broken out.
PO and dispatch from Vashi
Typical 10 working days for stock SKUs. Staggered rollout if multi-site.
Warranty and service wrap
One escalation path whichever brand you pick. AMC and battery calendar in writing.
Alternatives to Kaspersky in India FAQ
Common questions Indian buyers ask before switching brands.
Should I just renew Kaspersky instead of switching?
Is Kaspersky actually banned in India?
Which alternative is the closest like-for-like to Kaspersky?
Is Microsoft Defender enough to replace Kaspersky?
Can Sirius Star quote both staying and switching?
Ready for a sized endpoint security quote?
Tell us your estate size and whether a tender flags country of origin. Numbers for staying with Kaspersky and for switching, in 24 working hours.
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Related pages buyers read next.
Sources referenced
- Kaspersky Endpoint Security– kaspersky.com
- ESET PROTECT– eset.com
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Side-by-side comparisons Sirius Star buyers look at next.