Expert Guide

The Best MDR Services in 2026

Huntress Managed EDR's US example at 100 endpoints is $7.99 per endpoint a month, and the SOC is in that rate. Falcon Complete, Arctic Wolf, and Sophos do not print a dollar, so the budget meeting starts with Huntress.

Louis CorneloupFounder, Dupple · 920,000+ readers · Updated Sep 2026

Product links may be affiliate links. How we rate 9 tools compared

TL;DR

Huntress is the best MDR service to price in 2026. With US dollars selected, the pricing card's example at 100 endpoints is $7.99 per endpoint per month, and that rate includes a 24/7 SOC.

Choose CrowdStrike Falcon Complete when you want that vendor's analysts to contain threats on Falcon. Choose Arctic Wolf when the bill should follow users, servers, and egress points. Choose Sophos MDR when the agent and the SOC have to share one per-user subscription.

Microsoft Defender Experts MDR fits a Defender queue, so skip it when alerts sit elsewhere. Wayfinder fits a Singularity fleet whose published endpoint license is not the SOC.

Expel and Red Canary add a SOC on top of tools you already pay for, and Bitdefender MDR is a GravityZone quote for MSPs.

Key facts9 tools compared: Huntress, CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Arctic Wolf, Sophos MDR, Microsoft…

Updated: September 23, 2026
Top pick: Huntress (best for: Teams that need a SOC price before the sales call)
Top pick price as of September 23, 2026: Huntress: From $7.99/endpoint/mo at the 100-endpoint example (USD), and the per-endpoint rate falls as volume rises.

9 tools compared: Huntress, CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Arctic Wolf, Sophos MDR, Microsoft Defender Experts MDR, SentinelOne Wayfinder, Expel, Red Canary, Bitdefender MDR
CrowdStrike Falcon Complete (best for: Falcon customers who want that vendor's SOC to remediate): No public USD price, a breach warranty up to $2,000,000, and Express Support as an add-on.
Arctic Wolf (best for: Teams that want log retention inside the MDR subscription): Quote only, billed on users, servers, and internet egress points, with no USD list price.
Sophos MDR (best for: Buyers who want the endpoint agent and the SOC on one quote): Quote only, per user and per server, with no USD list price on the quote page.

Buy Huntress when finance wants a number this week and nobody is awake at 2 a.m., since the night shift is already in the rate.

Buy Falcon Complete when the sensor is already CrowdStrike and you want that company's analysts to finish the containment.

Buy Arctic Wolf when log volume has burned you before and you want retention inside the subscription.

Most of the names a board expects do not print a USD rate, and Huntress is the one that does.

Toolradar data: the September 2026 security ranking evaluated 816 tools.

Profiles worth opening before a proof of concept include Huntress, CrowdStrike, Arctic Wolf, and Sophos.

The agent decision, which is a different buy, is our EDR and endpoint protection guide.

How we ranked: nine services, read on each vendor's own US page or docs on 23 September 2026.

The order follows whether a USD rate is public, what the license meters, and whether response is inside that rate.

The CrowdStrike review covers the sensor, and this page is the managed service.

Top Picks

Based on features, real-world fit, and value for money.

Best MDR Services in 2026: 9 tools compared, updated Sep 2026
Tool	Pricing	Best for
Huntress	From $7.99/endpoint/mo at the 100-endpoint example (USD), and the per-endpoint rate falls as volume rises.	Teams that need a SOC price before the sales call
CrowdStrike Falcon Complete	No public USD price, a breach warranty up to $2,000,000, and Express Support as an add-on.	Falcon customers who want that vendor's SOC to remediate
Arctic Wolf	Quote only, billed on users, servers, and internet egress points, with no USD list price.	Teams that want log retention inside the MDR subscription
Sophos MDR	Quote only, per user and per server, with no USD list price on the quote page.	Buyers who want the endpoint agent and the SOC on one quote
Microsoft Defender Experts MDR	No USD list price, and Plan 2 requires 1,500 seats and Microsoft Sentinel.	Defender shops that want Microsoft analysts in the incident queue
SentinelOne Wayfinder	No Wayfinder USD price; endpoint license from $179.99/endpoint/yr, and MDR is an add-on there.	Singularity customers who want SentinelOne's SOC on the fleet
Expel	Quote only, on Starter, Select, and Premium, with no public USD rate.	Teams that will keep their tools and add a separate SOC
Red Canary	Quote only, per endpoint, with usage trued up every three months and no USD list price.	Teams that already pay for EDR and want another SOC on it
Bitdefender MDR	Quote only: MSP Secure Plus is monthly usage via distributors, with no minimum commitment.	MSPs already on GravityZone who want a 24/7 SOC

Pricing read from each vendor's own published pricing page, checked Sep 2026. 5 of 9 do not publish one; those entries say so rather than estimating.

Huntress

Top Pick

Best for: Teams that need a SOC price before the sales call

PricingFrom $7.99/endpoint/mo at the 100-endpoint example (USD), and the per-endpoint rate falls as volume rises.

+The US dollar card at 50 endpoints is $449.50 a month, which is $8.99 an endpoint, and the 100-endpoint example is lower.

+Managed EDR includes 24/7 detection and response, remediation, incident reporting, and managed Microsoft Defender Antivirus at no extra line, so antivirus is not a second seat.

+A direct or reseller purchase has a 50-seat minimum per product and a 12-month term. An MSP purchase has no Huntress-required minimum, so a smaller team buys through a partner.

−The card is an example, and partner pricing is a separate program, so an MSP invoice should not be copied into a client quote.

−Direct buyers deploy the agent and act on what the SOC sends, because the rate does not include day-to-day portal management.

Visit Huntress →

CrowdStrike Falcon Complete

Best for: Falcon customers who want that vendor's SOC to remediate

PricingNo public USD price, a breach warranty up to $2,000,000, and Express Support as an add-on.

+Falcon Complete is the 24/7 managed detection row on the bundles page, separate from Go, Pro, and Enterprise, so those prices are not this SOC.

+CrowdStrike states a one-minute median time to contain on the endpoint, and backs the service with a warranty up to $2,000,000.

+The service is built to remediate, not only to file a ticket, which is the gap a self-run Falcon console still leaves at night.

−There is no USD list price, and Falcon Go at $59.99 per device per year, capped at 100 devices, is prevention rather than this SOC.

−Falcon Enterprise at $184.99 per device per year includes OverWatch hunting and detection, yet it is still not the managed remediation contract.

Visit CrowdStrike Falcon Complete →

Arctic Wolf

Best for: Teams that want log retention inside the MDR subscription

PricingQuote only, billed on users, servers, and internet egress points, with no USD list price.

+Arctic Wolf prices MDR on users, servers, and internet egress points, not on gigabytes of log volume, so noise does not move this bill.

+Endpoint agents, unlimited log retention and search, and external network scanning are in the core offer, so a separate SIEM for those logs is a second bill.

+The Concierge Security Team is standard on every MDR deployment, and critical incidents go through a Managed Containment workflow you take part in.

−Arctic Wolf publishes no USD rate, and the ROI calculator is labeled in dollars without printing a subscription price, so the site cannot close a budget.

−You deploy Arctic Wolf sensors and agents, so this is not a thin overlay on a CrowdStrike or Defender license you already own.

Visit Arctic Wolf →

Sophos MDR

Best for: Buyers who want the endpoint agent and the SOC on one quote

PricingQuote only, per user and per server, with no USD list price on the quote page.

+The license policy meters MDR Essentials and MDR Complete per user, and each user subscription includes one Central Intercept X Advanced with XDR license, so the seat carries the agent.

+Server coverage is its own subscription per server, including the server XDR license, so a file server is not a free rider on a user seat.

+The quote page describes per-user and per-server pricing with no infrastructure fee, and it offers three response modes you have to pin down before comparing quotes.

−Sophos publishes no USD list price, so you cannot put a 100-user bill next to the Huntress example until a salesperson replies.

−The three response modes are a scope choice, and a mode that only notifies you leaves your team on the hook at night.

Visit Sophos MDR →

Microsoft Defender Experts MDR

Best for: Defender shops that want Microsoft analysts in the incident queue

PricingNo USD list price, and Plan 2 requires 1,500 seats and Microsoft Sentinel.

+Plan 1, formerly Defender Experts for XDR, is managed detection and response for Microsoft Defender workloads, including hunting and Ask Defender Experts.

+Plan 2 adds supported third-party sources in Microsoft Sentinel, including Okta, Proofpoint TAP, AWS CloudTrail, GuardDuty, Palo Alto, Cisco, Zscaler, and Fortinet.

+Microsoft is explicit that the service augments your SOC: analysts act or guide you on Defender workloads, and they only guide you on third-party products.

−Microsoft publishes no USD price for Defender Experts MDR, and it is sold separately from Defender products or inside the Defender Experts Suite via sales.

−Plan 2 requires at least 1,500 licensed seats and a Sentinel workspace. It is not an incident response engagement, and it does not cover Defender for Cloud workloads.

Visit Microsoft Defender Experts MDR →

SentinelOne Wayfinder

Best for: Singularity customers who want SentinelOne's SOC on the fleet

PricingNo Wayfinder USD price; endpoint license from $179.99/endpoint/yr, and MDR is an add-on there.

+Wayfinder MDR includes a breach response warranty up to $1,000,000 for Windows, Linux, macOS, and cloud workloads, which is the warranty to set beside Falcon Complete.

+SentinelOne states a 3.3-minute average mean time to detect, and Elite, not Essentials, adds a dedicated Threat Advisor and incident readiness support.

+Singularity Commercial at $229.99 per endpoint per year lists managed threat hunting in the package, and that is still not the Wayfinder rate.

−The pricing page marks managed detection and response as an add-on on Complete and Commercial, and Wayfinder's own dollar is not on that page.

−Complete is $179.99 per endpoint per year for 5 to 100 workstations, in US dollars, and the authorized partner's price controls if the two differ.

Visit SentinelOne Wayfinder →

Expel

Best for: Teams that will keep their tools and add a separate SOC

PricingQuote only, on Starter, Select, and Premium, with no public USD rate.

+Expel states more than 160 integrations, including CrowdStrike, Microsoft, SentinelOne, Okta, Palo Alto, Splunk, and Wiz, so the current agent can stay.

+Every package includes 24/7 SOC coverage, Expel Workbench, and auto-remediation, and Expel says analyst time and incident escalations are not extra fees.

+Expel states a 14-minute mean time to respond on critical and high incidents, but only when auto-remediation is turned on.

−Expel publishes no USD price, and the quote form's seat bands start at 100 to 999 and run through 5,000 to 9,999, so smaller firms fall outside it.

−Phishing response and threat hunting are add-ons, and you still pay for the EDR underneath, because Expel does not replace that license.

Visit Expel →

Red Canary

Best for: Teams that already pay for EDR and want another SOC on it

PricingQuote only, per endpoint, with usage trued up every three months and no USD list price.

+Red Canary's product page covers endpoints, identities, and cloud, and it sits on telemetry you already collect, including Microsoft investments, so the agent you already have can stay.

+The licensing documentation, updated 9 September 2026, meters the platform per endpoint and trues usage up every three months, so growth shows up on that cadence.

+Workstations are counted when data is processed that month, so an idle month should not bill. Matching hostname and IP on virtual machines collapse to one license, so those hosts are counted once.

−There is no public USD rate, and the pricing page is a contact form, so a 200-endpoint bill is a conversation rather than a number for finance.

−New customers since September 2024 have servers averaged from four samples a day, and an overage is a one-time charge or a higher license count, with no overage dollar in the docs.

Visit Red Canary →

Bitdefender MDR

Best for: MSPs already on GravityZone who want a 24/7 SOC

PricingQuote only: MSP Secure Plus is monthly usage via distributors, with no minimum commitment.

+MSP Secure Plus includes everything in Secure, plus 24/7 monitoring, remediation by Bitdefender's analysts, threat hunting, and a monthly service report, which is the overnight tier.

+MSP licensing is monthly and usage-based through distributors, with no minimum commitment, and usage can be pooled across customers for volume pricing.

+Secure, without the SOC, is the EPP and EDR package, and Secure Extra is the MXDR step above Secure Plus. The MDR tier on this page is Secure Plus, unless you need that wider scope.

−Bitdefender publishes no USD price for MDR, and the direct service starts on an inquiry form rather than a checkout you can finish this week.

−The MSP bill comes through a distributor, and Secure, the tier below Secure Plus, has no overnight analysts, so that tier is not this SOC.

Visit Bitdefender MDR →

What it is

Managed detection and response is a service in which a vendor's analysts watch your telemetry, investigate alerts, hunt, and respond around the clock, so your team is not the night shift.

The software still has to collect the telemetry, and MDR is the contract on top: a human decision, and a response that is either taken for you or handed back as instructions.

Huntress, Sophos, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, and Bitdefender sell the agent with the analysts, so both land on one contract.

Expel and Red Canary connect to tools you already run, which fits when replacing the agent would cost more than the SOC.

Arctic Wolf brings its own sensors and includes log retention, so a second log store duplicates this subscription.

Microsoft works the Defender queue and, on the higher plan, selected data already in Sentinel, so a shop on other consoles should look elsewhere.

Why it matters

The unit on the contract sets the bill, and the logo on the slide does not.

One hundred Huntress endpoints at the published example are $799 a month before you add identities or log sources, which is the figure finance can use at that fleet size.

One hundred Falcon Enterprise devices at the annual device rate are $18,499 for the year, and that bundle is hunting plus detection, not Falcon Complete.

Matching the headcount does not match the product, so that total is still not an MDR quote.

Cyberpresso data: the newsletter reaches 27,000 security readers at a 28% open rate, from the audience file updated 20 September 2026.

Pair the service with a SIEM only when the provider does not already keep the logs, and add an incident response platform only when the contract stops at guidance.

Key features to look for

What the license meters

Endpoint, user, server, identity, log source, or a mix of users, servers, and egress points: that unit is the bill you will defend.

Whether the SOC is in the rate

A published endpoint price can be the agent only, so response, hunting, and a warranty often sit on another contract.

Who is allowed to contain

Some services isolate the host, and others only send a recommendation, which is the gap you feel on a Saturday.

What you still pay underneath

An overlay MDR leaves the EDR, the SIEM, and the identity tool on your invoice, while a bundled MDR replaces that stack.

The floor and the term

A 50-endpoint minimum, a 1,500-seat floor, or a 12-month term changes who can buy, not how good the detections are.

Pricing

USD figures below were checked on 23 September 2026, with the Huntress card set to US dollars. CrowdStrike and SentinelOne state that the prices on their pages are in US dollars, and everyone else here publishes no MDR dollar.

Huntress Managed EDR at 50 endpoints is $449.50 a month, or $5,394 across the standard 12-month term.

The 100-endpoint card is $799 a month, or $9,588 over that term, and that lower per-endpoint rate does not apply under the minimum.

ITDR at 50 identities is $240 a month, and that meter is separate from endpoints. SIEM at 50 sources is $200 a month, and SAT at 50 learners is $104 a month, so logs and training are extra lines.

ISPM at 50 identities matches that SIEM monthly total, and the 100-unit cards for these meters are in the table.

Managed antivirus is included with EDR, there is no separate setup fee, and overages are handled manually, so a spike has no printed rate.

Falcon Go annual is $59.99 per device and stops at 100 devices, and Falcon Pro monthly is $14.99 per device, and neither price is an MDR contract.

Falcon Enterprise is $19.99 per device billed monthly or $184.99 billed annually, and one hundred devices on the annual rate are $18,499, which is still not Falcon Complete.

One hundred Singularity Complete endpoints are $17,999 for the year, and MDR is still an add-on, so that total is not Wayfinder.

Commercial is $229.99 per endpoint per year and is still not the Wayfinder rate, and the other services stay on a quote.

Plan	Price	Best for
Huntress Managed EDR, 50 endpoints	$449.50/mo	USD calculator. Higher per endpoint than the 100-endpoint card
Huntress Managed EDR, 100 endpoints	$7.99/endpoint/mo	USD example card. $799/mo at that rate
Huntress Managed EDR, 50 endpoints, 12 months	$5,394	The 50-endpoint monthly line across the standard term
Huntress Managed EDR, 100 endpoints, 12 months	$9,588	The 100-endpoint example across 12 months
Huntress Managed ITDR, 50 identities	$240/mo	USD, $4.80 per identity
Huntress Managed ITDR, 100 identities	$3.60/identity/mo	Separate meter from endpoints
Huntress Managed SIEM, 50 sources	$200/mo	USD, $4 per source
Huntress Managed SIEM, 100 sources	$3.50/source/mo	Pooled storage. Extended retention is a separate control
Huntress Managed SAT, 50 learners	$104/mo	USD, $2.08 per learner
Huntress Managed SAT, 100 learners	$1.75/learner/mo	Training meter, not an endpoint
Huntress Managed ISPM, 50 identities	$4/identity	USD calculator shows $200/mo at 50 identities
Huntress Managed ISPM, 100 identities	$3.40/identity/mo	Microsoft 365 hardening, separate from ITDR
CrowdStrike Falcon Go, annual	$59.99/device/yr	USD. Not MDR. Purchases capped at 100 devices
CrowdStrike Falcon Pro, monthly	$14.99/device/mo	USD. Firewall management. Not MDR
CrowdStrike Falcon Enterprise, monthly	$19.99/device/mo	USD. Detection and OverWatch hunting. Not Falcon Complete
CrowdStrike Falcon Enterprise, annual	$184.99/device/yr	100 devices are $18,499 for the year. Still not Complete
CrowdStrike Falcon Complete	No USD list price	Warranty up to $2,000,000. Express Support is an add-on
SentinelOne Singularity Complete	$179.99/endpoint/yr	USD, 5 to 100 workstations. MDR marked as an add-on
SentinelOne Singularity Commercial	$229.99/endpoint/yr	Includes managed threat hunting. Wayfinder is still separate
SentinelOne Wayfinder MDR	No USD list price	Warranty up to $1,000,000. Partner price controls the endpoint SKUs
Arctic Wolf MDR	Quote only	Users, servers, and egress points. Logs included. No USD rate
Sophos MDR Essentials or Complete	Quote only	Per user, XDR license included. Servers are per server
Microsoft Defender Experts MDR Plan 1	No USD list price	Defender workloads. Sold separately from Defender licenses
Microsoft Defender Experts MDR Plan 2	No USD list price	Minimum 1,500 seats, plus Microsoft Sentinel
Expel MDR	Quote only	Starter, Select, Premium. Form starts at 100 to 999 seats
Red Canary	Quote only	Per endpoint. True-up every three months. Docs say Zscaler MDR
Bitdefender MSP Secure Plus	Quote only	Monthly usage via distributors. No minimum commitment

Mistakes to avoid

×Annualizing the Huntress 100-endpoint card for a 20-endpoint direct buy ignores the 50-seat minimum on direct and reseller purchases. The 50-endpoint line in the table is the one that applies, and the per-endpoint rate is higher there than at 100.

×Sending a 400-person company to Defender Experts Plan 2 fails the floor, because Plan 2 requires 1,500 licensed seats and a Sentinel workspace. Plan 1 is the Defender-only service, and Microsoft does not print either price.

×Adding a SIEM on top of Arctic Wolf charges you for logs the core offer already keeps. Core MDR includes unlimited log retention and search, and a second ingestion bill charges you twice.

Expert tips

→Price one hundred endpoints three ways: the Huntress example for a year, Falcon Enterprise annual as the self-run comparison, and a Wayfinder quote on top of Singularity Complete. Only the Huntress number can be finished from a web page.

→If you buy through an MSP, ask whether the invoice is Huntress partner pricing or the public card. Huntress says the two programs differ, and the card is an example at a unit count.

→Write down who may isolate a host before you sign. Arctic Wolf uses a Managed Containment workflow with you, Falcon Complete is built to remediate, and Sophos offers three response modes without naming which one the quote uses.

→Treat the trial as a containment test, not a free SOC: a Huntress trial includes the 24/7 service, and CrowdStrike's 15-day trial is Falcon Prevent and Device Control.

The bottom line

Huntress is the buy when you need a USD rate and a 24/7 SOC in the same sentence.

Use the 100-endpoint example near that fleet size, and the 50-endpoint calculator at the direct minimum.

Choose Falcon Complete when the warranty and that vendor's remediation matter more than a checkout button, if the fleet is already on Falcon.

Choose Arctic Wolf when log retention has to be inside the MDR fee, so you are not also buying a log store.

Choose Sophos MDR when the XDR license and the SOC should be one per-user quote, with servers counted apart.

Choose Defender Experts when the queue is already Microsoft, and stop at Plan 1 unless you have 1,500 seats and Sentinel.

Choose Wayfinder when the endpoint invoice is separate from the SOC.

Choose Expel or Red Canary when replacing the current EDR is the expensive part.

Choose Bitdefender Secure Plus when the console is already GravityZone, and the Bitdefender review covers the agent underneath that SOC.

Manage the device through MDM, cover unpatched flaws with a vulnerability scanner, and keep the SOC admin login in a password manager.

That admin session belongs on a business VPN. The Cyberpresso brief is where the next renewal term shows up.

Cite this: Cyberpresso, "Best MDR Services in 2026", September 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best MDR service in 2026?

Huntress, if you need a published USD price and a 24/7 SOC in the same rate. The 100-endpoint example and the 50-endpoint calculator were read on 23 September 2026 with US dollars selected, and both are in the table. Falcon Complete is the fit when you want CrowdStrike's analysts to remediate and you can wait for a quote. Arctic Wolf is the fit when the bill should follow users, servers, and egress points rather than log volume.

How much does MDR cost?

The only full rate card is Huntress, checked 23 September 2026 in US dollars, and the other eight services do not publish a USD MDR price. One hundred endpoints at the published example are $799 a month, or $9,588 over a 12-month term. The 50-endpoint line in the table is a higher per-endpoint rate, and identity, SIEM, training, and posture are extra meters. The Falcon Enterprise annual device price in the table is not an MDR price.

Is there a free MDR service?

No ranked service here is a free plan you can standardize on, so a trial is not a standing SOC. Huntress trials are the full product, including the 24/7 SOC, and a direct purchase still has a 50-seat minimum per product on a 12-month term. CrowdStrike's 15-day trial is Falcon Prevent and Device Control, not Falcon Complete. Microsoft sells Defender Experts MDR separately from Defender licenses and does not publish a free tier for it.

What is the difference between EDR and MDR?

EDR records endpoint activity and can isolate a host, but MDR adds people who investigate and respond, so the agent alone is not the night shift. Falcon Go, Pro, and Enterprise are EDR bundles with published device prices, while Falcon Complete is the MDR service and has no public price. Singularity Complete is an endpoint license, and SentinelOne marks managed detection and response as an add-on, so that checkout is not Wayfinder.

Huntress vs CrowdStrike Falcon Complete: which should a small team buy?

Buy Huntress when you need the SOC inside a per-endpoint rate you can read before the call. Buy Falcon Complete when you want CrowdStrike's analysts and the warranty up to $2,000,000, and you accept a quote. Do not buy Falcon Go and call it MDR, because that annual device price is capped at 100 devices and does not include the Complete service.

Does Microsoft Defender Experts MDR have a minimum?

Plan 2 requires at least 1,500 licensed seats and a Microsoft Sentinel workspace, and it covers selected non-Microsoft sources there. A company under that floor should stay on Plan 1, which covers Defender workloads and does not require Sentinel. Microsoft publishes no USD price for either plan, the service augments your SOC, and it is not an incident response retainer. Third-party network enrichment on Plan 1 closed to new enablement on 1 September 2026, so a new customer cannot turn that piece on.

Can I keep my current EDR and still buy MDR?

You can keep the current EDR if you buy an overlay instead of a bundled agent. Expel connects to CrowdStrike, Microsoft, and SentinelOne without deploying its own endpoint agent, so the current EDR bill stays. Red Canary is licensed per endpoint on telemetry you already collect, with a true-up every three months, and both overlays are quote-only. Its licensing docs, updated 9 September 2026, use the name Zscaler MDR. Huntress can integrate with Defender for Endpoint, and its own agent does not require a paid Defender license.

Some offers on this page may be paid placements or contain affiliate links.

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