Armor vs Field Effect: MDR comparison 2026
Armor and Field Effect are both Platform vendors that bring their own security platform. Armor targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations, while Field Effect serves SMB and Mid-market. Armor includes 3 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, Network), compared to 4 for Field Effect (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity).
Key differences at a glance
Full comparison
Which should you choose?
Choose Armor if:
- •Healthcare or financial services teams already running Microsoft Sentinel who need compliance consulting baked in
- •Multi-cloud shops on AWS, Azure, or GCP that want a single MDR provider across all three
- •Organizations that value IR and forensics included in base pricing rather than as a retainer add-on
Choose Field Effect if:
- •SMBs and MSPs wanting affordable MDR with published per-user pricing
- •Canadian organizations needing domestic data hosting and PIPEDA compliance
- •Organizations that value MITRE-validated detection quality
- •You need SaaS and Identity coverage included in base pricing
Bottom line: Field Effect offers broader coverage (4 surfaces vs. 3). Armor may suit teams that need depth over breadth.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between Armor and Field Effect?
Armor is a Platform vendor that is platform-native (requires their own security stack). Field Effect is a Platform vendor that is platform-native (requires their own security stack). Armor covers 3 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 4 for Field Effect.
How do Armor and Field Effect differ in response capabilities?
Armor supports 4 autonomous actions (endpoint isolation, network containment, file quarantine, custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Field Effect supports 5 autonomous actions (endpoint isolation, process termination, network containment, account disable, file quarantine) and approval is configurable. Incident response is included with Armor and not included with Field Effect.
How does Armor pricing compare to Field Effect?
Armor pricing: Starting at ~$4,317/month for XDR+SOC (per SourceForge listing). Field Effect pricing: MDR Core: $99/user/month (25 users or fewer). MDR Complete: custom pricing.. Watch for with Armor: Armor Anywhere agent is built on Trend Micro. Running it alongside CrowdStrike or SentinelOne may cause conflicts, forcing a swap.; Compliance consulting (HIPAA readiness, HITRUST prep) is billed as professional services on top of the MDR subscription.. Watch for with Field Effect: MDR Core excludes network monitoring, DNS firewall, and dark web monitoring; $99/user adds up quickly (50 users = $4,950/month).
Should I choose Armor or Field Effect?
Choose Armor if: healthcare or financial services teams already running Microsoft Sentinel who need compliance consulting baked in. Choose Field Effect if: sMBs and MSPs wanting affordable MDR with published per-user pricing. Armor is not ideal for teams running macOS or mobile-heavy environments with no agent support for either. Field Effect is not ideal for organizations with existing CrowdStrike/SentinelOne/Defender deployments (requires proprietary agent).