Armor vs Northwave
Armor is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Armor targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Northwave serves Mid-market and Enterprise. Armor includes 3 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, Network), compared to 2 for Northwave (Endpoint, Network).
Buyer brief
Armor is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Armor targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Northwave serves Mid-market and Enterprise. Armor includes 3 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, Network), compared to 2 for Northwave (Endpoint, Network).
Armor is the choice if you want a single-vendor stack with deep integration. Northwave is better if you have existing tools and want flexibility.
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Healthcare or financial services teams already running Microsoft Sentinel who need compliance consulting baked in | Benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC |
| Price | XDR+SOC estimate: from ~$4,317/mo | Custom quote |
| Response authority | 4/6 actions · Configurable | 1/6 actions · Configurable |
| Stack | Requires own platform | Works with existing stack |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Warranty | None listed | None listed |
- Best fit
- Healthcare or financial services teams already running Microsoft Sentinel who need compliance consulting baked in
- Price
- XDR+SOC estimate: from ~$4,317/mo
- Response authority
- 4/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Requires own platform
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
- Best fit
- Benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 1/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
›› Detailed comparison
| FIELD | ArmorPLATFORM | NorthwaveTECH-AGNOSTIC |
|---|---|---|
| ›› Fit | ||
| Target size | Mid-market, Enterprise | Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Mixed | Mixed |
| ›› Your stack | ||
| Approach | Requires their platform | Works with your tools |
| EDR integrations | Armor Anywhere Agent (Trend Micro)Microsoft Defender | Customer endpoint telemetry |
| SIEM integrations | Microsoft Sentinel | Customer log sources |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: Optional add-onSaaSSaaS: Optional add-onNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Not covered | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: LimitedIDIdentity: LimitedSaaSSaaS: Not coveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on |
| ›› Response | ||
| Response type | Active Remediation | Active Remediation |
| Approval policy | Configurable | Configurable |
| Response actions | IsolateContainQuarantineCustom playbooks | Custom playbooks |
| IR included | ✓ Included | Separate |
| ›› Cost | ||
| Price range | Starting at ~$4,317/month for XDR+SOC (per SourceForge listing) | Not published |
| Minimum seats | None | None |
| Breach warranty | – | – |
| ›› More details | ||
| Requires own agent | Yes | No |
| Endpoints | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Cloud workloads | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| Identity | + Optional | ~ Limited |
| SaaS apps | + Optional | Not offered |
| Network | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| OT/ICS | Not offered | + Optional |
| Threat hunting | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Response SLA | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Custom pricing, platform subscription model | Custom quote. Northwave does not publish MDR package pricing. |
| Hidden cost warnings | 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.. Full coverage assumes Microsoft Sentinel and Defender XDR are already licensed. Those Microsoft costs are yours.. No macOS or mobile agent support. If you have Apple endpoints, you need a separate tool. | Public pages do not publish response SLAs or named default response actions.. Rapid Response is a separate related service, so buyers should confirm what incident-response support is included in base MDR.. Cloud, SaaS and identity coverage are not named as clearly as endpoint, log and network telemetry.. Detection tuning depends on onboarding log sources and threat-based use cases, which may affect deployment effort. |
| Data portability | Limited | Partial |
| Contract terms | Annual | Custom |
| Channels | EmailPortalPhone | PortalEmailPhone |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Dedicated analyst | ✓ | – |
| SOC regions | North AmericaAsia-Pacific | Europe |
| Onboarding | Not publicly disclosed | Northwave says implementation starts with a plan covering service elements, phases, planning and threat-based use cases, then onboarding log sources and processes. No standard public onboarding duration was found. |
| Industry focus | HealthcareFinancial ServicesRetailInsuranceUtilitiesSaaS/Technology | Financial ServicesHealthcareManufacturingLogisticsTechnologyPublic SectorCritical Infrastructure |
| MTTD | Not published | Not published |
| MTTR | Not published | Not published |
| Community view | Almost no public review footprint. G2 shows 4.8/5 but from only 12 reviews, and Gartner Peer Insights has none. Employee reviews on Indeed raise leadership and strategy concerns. Frost & Sullivan included Armor in their 2025 Top 20 MDR list, but that is analyst recognition, not customer validation. | Northwave has limited MDR-specific public review volume. The public buyer case rests on European delivery, Utrecht SOC operations and the connection between MDR, CERT, red team and threat research. Buyers should validate response authority, cloud and identity coverage, pricing and escalation rules before signing. |
| Compliance | PCI DSSHIPAAHITRUSTISO 27001ISO 27018ISO 27701GDPRFedRAMPNISTSEC | NIS2ISO 27001GDPRTISAX |
| Certifications | ISO 27001ISO 27018ISO 27701MISA Member (Microsoft)Microsoft Advanced Specialization: Threat ProtectionMicrosoft Advanced Specialization: Cloud Security | – |
| Founded | 2009 | 2006 |
| Data retention | Not publicly disclosed | Not published as a standard MDR retention period. |
| API available | ✓ | – |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
›› FAQ
What is the main difference between Armor and Northwave?
Armor is a Platform vendor that is platform-native (requires their own security stack). Northwave is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Armor covers 3 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 2 for Northwave.
How do Armor and Northwave differ in response capabilities?
Armor supports 4 autonomous actions (custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, file quarantine, network containment) and approval is configurable. Northwave supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Incident response is included with Armor and not included with Northwave.
How does Armor pricing compare to Northwave?
Armor pricing: Starting at ~$4,317/month for XDR+SOC (per SourceForge listing). Northwave pricing: Not published. 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 Northwave: Public pages do not publish response SLAs or named default response actions.; Rapid Response is a separate related service, so buyers should confirm what incident-response support is included in base MDR..
Should I choose Armor or Northwave?
Choose Armor if: healthcare or financial services teams already running Microsoft Sentinel who need compliance consulting baked in. Choose Northwave if: benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC. Armor is not ideal for teams running macOS or mobile-heavy environments with no agent support for either. Northwave is not ideal for buyers that need public MDR pricing or response SLAs before engaging sales.
Daylight Security
AI-native MDR for buyers comparing active remediation across endpoint, cloud, identity, and SaaS. Daylight works with existing EDR/SIEM stacks and uses ChatOps-native collaboration, so it can be a useful third reference point in this comparison.