Armor vs Red Canary: MDR comparison 2026
Armor is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Red Canary is a Pure-play MDR that works with your existing tools. Armor targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Red Canary serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Armor includes 3 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, Network), compared to 5 for Red Canary (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
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 Red Canary if:
- •Linux-heavy environments needing purpose-built Linux EDR for containers and Kubernetes
- •Security teams wanting Slack-native SOC communication with configurable automated response playbooks
- •You need SaaS and Identity coverage included in base pricing
- •You want direct Slack integration with your SOC
Bottom line: Armor is the choice if you want a single-vendor stack with deep integration. Red Canary is better if you have existing tools and want flexibility.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between Armor and Red Canary?
Armor is a Platform vendor that is platform-native (requires their own security stack). Red Canary is a Pure-play MDR that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Armor covers 3 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 5 for Red Canary.
How do Armor and Red Canary differ in response capabilities?
Armor supports 4 autonomous actions (endpoint isolation, network containment, file quarantine, custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Red Canary supports 6 autonomous actions (endpoint isolation, process termination, network containment, account disable, file quarantine, custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Incident response is included with Armor and not included with Red Canary.
How does Armor pricing compare to Red Canary?
Armor pricing: Starting at ~$4,317/month for XDR+SOC (per SourceForge listing). Red Canary pricing: Core Plan: $120/endpoint + $100/user + $250/cloud resource. Complete and Enterprise plans priced higher. Available through AWS Marketplace.. 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 Red Canary: Resource-based pricing (endpoint + user + cloud) can scale unexpectedly as environments grow; Elevated customer churn post-Zscaler acquisition disclosed in Feb 2026 earnings, market mindshare declined 4.2% to 2.9% year-over-year.
Should I choose Armor or Red Canary?
Choose Armor if: healthcare or financial services teams already running Microsoft Sentinel who need compliance consulting baked in. Choose Red Canary if: organizations with existing EDR investments (CrowdStrike, Microsoft, SentinelOne, Carbon Black, Cortex XDR, Trend Micro, Jamf) wanting MDR layered on top. Armor is not ideal for teams running macOS or mobile-heavy environments with no agent support for either. Red Canary is not ideal for global organizations needing follow-the-sun SOC coverage, only Denver SOC confirmed.