BlueVoyant vs Expel
BlueVoyant and Expel are both Pure-play MDRs that work with your existing tools. BlueVoyant targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations, while Expel serves Mid-market and Enterprise. BlueVoyant includes 3 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, Identity), compared to 5 for Expel (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
Buyer brief
BlueVoyant and Expel are both Pure-play MDRs that work with your existing tools. BlueVoyant targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations, while Expel serves Mid-market and Enterprise. BlueVoyant includes 3 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, Identity), compared to 5 for Expel (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
Expel offers broader coverage (5 surfaces vs. 3). BlueVoyant may suit teams that need depth over breadth.
At a glance
| FIELD | ||
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Organizations that want all detection rules, playbooks, and data to stay in their own SIEM instance | Mid-market and enterprise organizations with existing security tools wanting vendor-agnostic MDR |
| Price | Custom quote | TrustRadius: from $11,640/yr |
| Response authority | 6/6 actions · Configurable | 6/6 actions · Configurable |
| Stack | Works with existing stack | Works with existing stack |
| Data access | Dashboards | Full query access |
| Warranty | None listed | None listed |
- Best fit
- Organizations that want all detection rules, playbooks, and data to stay in their own SIEM instance
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 6/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
- Best fit
- Mid-market and enterprise organizations with existing security tools wanting vendor-agnostic MDR
- Price
- TrustRadius: from $11,640/yr
- Response authority
- 6/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Full query access
- Warranty
- None listed
›› Detailed comparison
| FIELD | BlueVoyantTECH-AGNOSTIC | ExpelTECH-AGNOSTIC |
|---|---|---|
| ›› Fit | ||
| Target size | Mid-market, Enterprise | Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Positive | Very Positive |
| ›› Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Works with your tools |
| EDR integrations | Microsoft Defender, CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Carbon Black | Palo Alto CortexElasticCybereason CrowdStrike, Microsoft Defender, SentinelOne, Carbon Black |
| SIEM integrations | Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk | Palo Alto Cortex XSIAMGoogle ChronicleExabeamSecuronixSumo LogicIBM QRadar Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: LimitedNetNetwork: LimitedOTOT/IoT: Not covered | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: CoveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Not covered |
| ›› Response | ||
| Response type | Active Remediation | Active Remediation |
| Approval policy | Configurable | Configurable |
| Response actions | IsolateKill processContainDisable accountsQuarantineCustom playbooks | IsolateKill processContainDisable accountsQuarantineCustom playbooks |
| IR included | Separate | Separate |
| ›› Cost | ||
| Price range | Not published. Contact for custom quote. | Starting at $11,640/year. Custom quotes based on environment size and coverage areas. |
| Minimum seats | None | None |
| Breach warranty | – | – |
| ›› More details | ||
| Requires own agent | No | No |
| Endpoints | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Cloud workloads | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Identity | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| SaaS apps | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| Network | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| OT/ICS | Not offered | Not offered |
| Threat hunting | Extra cost | Extra cost |
| Response SLA | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Subscription-based, priced per endpoint for laptops, workstations, and servers. All log sources included in the per-endpoint price. Also available via AWS Marketplace and Azure Marketplace. | Custom pricing by coverage type: cloud infrastructure (by resources), on-prem (by endpoints), SaaS (by user accounts), phishing (by email count). Three tiers: Starter, Select, Premium. |
| Hidden cost warnings | Threat hunting is not included in base MDR. Advanced Threat Hunting and Cross Signal Hunting are add-on tiers with separate pricing. Coverage varies significantly by which MDR track you buy (Microsoft, Splunk, Cisco XDR, Endpoint). Identity and SaaS coverage may only be available in the Microsoft track. Very few public reviews (6 on Gartner, 0 on PeerSpot) make it hard to validate claims before buying. No published response time SLA. Ask for written commitments before signing | Threat hunting is NOT included in base MDR, it is a separate add-on. Incident response is NOT included and must be obtained separately. Premium tier required for direct Slack/Teams SOC communication. Pricing scales significantly based on number of integrations and coverage areas |
| Data portability | Full | Full |
| Contract terms | Annual | Annual, Multi-year |
| Channels | PortalEmail | SlackTeamsEmailPortal |
| Data access | Dashboards | Full query access |
| Dedicated analyst | – | – |
| SOC regions | North AmericaEuropeAsia-Pacific | North America |
| Onboarding | Not published. Deployment involves configuring data connectors and playbooks within the customer's existing SIEM. | Hours to days via API integrations. 7-minute initial tool connection demonstrated. |
| Industry focus | Financial ServicesGovernmentDefense | Financial ServicesHealthcareTechnologyEducationEnergy |
| MTTD | Not published | Not separately published |
| MTTR | Not published as an absolute figure. Forrester TEI study (Sep 2024) found 70% reduction in mean time to resolution for BlueVoyant MDR clients. | 14 minutes for critical/high incidents with auto-remediation. 22 minutes average alert-to-fix for critical alerts. |
| Community view | Gartner Peer Insights 4.5/5 (6 reviews). Named in the 2025 Gartner Market Guide for MDR. Strong Microsoft credentials (Partner of the Year, 500+ Sentinel deployments). Very limited public review data makes independent validation difficult. | Forrester Wave MDR Leader Q1 2025 (5/5 in 15 of 21 criteria). Gartner Peer Insights 4.6/5 (142 reviews). G2 4.8/5. PeerSpot 9.0/10. Widely praised for transparency, integration breadth, and speed. Primary criticism: threat hunting and incident response are add-ons, not included. |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type II | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001:2013ISO 27701:2019GDPR |
| Certifications | SOC 2 Type II (annual audit)Microsoft Worldwide Security Partner of the Year 2024Three-time Microsoft US Security Partner of the YearUK G-Cloud accreditedSplunk Premier Manage partner | SOC 2 Type II (annual audit May 1 to April 30)ISO 27001:2013ISO 27701:2019 (processor) |
| Founded | 2017 | 2016 |
| Data retention | Data stays in customer's own SIEM instance. Retention governed by customer's Sentinel/Splunk configuration. | Per-contract basis with automated secure disposal per retention policy |
| API available | – | ✓ |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
›› FAQ
What is the main difference between BlueVoyant and Expel?
BlueVoyant is a Pure-play MDR that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Expel is a Pure-play MDR that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). BlueVoyant covers 3 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 5 for Expel.
How do BlueVoyant and Expel differ in response capabilities?
BlueVoyant supports 6 autonomous actions (account disable, custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, file quarantine, network containment, process termination) and approval is configurable. Expel supports 6 autonomous actions (account disable, custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, file quarantine, network containment, process termination) and approval is configurable.
How does BlueVoyant pricing compare to Expel?
BlueVoyant pricing: Not published. Contact for custom quote.. Expel pricing: Starting at $11,640/year. Custom quotes based on environment size and coverage areas.. Watch for with BlueVoyant: Threat hunting is not included in base MDR. Advanced Threat Hunting and Cross Signal Hunting are add-on tiers with separate pricing; Coverage varies significantly by which MDR track you buy (Microsoft, Splunk, Cisco XDR, Endpoint). Identity and SaaS coverage may only be available in the Microsoft track. Watch for with Expel: Threat hunting is NOT included in base MDR, it is a separate add-on; Incident response is NOT included and must be obtained separately.
Should I choose BlueVoyant or Expel?
Choose BlueVoyant if: mid-market and enterprise organizations already invested in Microsoft Sentinel and Defender wanting MDR without a proprietary agent. Choose Expel if: mid-market and enterprise organizations with existing security tools wanting vendor-agnostic MDR. BlueVoyant is not ideal for organizations needing broad multi-vendor integration support. BlueVoyant supports four EDR platforms and two SIEMs, far fewer than competitors like Expel or eSentire. Expel is not ideal for organizations wanting platform-native MDR from a single vendor (Expel requires existing security tools).
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.