Cipher vs Pondurance
Cipher is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Pondurance is a Pure-play MDR that works with your existing tools. Cipher targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Pondurance serves SMB and Mid-market. Cipher includes 0 attack surfaces in base pricing (), compared to 2 for Pondurance (Endpoint, Identity).
Buyer brief
Cipher is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Pondurance is a Pure-play MDR that works with your existing tools. Cipher targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Pondurance serves SMB and Mid-market. Cipher includes 0 attack surfaces in base pricing (), compared to 2 for Pondurance (Endpoint, Identity).
Cipher (Services firm) and Pondurance (Pure-play MDR) serve different buyer profiles. Your decision depends on whether you prioritize Cipher's cipher xmdr fits buyers that want a vendor-neutral mdr service backed by prosegur and delivered t... or Pondurance's affordable, technology-agnostic mdr for us mid-market buyers in regulated industries, with a risk....
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Mid-market and enterprise buyers that want a managed service layered over existing security tools | Organizations that want a $2M breach warranty and HITRUST readiness consulting from one vendor |
| Price | Custom quote | Custom quote |
| Response authority | 0/6 actions · Approval required | 6/6 actions · Configurable |
| Stack | Works with existing stack | Works with existing stack |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Warranty | None listed | $2,000,000 |
- Best fit
- Mid-market and enterprise buyers that want a managed service layered over existing security tools
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 0/6 actions · Approval required
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
- Best fit
- Organizations that want a $2M breach warranty and HITRUST readiness consulting from one vendor
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 6/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- $2,000,000
Detailed comparison
| FIELD | CipherTECH-AGNOSTIC | PonduranceTECH-AGNOSTIC |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | ||
| Target size | Mid-market, Enterprise | SMB, Mid-market |
| Sentiment | Mixed | Mixed |
| Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Works with your tools |
| EDR integrations | Customer EDR | CrowdStrikeSentinelOneMicrosoft Defender |
| SIEM integrations | None listed | None listed |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: LimitedCloudCloud: LimitedIDIdentity: Not coveredSaaSSaaS: Not coveredNetNetwork: LimitedOTOT/IoT: Not covered | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: Optional add-onIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: Optional add-onNetNetwork: Optional add-onOTOT/IoT: Not covered |
| Response | ||
| Response type | Guided Response | Active Remediation |
| Approval policy | Approval Required | Configurable |
| Response actions | Alert and notify only | IsolateKill processContainDisable accountsQuarantineCustom playbooks |
| IR included | Separate | Separate |
| Cost | ||
| Price range | Not published | Not published. Custom quotes only. Reviews describe pricing as affordable relative to competitors. |
| Minimum seats | None | None |
| Breach warranty | – | $2,000,000 |
| More details | ||
| Requires own agent | No | No |
| Endpoints | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| Cloud workloads | ~ Limited | + Optional |
| Identity | Not offered | ✓ Included |
| SaaS apps | Not offered | + Optional |
| Network | ~ Limited | + Optional |
| OT/ICS | Not offered | Not offered |
| Threat hunting | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Response SLA | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Custom quote. Cipher does not publish xMDR package pricing. | Per-endpoint for endpoint MDR. Network MDR priced by bandwidth. Log MDR priced by GB/day ingestion. Custom quotes. |
| Hidden cost warnings | Cipher says xMDR works with the existing technology stack, so buyers should confirm which tools are included in the quote and what integration work is extra.. Public pages do not publish response SLAs, contract minimums or service-credit language.. The site names EDR and IPS/IDS integration but does not publish named vendor integrations.. Response wording is broad, so buyers should document pre-approved actions before go-live. | Incident response is NOT included in base MDR. Separate retainer required for the 2-hour response commitment.. Network MDR, Log MDR, and Pondurance for Microsoft are all separate products with separate pricing on top of endpoint MDR. RansomSnare module is a separate license on top of MDR (free promotion for new customers may be time-limited). Cloud, SaaS (M365), and network coverage each require purchasing separate product modules beyond base endpoint MDR |
| Data portability | Partial | Partial |
| Contract terms | Custom, xMDR Services, xMDR Platform | Annual |
| Channels | Portal | EmailPortalPhone |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Dedicated analyst | – | – |
| SOC regions | North AmericaEuropeLATAM | North America |
| Onboarding | Cipher advertises 20 days for full service activation, but buyers should confirm scope and contract timing. | Not published. Reviews describe setup as straightforward. |
| Industry focus | HealthcareProfessional ServicesPayments | HealthcareFinancial ServicesGovernmentEducationManufacturingRetail |
| MTTD | Not published | Not published |
| MTTR | Not published | Under 15 minutes (vendor marketing claim, described as 'typical time to remediation') |
| Community view | No meaningful MDR-specific buyer-review signal was found in major English-language review communities during this pass. The public buyer case rests on Cipher's Prosegur ownership, xMDR Platform, 24/7 SOC claim, six-SOC footprint, portal access and existing-stack positioning. Buyers should validate pricing, response authority, named integrations and SOC delivery details directly. | Gartner Peer Insights 5.0/5 but only 2 reviews, too small to draw conclusions. Named in Gartner 2024 Market Guide for MDR as the only 'risk-based' vendor. Almost no presence on G2, PeerSpot, or Reddit. Glassdoor 2.4/5 (36 reviews) with recurring complaints about leadership and employee turnover. |
| Compliance | ISO 27001ISO 22301ISO 20000ISO 9001SOC 1SOC 2PCI DSSCREST | – |
| Certifications | ISO 27001ISO 22301ISO 20000ISO 9001SOC ISOC IIPCI QSAPCI ASVCRESTTF-CSIRTCIPHER-CSIRT RFC2350 | Certified Common Security Framework Practitioners (CCSFP) on staff |
| Founded | – | 2008 |
| Data retention | Cipher says all platform information is online 24/7 and available from any device. No public standard MDR data-retention period was found. | Not published. |
| API available | – | ✓ |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
FAQ
What is the main difference between Cipher and Pondurance?
Cipher is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Pondurance is a Pure-play MDR that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Cipher covers 0 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 2 for Pondurance.
How do Cipher and Pondurance differ in response capabilities?
Cipher supports 0 autonomous actions (none) and requires approval before acting. Pondurance supports 6 autonomous actions (account disable, custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, file quarantine, network containment, process termination) and approval is configurable.
How does Cipher pricing compare to Pondurance?
Cipher pricing: Not published. Pondurance pricing: Not published. Custom quotes only. Reviews describe pricing as affordable relative to competitors.. Watch for with Cipher: Cipher says xMDR works with the existing technology stack, so buyers should confirm which tools are included in the quote and what integration work is extra.; Public pages do not publish response SLAs, contract minimums or service-credit language.. Watch for with Pondurance: Incident response is NOT included in base MDR. Separate retainer required for the 2-hour response commitment.; Network MDR, Log MDR, and Pondurance for Microsoft are all separate products with separate pricing on top of endpoint MDR.
Should I choose Cipher or Pondurance?
Choose Cipher if: mid-market and enterprise buyers that want a managed service layered over existing security tools. Choose Pondurance if: uS mid-market organizations in healthcare, financial services, or government wanting affordable MDR for regulated environments. Cipher is not ideal for buyers that need public MDR pricing before sales. Pondurance is not ideal for international organizations needing non-US SOC coverage or multilingual support.
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.