Critical Start vs Defendable
Critical Start is a Pure-play MDR that works with your existing tools. Defendable is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Critical Start targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Defendable serves Mid-market and Enterprise. Critical Start includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 1 for Defendable (Endpoint).
Buyer brief
Critical Start is a Pure-play MDR that works with your existing tools. Defendable is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Critical Start targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Defendable serves Mid-market and Enterprise. Critical Start includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 1 for Defendable (Endpoint).
Critical Start (Pure-play MDR) and Defendable (Services firm) serve different buyer profiles. Your decision depends on whether you prioritize Critical Start's technology-agnostic mdr with tbr deterministic alert auto-resolution, 100+ integrations, ot/ics s... or Defendable's defendable mdr fits nordic buyers that want norwegian soc monitoring, microsoft sentinel-friendly....
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Mid-market to large enterprises wanting technology-agnostic MDR that works with their existing security stack | Norwegian and Nordic buyers that want MDR operated from Oslo and Gjovik |
| Price | Not published | Custom quote |
| Response authority | 6/6 actions · Configurable | 1/6 actions · Configurable |
| Stack | Works with existing stack | Works with existing stack |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Warranty | None listed | None listed |
- Best fit
- Mid-market to large enterprises wanting technology-agnostic MDR that works with their existing security stack
- Price
- Not published
- Response authority
- 6/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
- Best fit
- Norwegian and Nordic buyers that want MDR operated from Oslo and Gjovik
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 1/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
Detailed comparison
| FIELD | Critical StartTECH-AGNOSTIC | DefendableTECH-AGNOSTIC |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | ||
| Target size | Mid-market, Enterprise | Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Positive | Mixed |
| Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Works with your tools |
| EDR integrations | CrowdStrikeSentinelOnePalo Alto Cortex Microsoft Defender | Microsoft Defender |
| SIEM integrations | SplunkSumo Logic Microsoft Sentinel | Microsoft Sentinel |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: CoveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: LimitedIDIdentity: LimitedSaaSSaaS: LimitedNetNetwork: LimitedOTOT/IoT: Not covered |
| Response | ||
| Response type | Active Remediation | Active Remediation |
| Approval policy | Configurable | Configurable |
| Response actions | IsolateKill processContainDisable accountsQuarantineCustom playbooks | Custom playbooks |
| IR included | Separate | Separate |
| Cost | ||
| Price range | Not published | Not published |
| Minimum seats | None | None |
| Breach warranty | – | – |
| More details | ||
| Requires own agent | No | No |
| Endpoints | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Cloud workloads | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| Identity | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| SaaS apps | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| Network | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| OT/ICS | + Optional | Not offered |
| Threat hunting | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Response SLA | ≤1 hour | Not disclosed |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Custom enterprise pricing (annual subscription, tiered by coverage depth) | Custom quote. Defendable does not publish MDR package pricing. |
| Hidden cost warnings | No public pricing at all, requires sales call for any ballpark. OT/ICS monitoring and vulnerability management are separate purchases on top of base MDR. Full IR/DFIR requires separate CIRT engagement, not included in MDR contract. Annual contract commitment typically required with no published minimum seat count | Public pages do not publish MDR pricing, contract minimums or service-credit language.. Response authority should be defined in writing because named autonomous endpoint and identity actions are not published.. Log storage can sit in the customer's Microsoft Log Analytics tenant or Defendable's platform, so retention and storage costs should be modeled early.. Incident-response retainer SLA is separate language and should not be assumed to be the MDR SLA.. Threat hunting is public, but hunt cadence and staffing are not published. |
| Data portability | Partial | Partial |
| Contract terms | Annual, Multi-year | Custom, Incident Response Retainer |
| Channels | EmailPortalPhone | PortalEmailPhone |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Dedicated analyst | ✓ | – |
| SOC regions | North America | Europe |
| Onboarding | 5-10 business days to first detection value (vendor-stated). 4-6 weeks for full enterprise onboarding. Vendor claims 2.66-day median TTFV for Microsoft Sentinel specifically. | Defendable publishes an MDR onboarding flow covering identification, planning, platform establishment and execution. It does not publish a standard onboarding duration. |
| Industry focus | Financial ServicesHealthcareManufacturingTechnologyGovernmentProfessional ServicesRetailTransportation | Not published |
| MTTD | Not published | Not published |
| MTTR | 60 minutes or less median time to resolution for ALL alerts regardless of priority | Not published |
| Community view | Gartner Peer Insights 4.8/5 (53 reviews). PeerSpot 9.4/10, skewing large enterprise. Glassdoor 4.3/5 (140 reviews, some concerns about RIFs and turnover). IDC MarketScape Major Player (Emerging MDR, 2024). Praised for TBR noise reduction and SOC analyst accessibility. Criticized for onboarding communication gaps, missing Slack integration and opaque pricing. | Defendable has limited MDR-specific public review volume in major English-language review communities. The public buyer case rests on Norwegian SOC delivery, a direct MDR page, Microsoft Sentinel support, proactive threat hunting, a customer portal and incident-response depth. Buyers should validate pricing, response authority, retention cost and contractual SLA terms directly. |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001 | ISO 27001Norwegian National Security Authority Quality Scheme for Incident Response |
| Certifications | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001MISA (Microsoft Intelligent Security Association)Microsoft Solutions Partner for Security | ISO 27001:2023Norwegian National Security Authority Quality Scheme for Incident ResponseEco-lighthouse certified |
| Founded | 2012 | 2020 |
| Data retention | CORR platform provides API access and data export (CSV/XLSX). Specific retention periods not publicly documented. | Defendable says customers can store additional log data in their own Microsoft Log Analytics tenant or in Defendable's log management platform. It does not publish standard MDR retention periods. |
| API available | ✓ | – |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
FAQ
What is the main difference between Critical Start and Defendable?
Critical Start is a Pure-play MDR that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Defendable is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). SLA commitments differ: Critical Start offers ≤1 hour, Defendable offers Not disclosed. Critical Start covers 5 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 1 for Defendable.
How do Critical Start and Defendable differ in response capabilities?
Critical Start supports 6 autonomous actions (account disable, custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, file quarantine, network containment, process termination) and approval is configurable. Defendable supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable.
How does Critical Start pricing compare to Defendable?
Critical Start pricing: Custom-quoted pricing. Defendable pricing: Not published. Watch for with Critical Start: No public pricing at all, requires sales call for any ballpark; OT/ICS monitoring and vulnerability management are separate purchases on top of base MDR. Watch for with Defendable: Public pages do not publish MDR pricing, contract minimums or service-credit language.; Response authority should be defined in writing because named autonomous endpoint and identity actions are not published..
Should I choose Critical Start or Defendable?
Choose Critical Start if: mid-market to large enterprises wanting technology-agnostic MDR that works with their existing security stack. Choose Defendable if: norwegian and Nordic buyers that want MDR operated from Oslo and Gjovik. Critical Start is not ideal for sMBs or budget-conscious organizations, enterprise-focused pricing not published. Defendable is not ideal for buyers that need public MDR pricing or contractual SLA terms before 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.