Choose Critical Start or Pondurance
Choose Critical Start if
- Mid-market to large enterprises wanting technology-agnostic MDR that works with their existing security stack
- Organizations suffering from alert fatigue wanting TBR's deterministic auto-resolution to reduce noise
- Companies needing OT/ICS monitoring alongside IT MDR through Claroty, Dragos and Nozomi integrations
- You need Cloud and SaaS and Network coverage included in base pricing
Choose Pondurance if
- Organizations that want a $2M breach warranty and HITRUST readiness consulting from one vendor
- Breach warranty matters to you (Pondurance offers one, Critical Start does not)
What’s actually different
Buyer brief
Fit. Critical Start and Pondurance are both Pure-play MDRs that work with your existing tools. Critical Start targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations, while Pondurance serves SMB and Mid-market. Critical Start includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 2 for Pondurance (Endpoint, Identity).
FAQ
What is the main difference between Critical Start and Pondurance?
Critical Start is a Pure-play MDR that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Pondurance is a Pure-play MDR that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). SLA commitments differ: Critical Start offers ≤1 hour, Pondurance offers Not disclosed. Critical Start covers 5 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 2 for Pondurance.
How do Critical Start and Pondurance differ in response capabilities?
Critical Start supports 6 autonomous actions (endpoint isolation, process termination, network containment, account disable, file quarantine, custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Pondurance supports 6 autonomous actions (endpoint isolation, process termination, network containment, account disable, file quarantine, custom playbooks) and approval is configurable.
How does Critical Start pricing compare to Pondurance?
Critical Start pricing: Custom-quoted pricing. Pondurance pricing: Not published. Custom quotes only. Reviews describe pricing as affordable relative to competitors.. 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 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.