Critical Start vs Sapphire
Critical Start is a Pure-play MDR that works with your existing tools. Sapphire is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Critical Start targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Sapphire serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Critical Start includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 4 for Sapphire (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Network).
Buyer brief
Critical Start is a Pure-play MDR that works with your existing tools. Sapphire is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Critical Start targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Sapphire serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Critical Start includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 4 for Sapphire (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Network).
Critical Start (Pure-play MDR) and Sapphire (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 Sapphire's sapphire mdr is strongest for uk buyers that value local ownership, a crest-accredited uk soc and....
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Mid-market to large enterprises wanting technology-agnostic MDR that works with their existing security stack | UK organisations that want MDR from a UK-owned provider with a UK-based CREST-accredited SOC |
| 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
- UK organisations that want MDR from a UK-owned provider with a UK-based CREST-accredited SOC
- 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 | SapphireTECH-AGNOSTIC |
|---|---|---|
| ›› Fit | ||
| Target size | Mid-market, Enterprise | SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Positive | Mixed |
| ›› Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Works with your tools |
| EDR integrations | CrowdStrikeSentinelOneMicrosoft DefenderPalo Alto Cortex | EDR toolsMicrosoft technologies |
| SIEM integrations | Microsoft SentinelSplunkSumo Logic | ExabeamSIEM tools |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: CoveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: LimitedSaaSSaaS: CoveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on |
| ›› Response | ||
| Response type | Active Remediation | Active Remediation |
| Approval policy | Configurable | Configurable |
| Response actions | IsolateKill processContainDisable accountsQuarantineCustom playbooks | Custom playbooks |
| IR included | Separate | ✓ Included |
| ›› 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 | ✓ Included |
| Identity | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| SaaS apps | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Network | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| OT/ICS | + Optional | + Optional |
| 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. Sapphire 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 response SLAs or exact response-authority rules.. MDR, MXDR and OT SOC scope can differ materially, so buyers should define monitored surfaces in the order form.. The page publishes vendor-reported comparative metrics without independent methodology.. IR hours are included as standard, but buyers should confirm number of hours, coverage triggers and overage rates. |
| Data portability | Partial | Partial |
| Contract terms | Annual, Multi-year | Custom |
| 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. | Sapphire references onboarding and implementation that can be shorter than expected, but no standard public MDR onboarding timeline was found. |
| Industry focus | Financial ServicesHealthcareManufacturingTechnologyGovernmentProfessional ServicesRetailTransportation | Public SectorDefenceFinancial ServicesProfessional ServicesIndustrialsManufacturingOperational TechnologyHealthcare |
| 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. | Sapphire has limited MDR-specific community review volume. The public buyer case is strongest for UK ownership, UK-based SOC delivery, CREST SOC accreditation and IT/OT services depth. Buyers should validate response authority, price, metrics and the exact split between MDR, MXDR, OT SOC and incident-response work. |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001 | ISO 27001NISTHIPAADORACyber Essentials PlusCRESTGDPRPCI DSS |
| Certifications | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001MISA (Microsoft Intelligent Security Association)Microsoft Solutions Partner for Security | CREST SOCCREST Penetration TestingCyber Essentials PlusISO 27001 |
| Founded | 2012 | 1996 |
| Data retention | CORR platform provides API access and data export (CSV/XLSX). Specific retention periods not publicly documented. | Not published as a standard MDR retention period. |
| API available | ✓ | – |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
›› FAQ
What is the main difference between Critical Start and Sapphire?
Critical Start is a Pure-play MDR that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Sapphire is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). SLA commitments differ: Critical Start offers ≤1 hour, Sapphire offers Not disclosed. Critical Start covers 5 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 4 for Sapphire.
How do Critical Start and Sapphire 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. Sapphire supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Incident response is not included with Critical Start and included with Sapphire.
How does Critical Start pricing compare to Sapphire?
Critical Start pricing: Custom-quoted pricing. Sapphire 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 Sapphire: Public pages do not publish response SLAs or exact response-authority rules.; MDR, MXDR and OT SOC scope can differ materially, so buyers should define monitored surfaces in the order form..
Should I choose Critical Start or Sapphire?
Choose Critical Start if: mid-market to large enterprises wanting technology-agnostic MDR that works with their existing security stack. Choose Sapphire if: uK organisations that want MDR from a UK-owned provider with a UK-based CREST-accredited SOC. Critical Start is not ideal for sMBs or budget-conscious organizations, enterprise-focused pricing not published. Sapphire is not ideal for buyers that need public MDR pricing or contractual response SLAs before sales engagement.
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.