DirectDefense vs Northwave
DirectDefense is a Pure-play MDR that works with your existing tools. Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. DirectDefense targets SMB and Mid-market organizations; Northwave serves Mid-market and Enterprise.
Buyer brief
DirectDefense is a Pure-play MDR that works with your existing tools. Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. DirectDefense targets SMB and Mid-market organizations; Northwave serves Mid-market and Enterprise.
DirectDefense (Pure-play MDR) and Northwave (Services firm) serve different buyer profiles. Your decision depends on whether you prioritize DirectDefense's technology-agnostic mdr with soar-driven triage, offensive security dna, and ot/ics partnerships ... or Northwave's northwave mdr fits european buyers that want a soc service connected to incident response, red te....
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Mid-market organizations with an existing SIEM (Rapid7, Tenable, Sentinel) wanting managed SOC operations on top | Benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC |
| Price | Not published | Custom quote |
| Response authority | 1/6 actions · Approval required | 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 organizations with an existing SIEM (Rapid7, Tenable, Sentinel) wanting managed SOC operations on top
- Price
- Not published
- Response authority
- 1/6 actions · Approval required
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
- Best fit
- Benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 1/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
›› Detailed comparison
| FIELD | DirectDefenseTECH-AGNOSTIC | NorthwaveTECH-AGNOSTIC |
|---|---|---|
| ›› Fit | ||
| Target size | SMB, Mid-market | Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Mixed | Mixed |
| ›› Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Works with your tools |
| EDR integrations | CrowdStrikeSentinelOneHalcyonCylance BlackBerry | Customer endpoint telemetry |
| SIEM integrations | Rapid7TenableMicrosoft Sentinel | Customer log sources |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: Optional add-onIDIdentity: Not coveredSaaSSaaS: Not coveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: LimitedIDIdentity: LimitedSaaSSaaS: Not coveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on |
| ›› Response | ||
| Response type | Guided Response | Active Remediation |
| Approval policy | Approval Required | Configurable |
| Response actions | Custom playbooks | Custom playbooks |
| IR included | ✓ Included | 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 | + Optional | ~ Limited |
| Identity | Not offered | ~ Limited |
| SaaS apps | Not offered | Not offered |
| Network | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| OT/ICS | + Optional | + Optional |
| Threat hunting | Extra cost | ✓ Included |
| Response SLA | ≤30 minutes | Not disclosed |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Custom pricing based on endpoints, coverage scope, and service tier. Three tiers: Security Essentials (SMB vCISO + identity protection bundle), MDR + MSSP CORE (detection + IR retainer), MDR + MSSP MAX (full managed SOC + vulnerability management + email security). | Custom quote. Northwave does not publish MDR package pricing. |
| Hidden cost warnings | Requires existing SIEM or purchase of SIEM platform (Rapid7, Tenable, Microsoft Sentinel). Technology-agnostic model means you need to own the underlying security tools. OT/ICS coverage requires separate Claroty, Dragos, or SCADAfence licensing. Third-party estimates (Getlatka) suggest ~$55K average deal size, which is mid-market territory, not SMB-friendly except for the Security Essentials tier. No published pricing on the website makes cost comparison difficult before engaging sales. Identity threat protection and vCISO are only in the Security Essentials tier (separate from MDR), not in CORE or MAX | Public pages do not publish response SLAs or named default response actions.. Rapid Response is a separate related service, so buyers should confirm what incident-response support is included in base MDR.. Cloud, SaaS and identity coverage are not named as clearly as endpoint, log and network telemetry.. Detection tuning depends on onboarding log sources and threat-based use cases, which may affect deployment effort. |
| Data portability | Partial | Partial |
| Contract terms | Annual | Custom |
| Channels | EmailPortalPhone | PortalEmailPhone |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Dedicated analyst | – | – |
| SOC regions | North America | Europe |
| Onboarding | Customized based on environment complexity. SIEM integration required for CORE and MAX tiers. | Northwave says implementation starts with a plan covering service elements, phases, planning and threat-based use cases, then onboarding log sources and processes. No standard public onboarding duration was found. |
| Industry focus | Financial ServicesInsuranceHealthcareManufacturingEnergy & UtilitiesAerospaceAutomotiveGaming & EntertainmentRetail & HospitalityEducationGovernment | Financial ServicesHealthcareManufacturingLogisticsTechnologyPublic SectorCritical Infrastructure |
| MTTD | Not published | Not published |
| MTTR | Not published | Not published |
| Community view | Almost no public practitioner reviews. No presence on G2, PeerSpot, Gartner Peer Insights, or Reddit as of March 2026. Industry recognition includes MSSP Alert Top 250 (#128, 2024), CRN MSP 500 Security 100 (4th consecutive year), Inc. 5000 (#3924, 2024), and Globee Silver for Best Cybersecurity Service Provider (2025). Awards show vendor credibility but tell you nothing about day-to-day service quality from a buyer's perspective. | Northwave has limited MDR-specific public review volume. The public buyer case rests on European delivery, Utrecht SOC operations and the connection between MDR, CERT, red team and threat research. Buyers should validate response authority, cloud and identity coverage, pricing and escalation rules before signing. |
| Compliance | SOC 2 Type IINIST CSF 2.0HIPAAPCI-DSS | NIS2ISO 27001GDPRTISAX |
| Certifications | SOC 2 Type II | – |
| Founded | 2012 | 2006 |
| Data retention | Per-contract basis, varies by SIEM platform and tier | Not published as a standard MDR retention period. |
| API available | ✓ | – |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
›› FAQ
What is the main difference between DirectDefense and Northwave?
DirectDefense is a Pure-play MDR that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Northwave is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). SLA commitments differ: DirectDefense offers ≤30 minutes, Northwave offers Not disclosed.
How do DirectDefense and Northwave differ in response capabilities?
DirectDefense supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and requires approval before acting. Northwave supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Incident response is included with DirectDefense and not included with Northwave.
How does DirectDefense pricing compare to Northwave?
DirectDefense pricing: Custom-quoted pricing. Northwave pricing: Not published. Watch for with DirectDefense: Requires existing SIEM or purchase of SIEM platform (Rapid7, Tenable, Microsoft Sentinel); Technology-agnostic model means you need to own the underlying security tools. Watch for with Northwave: Public pages do not publish response SLAs or named default response actions.; Rapid Response is a separate related service, so buyers should confirm what incident-response support is included in base MDR..
Should I choose DirectDefense or Northwave?
Choose DirectDefense if: mid-market organizations with an existing SIEM (Rapid7, Tenable, Sentinel) wanting managed SOC operations on top. Choose Northwave if: benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC. DirectDefense is not ideal for organizations wanting turnkey MDR without existing SIEM or security tool investment. Northwave is not ideal for buyers that need public MDR pricing or response SLAs before engaging 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.