Field Effect vs Red Canary: MDR Comparison 2026
Field Effect (MDR provider) and Red Canary (Pure-play MDR) take different approaches to managed detection and response. Field Effect requires its own security platform, while Red Canary works with your existing tools. Field Effect targets SMB and Mid-market organizations; Red Canary focuses on SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise.
Key Differences at a Glance
Winner by Category
Field Effect vs Red Canary: Which Should You Choose?
Choose Field Effect if:
- •SMBs and MSPs wanting affordable, easy-to-deploy MDR with published per-user pricing
- •Canadian organizations needing domestic data hosting and PIPEDA compliance
- •Healthcare, government, and defense contractors needing HIPAA/CMMC/NIST compliance support
Choose Red Canary if:
- •Organizations wanting detection-as-code with all detections mapped to MITRE ATT&CK for transparency
- •Linux-heavy environments needing purpose-built Linux EDR (eBPF/Audit) for containers and Kubernetes
- •Security teams wanting Slack-native SOC communication with configurable automated response playbooks
- •You want direct Slack integration with your SOC
Bottom line: Field Effect is the choice if you want a single-vendor stack with deep integration. Red Canary is better if you have existing tools and want flexibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main difference between Field Effect and Red Canary?
Field Effect is a MDR provider that is platform-native (requires their own security stack). Red Canary is a Pure-play MDR that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools).
How do Field Effect and Red Canary differ in response capabilities?
Field Effect supports 5 autonomous actions (endpoint isolation, process termination, network containment, account disable, file quarantine) and approval is configurable. Red Canary supports 6 autonomous actions (endpoint isolation, process termination, network containment, account disable, file quarantine, custom playbooks) and approval is configurable.
How does Field Effect pricing compare to Red Canary?
Field Effect pricing: MDR Core: $99/user/month (ideal for <=25 users). MDR Complete: custom pricing (larger organizations, compliance requirements).. Red Canary pricing: Not publicly disclosed. User-reported: ~$100/endpoint/year (2023 PeerSpot data point, may have changed). Available through AWS Marketplace.. Watch for with Field Effect: MDR Core excludes network monitoring, DNS firewall, and dark web monitoring — significant feature gap vs Complete; $99/user adds up quickly — 50 users = $4,950/month. Watch for with Red Canary: Pricing not publicly disclosed — requires sales engagement for any quote; Resource-based pricing (per-endpoint + per-user + per-cloud) can scale unexpectedly.
Should I choose Field Effect or Red Canary?
Choose Field Effect if: sMBs and MSPs wanting affordable, easy-to-deploy MDR with published per-user pricing. Choose Red Canary if: mid-market organizations wanting vendor-agnostic MDR that works with their existing EDR (CrowdStrike, Microsoft, SentinelOne, Carbon Black, Cortex XDR, Trend Micro, Jamf). Field Effect is not ideal for organizations with existing CrowdStrike/SentinelOne/Defender deployments — requires proprietary Field Effect agent. Red Canary is not ideal for global organizations needing follow-the-sun SOC coverage — only Denver SOC confirmed.