Mandiant vs Sapphire
Mandiant and Sapphire are both Services firms that work with your existing tools. Mandiant targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations, while Sapphire serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Mandiant includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 4 for Sapphire (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Network).
Buyer brief
Mandiant and Sapphire are both Services firms that work with your existing tools. Mandiant targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations, while Sapphire serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Mandiant includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 4 for Sapphire (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Network).
Mandiant offers broader coverage (5 surfaces vs. 4). Sapphire may suit teams that need depth over breadth.
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Enterprise organizations wanting threat intelligence integrated directly into MDR from 500+ frontline analysts | UK organisations that want MDR from a UK-owned provider with a UK-based CREST-accredited SOC |
| Price | Mandiant software benchmark: ~$83K/yr; not Managed Defense | Custom quote |
| Response authority | 3/6 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
- Enterprise organizations wanting threat intelligence integrated directly into MDR from 500+ frontline analysts
- Price
- Mandiant software benchmark: ~$83K/yr; not Managed Defense
- Response authority
- 3/6 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 | MandiantTECH-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 | CrowdStrike FalconMicrosoft Defender for EndpointSentinelOne Singularity | EDR toolsMicrosoft technologies |
| SIEM integrations | Google Security Operations (native integration) | 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 | IsolateContainCustom playbooks | Custom playbooks |
| IR included | Separate | ✓ Included |
| ›› Cost | ||
| Price range | Third-party buyer data reports an average Mandiant software cost around $83,000/year. Treat this as a Mandiant buyer benchmark, not a clean Managed Defense MDR quote. | 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 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Custom enterprise subscription pricing. Factors: users, data volume, features, contract terms. | Custom quote. Sapphire does not publish MDR package pricing. |
| Hidden cost warnings | ~$83K+/year estimated, premium enterprise pricing. IR retainer is separate and must be purchased independently for full incident response. Managed Defense for Google SecOps currently GA in US only, international customers face limitations | 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 | Custom enterprise agreements | Custom |
| Channels | PortalPhone | PortalEmailPhone |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Dedicated analyst | ✓ | – |
| SOC regions | North AmericaEuropeAsia-Pacific | Europe |
| Onboarding | 4-8 weeks typical for enterprise deployments | Sapphire references onboarding and implementation that can be shorter than expected, but no standard public MDR onboarding timeline was found. |
| Industry focus | Financial ServicesHealthcareGovernment (Federal)DefenseCritical Infrastructure | Public SectorDefenceFinancial ServicesProfessional ServicesIndustrialsManufacturingOperational TechnologyHealthcare |
| MTTD | Not formally published. Claims alerts triaged by expert within minutes. | Not published |
| MTTR | Not formally published. Claims response in minutes, not hours. Participated in 2020 MITRE ATT&CK evaluation (APT29) with one of the highest enriched alert counts in the MSSP detection category. | Not published |
| Community view | Mandiant brand is synonymous with threat intelligence and incident response. TrustRadius 6.9/10 (11 reviews). PeerSpot 8.4/10 (Mandiant Advantage, not MDR-specific). Limited public reviews for Managed Defense specifically. Primary criticism: premium pricing, dashboard complexity, and IR being a separate retainer despite Mandiant's IR reputation. | 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 27001ISO 27017ISO 27018FedRAMP HighPCI DSSGDPR | ISO 27001NISTHIPAADORACyber Essentials PlusCRESTGDPRPCI DSS |
| Certifications | SOC 2 Type II (via Google Cloud)ISO 27001 (via Google Cloud)FedRAMP High P-ATO (Google Cloud infrastructure, 150+ services). Mandiant Advantage Automated Defense is FedRAMP Ready at High Impact Level (2022).ISO 27017 (via Google Cloud)ISO 27018 (via Google Cloud) | CREST SOCCREST Penetration TestingCyber Essentials PlusISO 27001 |
| Founded | 2004 | 1996 |
| Data retention | Per-contract basis. Google Cloud data residency options available. | Not published as a standard MDR retention period. |
| API available | ✓ | – |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
›› FAQ
What is the main difference between Mandiant and Sapphire?
Mandiant is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Sapphire is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Mandiant covers 5 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 4 for Sapphire.
How do Mandiant and Sapphire differ in response capabilities?
Mandiant supports 3 autonomous actions (custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, network containment) and approval is configurable. Sapphire supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Incident response is not included with Mandiant and included with Sapphire.
How does Mandiant pricing compare to Sapphire?
Mandiant pricing: Third-party buyer data reports an average Mandiant software cost around $83,000/year. Treat this as a Mandiant buyer benchmark, not a clean Managed Defense MDR quote.. Sapphire pricing: Not published. Watch for with Mandiant: ~$83K+/year estimated, premium enterprise pricing; IR retainer is separate and must be purchased independently for full incident response. 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 Mandiant or Sapphire?
Choose Mandiant if: enterprise organizations wanting threat intelligence integrated directly into MDR from 500+ frontline analysts. Choose Sapphire if: uK organisations that want MDR from a UK-owned provider with a UK-based CREST-accredited SOC. Mandiant is not ideal for sMBs or budget-constrained organizations (~$83K+/year estimated pricing). 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.