N-able vs Northwave
N-able is a MSP-channel that works with your existing tools. Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. N-able targets SMB and Mid-market organizations; Northwave serves Mid-market and Enterprise. N-able includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 2 for Northwave (Endpoint, Network).
Buyer brief
N-able is a MSP-channel that works with your existing tools. Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. N-able targets SMB and Mid-market organizations; Northwave serves Mid-market and Enterprise. N-able includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 2 for Northwave (Endpoint, Network).
N-able (MSP-channel) and Northwave (Services firm) serve different buyer profiles. Your decision depends on whether you prioritize N-able's unified security operations platform combining xdr, siem, soar, and ueba with vendor-agnostic mdr... 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 | MSPs wanting a unified XDR + SIEM + SOAR + UEBA platform to reduce vendor sprawl | Benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC |
| Price | MSP security bundle: $90-$275/user/mo; not Adlumin standalone | Custom quote |
| Response authority | 6/6 actions · Configurable | 1/6 actions · Configurable |
| Stack | Own agent required | Works with existing stack |
| Data access | Full query access | Dashboards |
| Warranty | $500,000 | None listed |
- Best fit
- MSPs wanting a unified XDR + SIEM + SOAR + UEBA platform to reduce vendor sprawl
- Price
- MSP security bundle: $90-$275/user/mo; not Adlumin standalone
- Response authority
- 6/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Own agent required
- Data access
- Full query access
- Warranty
- $500,000
- 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 | N-ableTECH-AGNOSTIC | NorthwaveTECH-AGNOSTIC |
|---|---|---|
| ›› Fit | ||
| Target size | SMB, Mid-market | Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Positive | Mixed |
| ›› Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Works with your tools |
| EDR integrations | CrowdStrike | Customer endpoint telemetry |
| SIEM integrations | Built-in SIEM | Customer log sources |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: CoveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Not covered | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: LimitedIDIdentity: LimitedSaaSSaaS: Not 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 | ✓ Included | Separate |
| ›› Cost | ||
| Price range | Third-party/MSP-channel estimate: MSPs typically bundle at $90-$275/user/month for full security programs. Exact Adlumin standalone pricing not published. | Not published |
| Minimum seats | None | None |
| Breach warranty | $500,000 | – |
| ›› More details | ||
| Requires own agent | Yes | No |
| Endpoints | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Cloud workloads | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| Identity | ✓ Included | ~ Limited |
| SaaS apps | ✓ Included | Not offered |
| Network | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| OT/ICS | Not offered | + Optional |
| Threat hunting | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Response SLA | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Per-user per-month pricing through MSP channel. Three tiers: MDR Base (identity-focused ITDR for M365 only), MDR Standard, MDR Advanced (adds 90-day retention). | Custom quote. Northwave does not publish MDR package pricing. |
| Hidden cost warnings | MDR Base tier is identity-only (M365 ITDR). MDR Standard required for endpoint/network/cloud coverage.. Data retention upgrade (30 to 90 days) requires Advanced tier. Pricing designed for MSP channel. Direct enterprise pricing may differ or be unavailable.. N-able acquisition creates roadmap and integration uncertainty | 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, Multi-year | Custom |
| Channels | EmailPortalPhone | PortalEmailPhone |
| Data access | Full query access | Dashboards |
| Dedicated analyst | ✓ | – |
| SOC regions | North AmericaEurope | Europe |
| Onboarding | 30 minutes deployment (vendor-claimed), 600+ hours of pre-built playbooks included | 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 ServicesHealthcareLegalGovernmentManufacturing | Financial ServicesHealthcareManufacturingLogisticsTechnologyPublic SectorCritical Infrastructure |
| MTTD | Not published | Not published |
| MTTR | Not published | Not published |
| Community view | G2 4.8/5 and Gartner Peer Insights 4.7/5 (3 reviews) show strong sentiment for customer support, ease of use, and platform features. Limited independent review data. MSP community reception to N-able acquisition is cautiously optimistic but creates integration uncertainty. | 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 | HIPAAPCI DSSNISTGLBASOXFFIEC | NIS2ISO 27001GDPRTISAX |
| Certifications | – | – |
| Founded | 2016 | 2006 |
| Data retention | 30 days (Standard), 90 days (Advanced tier) | Not published as a standard MDR retention period. |
| API available | ✓ | – |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
›› FAQ
What is the main difference between N-able and Northwave?
N-able is a MSP-channel that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Northwave is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). N-able covers 5 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 2 for Northwave.
How do N-able and Northwave differ in response capabilities?
N-able supports 6 autonomous actions (account disable, custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, file quarantine, network containment, process termination) and approval is configurable. Northwave supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Incident response is included with N-able and not included with Northwave.
How does N-able pricing compare to Northwave?
N-able pricing: Third-party/MSP-channel estimate: MSPs typically bundle at $90-$275/user/month for full security programs. Exact Adlumin standalone pricing not published.. Northwave pricing: Not published. Watch for with N-able: MDR Base tier is identity-only (M365 ITDR). MDR Standard required for endpoint/network/cloud coverage.; Data retention upgrade (30 to 90 days) requires Advanced tier. 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 N-able or Northwave?
Choose N-able if: mSPs wanting a unified XDR + SIEM + SOAR + UEBA platform to reduce vendor sprawl. Choose Northwave if: benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC. N-able is not ideal for large enterprises with existing SOC infrastructure and direct vendor relationships (MSP-channel only). 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.