Northwave vs Rapid7
Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Rapid7 is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Northwave targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Rapid7 serves Mid-market and Enterprise. Northwave includes 2 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Network), compared to 5 for Rapid7 (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
Buyer brief
Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Rapid7 is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Northwave targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Rapid7 serves Mid-market and Enterprise. Northwave includes 2 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Network), compared to 5 for Rapid7 (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
Rapid7 is the choice if you want a single-vendor stack with deep integration. Northwave is better if you have existing tools and want flexibility.
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC | Mid-market to enterprise organizations (500+ assets) wanting full SIEM data transparency alongside MDR |
| Price | Custom quote | Est from ~$17/asset/mo, 500-asset min |
| Response authority | 1/6 actions · Configurable | 6/6 actions · Configurable |
| Stack | Works with existing stack | Requires own platform |
| Data access | Dashboards | Full query access |
| Warranty | None listed | $1,000,000 |
- 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
- Best fit
- Mid-market to enterprise organizations (500+ assets) wanting full SIEM data transparency alongside MDR
- Price
- Est from ~$17/asset/mo, 500-asset min
- Response authority
- 6/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Requires own platform
- Data access
- Full query access
- Warranty
- $1,000,000
›› Detailed comparison
| FIELD | NorthwaveTECH-AGNOSTIC | Rapid7PLATFORM |
|---|---|---|
| ›› Fit | ||
| Target size | Mid-market, Enterprise | Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Mixed | Positive |
| ›› Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Requires their platform |
| EDR integrations | Customer endpoint telemetry | Rapid7 Insight AgentCarbon BlackCisco Secure EndpointCrowdStrikeMicrosoft DefenderSentinelOnePalo Alto CortexCybereasonTrend Micro |
| SIEM integrations | Customer log sources | InsightIDR |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: LimitedIDIdentity: LimitedSaaSSaaS: Not coveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: CoveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Not covered |
| ›› Response | ||
| Response type | Active Remediation | Active Remediation |
| Approval policy | Configurable | Configurable |
| Response actions | Custom playbooks | IsolateKill processContainDisable accountsQuarantineCustom playbooks |
| IR included | Separate | ✓ Included |
| ›› Cost | ||
| Price range | Not published | Third-party estimate: starting ~$17/asset/month. Mid-market deployments typically $60K-$80K/year. Enterprise $150K+/year. |
| Minimum seats | None | 500 |
| Breach warranty | – | $1,000,000 |
| ›› More details | ||
| Requires own agent | No | Yes |
| Endpoints | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Cloud workloads | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| Identity | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| SaaS apps | Not offered | ✓ Included |
| Network | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| OT/ICS | + Optional | Not offered |
| Threat hunting | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Response SLA | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Custom quote. Northwave does not publish MDR package pricing. | Per-asset monthly pricing. Three tiers: Essential, Advanced, Ultimate. Managed Threat Complete (MTC) bundles MDR + SIEM + VM + SOAR. MDR Elite available as standalone MDR service. |
| Hidden cost warnings | 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. | Requires Rapid7 Insight Agent on 80%+ of supported assets, minimum 500 assets. Breach warranty and unlimited DFIR only available on Ultimate tier. Essential tier has no dedicated cybersecurity advisors (Support Center only). Custom event sources and custom detections only on Advanced/Ultimate tiers |
| Data portability | Partial | Partial |
| Contract terms | Custom | Annual, Multi-year |
| Channels | PortalEmailPhone | SlackEmailPortalPhone |
| Data access | Dashboards | Full query access |
| Dedicated analyst | – | ✓ |
| SOC regions | Europe | North AmericaEuropeAsia-Pacific |
| Onboarding | 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. | Weeks, varies by environment size and Insight Agent deployment scope |
| Industry focus | Financial ServicesHealthcareManufacturingLogisticsTechnologyPublic SectorCritical Infrastructure | ManufacturingHealthcareFinancial ServicesTechnologyRetail |
| MTTD | Not published | No absolute MTTD published. Comparative claim: 63% faster than in-house SOC teams. |
| MTTR | Not published | Not published |
| Community view | 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. | PeerSpot 8.6/10 (MDR). Gartner SIEM MQ recognized 7th year (2025). MITRE 2023: all 19 Turla attack phases detected. Praised for data transparency and analyst pod familiarity. Company underwent 18% layoffs in Aug 2023, explored PE sale in Q4 2024 (no deal), Jana Partners activist investor added 3 board seats in 2025. Revenue $860M (FY2025), guidance for 2026 slightly lower ($835-843M). |
| Compliance | NIS2ISO 27001GDPRTISAX | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001GDPRCyber Essentials PlusFedRAMP Moderate (InsightGovCloud) |
| Certifications | – | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001Cyber Essentials PlusFedRAMP Moderate (InsightGovCloud Platform) |
| Founded | 2006 | 2000 |
| Data retention | Not published as a standard MDR retention period. | 13 months |
| API available | – | ✓ |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
›› FAQ
What is the main difference between Northwave and Rapid7?
Northwave is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Rapid7 is a Platform vendor that is platform-native (requires their own security stack). Northwave covers 2 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 5 for Rapid7.
How do Northwave and Rapid7 differ in response capabilities?
Northwave supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Rapid7 supports 6 autonomous actions (account disable, custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, file quarantine, network containment, process termination) and approval is configurable. Incident response is not included with Northwave and included with Rapid7.
How does Northwave pricing compare to Rapid7?
Northwave pricing: Not published. Rapid7 pricing: Third-party estimate: starting ~$17/asset/month. Mid-market deployments typically $60K-$80K/year. Enterprise $150K+/year. (500-seat minimum). 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.. Watch for with Rapid7: Requires Rapid7 Insight Agent on 80%+ of supported assets, minimum 500 assets; Breach warranty and unlimited DFIR only available on Ultimate tier.
Should I choose Northwave or Rapid7?
Choose Northwave if: benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC. Choose Rapid7 if: mid-market to enterprise organizations (500+ assets) wanting full SIEM data transparency alongside MDR. Northwave is not ideal for buyers that need public MDR pricing or response SLAs before engaging sales. Rapid7 is not ideal for organizations with fewer than 500 assets (minimum requirement).
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.