Northwave vs Sapphire
Northwave and Sapphire are both Services firms that work with your existing tools. Northwave targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations, while Sapphire serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Northwave includes 2 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Network), compared to 4 for Sapphire (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Network).
Buyer brief
Northwave and Sapphire are both Services firms that work with your existing tools. Northwave targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations, while Sapphire serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Northwave includes 2 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Network), compared to 4 for Sapphire (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Network).
Sapphire offers broader coverage (4 surfaces vs. 2). Northwave may suit teams that need depth over breadth.
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC | UK organisations that want MDR from a UK-owned provider with a UK-based CREST-accredited SOC |
| Price | Custom quote | Custom quote |
| Response authority | 1/6 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
- 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
- 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 | NorthwaveTECH-AGNOSTIC | SapphireTECH-AGNOSTIC |
|---|---|---|
| ›› Fit | ||
| Target size | Mid-market, Enterprise | SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Mixed | Mixed |
| ›› Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Works with your tools |
| EDR integrations | Customer endpoint telemetry | EDR toolsMicrosoft technologies |
| SIEM integrations | Customer log sources | ExabeamSIEM tools |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: LimitedIDIdentity: LimitedSaaSSaaS: Not 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 | Custom playbooks | Custom playbooks |
| IR included | Separate | ✓ Included |
| ›› 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 | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| Identity | ~ Limited | ~ Limited |
| SaaS apps | Not offered | ✓ Included |
| Network | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| OT/ICS | + Optional | + Optional |
| Threat hunting | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Response SLA | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Custom quote. Northwave does not publish MDR package pricing. | Custom quote. Sapphire does not publish MDR package pricing. |
| 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. | 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 | Custom |
| Channels | PortalEmailPhone | PortalEmailPhone |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Dedicated analyst | – | – |
| SOC regions | Europe | Europe |
| 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. | Sapphire references onboarding and implementation that can be shorter than expected, but no standard public MDR onboarding timeline was found. |
| Industry focus | Financial ServicesHealthcareManufacturingLogisticsTechnologyPublic SectorCritical Infrastructure | Public SectorDefenceFinancial ServicesProfessional ServicesIndustrialsManufacturingOperational TechnologyHealthcare |
| MTTD | Not published | Not published |
| 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. | 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 | NIS2ISO 27001GDPRTISAX | ISO 27001NISTHIPAADORACyber Essentials PlusCRESTGDPRPCI DSS |
| Certifications | – | CREST SOCCREST Penetration TestingCyber Essentials PlusISO 27001 |
| Founded | 2006 | 1996 |
| Data retention | Not published as a standard MDR retention period. | Not published as a standard MDR retention period. |
| API available | – | – |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
›› FAQ
What is the main difference between Northwave and Sapphire?
Northwave 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). Northwave covers 2 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 4 for Sapphire.
How do Northwave and Sapphire differ in response capabilities?
Northwave supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Sapphire supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Incident response is not included with Northwave and included with Sapphire.
How does Northwave pricing compare to Sapphire?
Northwave pricing: Not published. Sapphire pricing: Not published. 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 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 Northwave or Sapphire?
Choose Northwave if: benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC. Choose Sapphire if: uK organisations that want MDR from a UK-owned provider with a UK-based CREST-accredited SOC. Northwave is not ideal for buyers that need public MDR pricing or response SLAs before engaging sales. 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.