Northwave vs Trend Micro
Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Trend Micro is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Northwave targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Trend Micro serves Mid-market and Enterprise. Northwave includes 2 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Network), compared to 5 for Trend Micro (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
Buyer brief
Northwave is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Trend Micro is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Northwave targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Trend Micro serves Mid-market and Enterprise. Northwave includes 2 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Network), compared to 5 for Trend Micro (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
Trend Micro 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 and enterprise organizations (251+ users) already invested in Trend Micro ecosystem |
| Price | Custom quote | Custom quote |
| 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 | 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
- Mid-market and enterprise organizations (251+ users) already invested in Trend Micro ecosystem
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 6/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Requires own platform
- Data access
- Full query access
- Warranty
- None listed
›› Detailed comparison
| FIELD | NorthwaveTECH-AGNOSTIC | Trend MicroPLATFORM |
|---|---|---|
| ›› 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 | Trend Micro |
| SIEM integrations | Customer log sources | SplunkMicrosoft Sentinel |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: LimitedIDIdentity: LimitedSaaSSaaS: Not coveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: CoveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Optional add-on |
| ›› Response | ||
| Response type | Active Remediation | Active Remediation |
| Approval policy | Configurable | Configurable |
| Response actions | Custom playbooks | IsolateKill processContainDisable accountsQuarantineCustom playbooks |
| IR included | Separate | Separate |
| ›› Cost | ||
| Price range | Not published | Not publicly disclosed. Custom pricing via quote. |
| Minimum seats | None | 251 |
| Breach warranty | – | – |
| ›› 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 | + 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. | Credit-based system under 12-month contract. Tiered pricing by user count (251-500, 501-1,000, 1,001-2,000). Credits drawn down monthly. PAYG available for additional usage beyond credits. |
| 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. | Minimum 251 users eliminates small businesses. Best performance requires full Trend Vision One stack. Third-party EDR integration is less effective.. Extended data retention (beyond 30 days) costs extra, up to 365 days available. Credit model means unused credits expire at contract end unless moved to other Trend solutions |
| Data portability | Partial | Partial |
| Contract terms | Custom | Annual, PAYG |
| Channels | PortalEmailPhone | EmailPortalPhone |
| 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. | Requires Vision One deployment before MDR onboarding. Specific timeline not published. |
| Industry focus | Financial ServicesHealthcareManufacturingLogisticsTechnologyPublic SectorCritical Infrastructure | Financial ServicesHealthcareManufacturingGovernmentEnergy |
| 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. | Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for 20 consecutive years in endpoint protection. Vision One rated 8.6/10 on PeerSpot, ranked #2 in XDR. MITRE ATT&CK 2024: 100% detection with 86% actionable rate. Praised for unified visibility and platform breadth. Criticized for requiring Trend platform commitment and pooled analyst model. |
| Compliance | NIS2ISO 27001GDPRTISAX | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001FedRAMPHIPAAGDPR |
| Certifications | – | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001FedRAMPGartner Magic Quadrant Leader (Endpoint Protection, 20 consecutive years)MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations participant (2024) |
| Founded | 2006 | 1988 |
| Data retention | Not published as a standard MDR retention period. | 30 days default for raw data, up to 365 days with extended storage. Alert workbenches retained 180 days. |
| API available | – | ✓ |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
›› FAQ
What is the main difference between Northwave and Trend Micro?
Northwave is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Trend Micro is a Platform vendor that is platform-native (requires their own security stack). Northwave covers 2 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 5 for Trend Micro.
How do Northwave and Trend Micro differ in response capabilities?
Northwave supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Trend Micro supports 6 autonomous actions (account disable, custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, file quarantine, network containment, process termination) and approval is configurable.
How does Northwave pricing compare to Trend Micro?
Northwave pricing: Not published. Trend Micro pricing: Not publicly disclosed. Custom pricing via quote. (251-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 Trend Micro: Minimum 251 users eliminates small businesses; Best performance requires full Trend Vision One stack. Third-party EDR integration is less effective..
Should I choose Northwave or Trend Micro?
Choose Northwave if: benelux, DACH and Nordic buyers that want European MDR with a Utrecht SOC. Choose Trend Micro if: mid-market and enterprise organizations (251+ users) already invested in Trend Micro ecosystem. Northwave is not ideal for buyers that need public MDR pricing or response SLAs before engaging sales. Trend Micro is not ideal for small businesses under 251 users (minimum requirement eliminates SMBs).
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.