Ontinue vs Sapphire
Ontinue is a Microsoft-ecosystem that works with your existing tools. Sapphire is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Ontinue targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Sapphire serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Ontinue includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 4 for Sapphire (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Network).
Buyer brief
Ontinue is a Microsoft-ecosystem that works with your existing tools. Sapphire is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Ontinue targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Sapphire serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Ontinue includes 5 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network), compared to 4 for Sapphire (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Network).
Ontinue (Microsoft-ecosystem) and Sapphire (Services firm) serve different buyer profiles. Your decision depends on whether you prioritize Ontinue's microsoft-native mxdr with 99.5% ai-automated incident resolution and teams-based collaboration or Sapphire's sapphire mdr is strongest for uk buyers that value local ownership, a crest-accredited uk soc and....
At a glance
| FIELD |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Organizations heavily invested in Microsoft E5/Defender ecosystem | UK organisations that want MDR from a UK-owned provider with a UK-based CREST-accredited SOC |
| Price | Not published | Custom quote |
| Response authority | 6/6 actions · Configurable | 1/6 actions · Configurable |
| Stack | Works with existing stack | Works with existing stack |
| Data access | Full query access | Dashboards |
| Warranty | None listed | None listed |
- Best fit
- Organizations heavily invested in Microsoft E5/Defender ecosystem
- Price
- Not published
- Response authority
- 6/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Full query access
- 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 | OntinueTECH-AGNOSTIC | SapphireTECH-AGNOSTIC |
|---|---|---|
| ›› Fit | ||
| Target size | Mid-market, Enterprise | SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Very Positive | Mixed |
| ›› Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Works with your tools |
| EDR integrations | Microsoft Defender for EndpointMicrosoft Defender 365 XDR | EDR toolsMicrosoft technologies |
| SIEM integrations | Microsoft Sentinel | 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 | IsolateKill processContainDisable accountsQuarantineCustom playbooks | Custom playbooks |
| IR included | ✓ Included | ✓ 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 | ✓ 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 | Per-user or per-asset subscription | Custom quote. Sapphire does not publish MDR package pricing. |
| Hidden cost warnings | Requires Microsoft E5 or Defender licenses as prerequisite. Microsoft Sentinel consumption costs are separate and usage-based. Add-on services (vulnerability mitigation, IoT, phishing) increase total cost | 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 | Full | Partial |
| Contract terms | Annual, Multi-year | Custom |
| Channels | TeamsEmailPortalPhone | PortalEmailPhone |
| Data access | Full query access | Dashboards |
| Dedicated analyst | ✓ | – |
| SOC regions | North AmericaEuropeAsia-Pacific | Europe |
| Onboarding | 1-5 days for 24/7 coverage, 10 days fully operational | Sapphire references onboarding and implementation that can be shorter than expected, but no standard public MDR onboarding timeline was found. |
| Industry focus | Financial ServicesHealthcareManufacturingTechnologyProfessional Services | Public SectorDefenceFinancial ServicesProfessional ServicesIndustrialsManufacturingOperational TechnologyHealthcare |
| MTTD | Not published | Not published |
| MTTR | Up to 50% reduction in mean time to investigate via Autonomous Investigator (vendor-published) | Not published |
| Community view | Gartner Peer Insights 4.8/5 (22 eligible reviews, 65 total ratings) with 97% willingness to recommend. Gartner Strong Performer in VoC for MDR 2024. Praised for Microsoft expertise and Teams-based collaboration. | 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 | ISO 27001ISO 27017ISO 27018 | ISO 27001NISTHIPAADORACyber Essentials PlusCRESTGDPRPCI DSS |
| Certifications | Microsoft Cloud Security Advanced Specialization (one of ~50 Microsoft partners worldwide)Microsoft Threat Protection CertificationMicrosoft-verified MXDR Service ProviderISO 27001ISO 27017ISO 27018 | CREST SOCCREST Penetration TestingCyber Essentials PlusISO 27001 |
| Founded | 2023 | 1996 |
| Data retention | Not publicly disclosed. Data resides in customer's own Sentinel instance. | Not published as a standard MDR retention period. |
| API available | ✓ | – |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
›› FAQ
What is the main difference between Ontinue and Sapphire?
Ontinue is a Microsoft-ecosystem that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Sapphire is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Ontinue covers 5 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 4 for Sapphire.
How do Ontinue and Sapphire differ in response capabilities?
Ontinue supports 6 autonomous actions (account disable, custom playbooks, endpoint isolation, file quarantine, network containment, process termination) and approval is configurable. Sapphire supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable.
How does Ontinue pricing compare to Sapphire?
Ontinue pricing: Custom-quoted pricing. Sapphire pricing: Not published. Watch for with Ontinue: Requires Microsoft E5 or Defender licenses as prerequisite; Microsoft Sentinel consumption costs are separate and usage-based. 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 Ontinue or Sapphire?
Choose Ontinue if: organizations heavily invested in Microsoft E5/Defender ecosystem. Choose Sapphire if: uK organisations that want MDR from a UK-owned provider with a UK-based CREST-accredited SOC. Ontinue is not ideal for organizations using non-Microsoft EDR (CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, etc.). 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.