Performanta vs Sophos
Performanta is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Sophos is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Performanta targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Sophos serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Performanta includes 2 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Identity), compared to 5 for Sophos (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
Buyer brief
Performanta is a Services firm that works with your existing tools. Sophos is a Platform vendor that requires its own security platform. Performanta targets Mid-market and Enterprise organizations; Sophos serves SMB, Mid-market, and Enterprise. Performanta includes 2 attack surfaces in base pricing (Endpoint, Identity), compared to 5 for Sophos (Endpoint, Cloud, SaaS, Identity, Network).
Sophos is the choice if you want a single-vendor stack with deep integration. Performanta is better if you have existing tools and want flexibility.
At a glance
| FIELD | ||
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Buyers already committed to Microsoft Defender and Sentinel that want a services firm to manage detection and response | Existing Sophos endpoint or firewall customers adding managed services on their existing platform |
| 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 | Dashboards |
| Warranty | None listed | $1,000,000 |
- Best fit
- Buyers already committed to Microsoft Defender and Sentinel that want a services firm to manage detection and response
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 1/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Works with existing stack
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- None listed
- Best fit
- Existing Sophos endpoint or firewall customers adding managed services on their existing platform
- Price
- Custom quote
- Response authority
- 6/6 actions · Configurable
- Stack
- Requires own platform
- Data access
- Dashboards
- Warranty
- $1,000,000
Detailed comparison
| FIELD | PerformantaTECH-AGNOSTIC | SophosPLATFORM |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | ||
| Target size | Mid-market, Enterprise | SMB, Mid-market, Enterprise |
| Sentiment | Mixed | Very Positive |
| Your stack | ||
| Approach | Works with your tools | Requires their platform |
| EDR integrations | Microsoft Defender | Sophos EndpointCrowdStrikeSentinelOneCarbon Black Microsoft Defender |
| SIEM integrations | Microsoft Sentinel | Sophos Central SIEM integration via API |
| Coverage | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: LimitedIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: LimitedNetNetwork: LimitedOTOT/IoT: Not covered | EPEndpoint: CoveredCloudCloud: CoveredIDIdentity: CoveredSaaSSaaS: CoveredNetNetwork: CoveredOTOT/IoT: Limited |
| 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 | Custom quote required. Tiered pricing bands based on organization size. Starting price not publicly disclosed. |
| Minimum seats | None | None |
| Breach warranty | – | $1,000,000 |
| More details | ||
| Requires own agent | No | Yes |
| Endpoints | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Cloud workloads | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| Identity | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| SaaS apps | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| Network | ~ Limited | ✓ Included |
| OT/ICS | Not offered | ~ Limited |
| Threat hunting | ✓ Included | ✓ Included |
| Response SLA | Not disclosed | ≤1 hour |
| 24/7 coverage | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Custom quote. Performanta does not publish MDR, Safe XDR or managed SOC package pricing. | Per-user and per-server pricing. Two tiers: MDR Essentials (monitoring and basic response) and MDR Complete (full IR and breach warranty). |
| Hidden cost warnings | Public pages do not publish MDR pricing, contract minimums or service-credit language.. The explicit MDR offer is tied to Defender for Endpoint, so Microsoft licensing and customer tenant readiness can drive total cost.. Public pages do not define default MDR response authority, so buyers need the managed-technology boundary in writing.. Cloud and SaaS coverage appear tied to Microsoft security controls and Safe XDR scope, so non-Microsoft telemetry should be confirmed early.. Incident response is listed as a consulting service, so buyers should confirm what is included in MDR versus a separate incident-response engagement. | MDR Essentials does NOT include full incident response or breach warranty, requires MDR Complete upgrade. Linux server protection requires separate Sophos Workload Protection subscription. Post-Secureworks acquisition (Feb 2025): unclear if Sophos MDR and Taegis MDR will merge or remain separate products. Breach warranty limited to ONE claim total across all subscriptions, not per-incident |
| Data portability | Partial | Partial |
| Contract terms | Custom, Managed SOC, Safe XDR, MDR for Defender for Endpoint | Annual, Multi-year |
| Channels | PortalEmailPhone | EmailPortalPhone |
| Data access | Dashboards | Dashboards |
| Dedicated analyst | – | ✓ |
| SOC regions | EuropeAfrica | North AmericaEuropeAsia-Pacific |
| Onboarding | Not published. Performanta describes scoping, discovery, prioritisation, validation and mobilisation stages for Safe XDR, but no standard implementation duration was found. | Weeks, varies by environment size and integration scope |
| Industry focus | Financial ServicesEducationHealthcareGovernmentRetailProfessional ServicesAgricultureTelecommunicationsManufacturingTransportationTourism | ManufacturingHealthcareFinancial ServicesRetailTechnology |
| MTTD | Not published | Not published |
| MTTR | Not published | Sophos reports a 38-minute average case closure time. The MDR service description defines a 60-minute response-time SLA for 90% of High Severity Cases, with eligibility timing and service-credit limits. |
| Community view | No meaningful MDR-specific buyer-review signal was found in major English-language review communities during this pass. The public buyer case rests on Performanta's Microsoft security focus, UK and South Africa SOC operations, Safe XDR platform, threat-hunting process and incident-response consulting depth. Buyers should validate pricing, response authority, non-Microsoft telemetry support and exact incident-response inclusion directly. | G2: #1 overall MDR for 14 consecutive report cycles, 1,543 reviews, 95% satisfaction. Gartner Peer Insights: 2026 Customers' Choice for Endpoint Protection (4.9/5). MITRE ATT&CK 2025: 100% detection coverage. Praised for integration breadth and MDR Complete's all-in pricing. Recurring complaints about technical support responsiveness and endpoint agent resource usage. |
| Compliance | – | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001:2022ISO 27017:2015ISO 27018:2019PCI DSS v4.0GDPRHIPAAHITRUST CSF |
| Certifications | – | SOC 2 Type IIISO 27001:2022ISO 27017:2015ISO 27018:2019PCI DSS v4.0 |
| Founded | 2010 | 1985 |
| Data retention | Not published. Performanta says it monitors customer environments and SIEM platforms, but no standard public MDR log-retention period or data-residency term was found. | 90 days standard, 1-year extended available as add-on |
| API available | – | ✓ |
| Website | Visit → | Visit → |
FAQ
What is the main difference between Performanta and Sophos?
Performanta is a Services firm that is technology-agnostic (works with your existing tools). Sophos is a Platform vendor that is platform-native (requires their own security stack). SLA commitments differ: Performanta offers Not disclosed, Sophos offers ≤1 hour. Performanta covers 2 attack surfaces in base pricing vs. 5 for Sophos.
How do Performanta and Sophos differ in response capabilities?
Performanta supports 1 autonomous actions (custom playbooks) and approval is configurable. Sophos 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 Performanta and included with Sophos.
How does Performanta pricing compare to Sophos?
Performanta pricing: Not published. Sophos pricing: Custom quote required. Tiered pricing bands based on organization size. Starting price not publicly disclosed.. Watch for with Performanta: Public pages do not publish MDR pricing, contract minimums or service-credit language.; The explicit MDR offer is tied to Defender for Endpoint, so Microsoft licensing and customer tenant readiness can drive total cost.. Watch for with Sophos: MDR Essentials does NOT include full incident response or breach warranty, requires MDR Complete upgrade; Linux server protection requires separate Sophos Workload Protection subscription.
Should I choose Performanta or Sophos?
Choose Performanta if: buyers already committed to Microsoft Defender and Sentinel that want a services firm to manage detection and response. Choose Sophos if: existing Sophos endpoint or firewall customers adding managed services on their existing platform. Performanta is not ideal for buyers that need public MDR pricing before sales. Sophos is not ideal for organizations needing raw telemetry query access (Sophos Central provides dashboards only).
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.