# Managed detection and response for enterprise buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Gane Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "MDR service" and as "managed detection and response provider", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of an enterprise B2B company. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/managed-detection-and-response/2026-10/enterprise

This is the permanent record of the October 2026 Edition, published October 1, 2026 and superseded since. The current standing: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/security/managed-detection-and-response/enterprise/index.md

**Standing:** CrowdStrike Falcon Complete leads with 35% of first choices; verdict contested. 55 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [CrowdStrike Falcon Complete](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/crowdstrike-falcon-complete/index.md) | 35% | 7% | 43 |
| 2 | [Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/arctic-wolf-managed-detection-and-response/index.md) | 18% | 3% | 38 |
| 3 | [Expel MDR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/expel-mdr/index.md) | 9% | 0% | 21 |
| 4 | [CrowdStrike](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/crowdstrike/index.md) | 7% | 0% | 12 |
| 5 | [Rapid7 MDR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/rapid7-mdr/index.md) | 5% | 0% | 21 |
| 6 | [Unit 42 Managed Detection and Response](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/unit-42-managed-detection-and-response/index.md) | 5% | 0% | 17 |
| 8 | [eSentire MDR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/esentire-mdr/index.md) | 2% | 0% | 17 |
| 9 | [Sophos MDR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sophos-mdr/index.md) | 2% | 12% | 25 |
| 10 | [Red Canary](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/red-canary/index.md) | 2% | 6% | 16 |
| 17 | [SentinelOne Singularity MDR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/sentinelone-singularity-mdr/index.md) | 0% | 6% | 18 |
| 18 | [Huntress Managed EDR](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/huntress-managed-edr/index.md) | 0% | 17% | 12 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 65 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: CrowdStrike's Falcon Complete, Expel MDR; alternatives Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Red Canary
- GPT-5.4 mini: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Expel Managed Detection and Response; alternatives eSentire Atlas Complete / Advanced
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Expel Managed Detection and Response; alternatives Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, BlueVoyant, Ontinue, Red Canary
- Perplexity Sonar: Unit 42 Managed Detection and Response; alternatives Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, CrowdStrike Falcon Complete
- Grok 4.20: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete; alternatives Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Sophos MDR
- Mistral Small: eSentire MDR; alternatives Bitdefender MDR, CrowdStrike Falcon Complete
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Rapid7 MDR; alternatives SentinelOne Vigilance Respond, Sophos MDR
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: CrowdStrike; alternatives Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Darktrace, Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR, Secureworks Taegis ManagedXDR
- Kimi K2: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, CrowdStrike Falcon Complete; alternatives Unit 42 Managed Detection and Response
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: ReliaQuest GreyMatter; alternatives IBM MDR, Kroll, Sophos MDR, eSentire MDR
- MiniMax M2.5: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete; alternatives Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Red Canary, Unit 42 Managed Detection and Response
- GPT-6 Luna: Expel MDR; alternatives CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, CrowdStrike Falcon Complete; alternatives Sophos MDR, eSentire MDR

## Sources the answers cite

77 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- huntress.com: 38 answers, 40 citations
- mdrproviders.io: 34 answers, 46 citations
- rapid7.com: 28 answers, 34 citations
- intezer.com: 28 answers, 31 citations
- expel.com: 25 answers, 33 citations
- cynet.com: 24 answers, 35 citations
- kaseya.com: 23 answers, 23 citations
- crowdstrike.com: 22 answers, 42 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://huntress.com/cybersecurity-insights/managed-detection-response-vendors (38 answers)
- https://mdrproviders.io/providers/size/enterprise (30 answers)
- https://kaseya.com/blog/best-mdr-providers (23 answers)
- https://intezer.com/guides/mdr-providers (22 answers)
- https://rapid7.com/fundamentals/top-mdr-providers (21 answers)
- https://cynet.com/security-foundations/managed-detection-and-response/mdr-solutions-why-they-are-critical-and-how-to-choose (19 answers)
- https://channelinsider.com/security/tools-and-platforms/mdr-services (18 answers)
- https://learn.g2.com/top-mdr-providers (16 answers)
- https://acquisition-international.com/the-best-mdr-services-for-enterprise-security-teams-in-2026 (14 answers)
- https://expertinsights.com/endpoint-security/the-top-managed-detection-and-response-mdr-solutions (14 answers)

## Warned against

- Sophos MDR: 3 of 25 labels negative. "What to Avoid for Predictability - Huntress or Sophos MDR" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- CrowdStrike Falcon Complete: 3 of 43 labels negative. "the model remains per-device and custom quoted, which is why enterprise MDR providers typically quote $50,000 to $150,000 per year with 3-year contracts" (Muse Glimmer 30B, budget prompt)
- Huntress Managed EDR: 2 of 12 labels negative. "What to Avoid for Predictability - Huntress or Sophos MDR" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- Splunk: 1 of 1 labels negative. "Any MDR whose price is per-GB of log ingestion (e.g., raw Splunk-based services)" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete at 36%.

- Rapid7 MDR: 0% to 6%, +6. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 14 → 4 of 59.
- Unit 42 Managed Detection and Response: 0% to 6%, +6. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 13 → 5 of 59.
- Expel MDR: 10% to 4%, −6. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 3 → 6 of 59.
- Red Canary: 7% to 2%, −5. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 5 → 10 of 59.
- Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response: 20% to 17%, −3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 2 of 59, unchanged.
- eSentire MDR: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 17 → 9 of 59.
- Huntress Managed EDR: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 9 → 18 of 59.
- Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 7 → 19 of 59.
- CrowdStrike Falcon Complete: 37% to 36%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 1 of 59, unchanged.
- CrowdStrike: 10% to 9%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 4 → 3 of 59.
- Sophos MDR: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 6 → 8 of 59.
- SentinelOne Singularity MDR: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 15 → 16 of 59.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, October 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.