Managed detection and response · November 2026 Edition
Sophos MDR vs Expel MDR
Four of fourteen models named Sophos MDR first on the direct prompt; three named Expel MDR. Sophos MDR was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Expel MDR by thirteen and Sophos MDR carries 54 labels and Expel MDR 35, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in three categories this edition.
Named in one category this edition.
First-choice share12%12%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate7%3%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#3#4A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels5435A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Sophos MDR reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response was named alongside these two in thirteen of the fourteen direct answers. Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response vs Sophos MDR · Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response vs Expel MDR · Huntress Managed EDR vs Sophos MDR
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the managed detection and response page.
By framing
How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Sophos MDRFirst choices, of fourteen modelsExpel MDR
Direct43
Paraphrase23
Comparative00
Budget-constrained002 against Sophos MDR · 1 against Expel MDR
Scale-constrained00
Negative012 against Sophos MDR
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.
Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Sophos MDR and Expel MDR were named in the same answer seventy-two times, of the 162 answers naming Sophos MDR and the 92 naming Expel MDR. In those answers Expel MDR took the first choice two times and Sophos MDR six.
Every model, every framing
The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Sophos MDR and Expel MDR stood in it.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | | | |
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | | | ||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | ||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | ||
| Grok 4.20 | | | | | ||
| Mistral Small | | | | |||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | ||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | |||
| Kimi K2 | | | | | | |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-6 Luna | | | ||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | | | | |
Sophos MDR Expel MDR first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Sophos MDR on the left and Expel MDR on the right.The direct prompt
The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Sophos MDR and Expel MDR stood in it.
Both were the first choice
2 of 14 modelsThe answer named them together, and the judge labeled each a first choice.GLM 4.7 FlashXExpel MDR, Sophos MDR alternatives: Cynet 360, ESET PROTECT MDR
GPT-6 LunaExpel MDR, Sophos MDR alternatives: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, CrowdStrike Falcon Complete
Sophos MDR first, Expel MDR an alternative
2 of 14 modelsExpel MDR was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Grok 4.20Sophos MDR alternatives: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, eSentire MDR
DeepSeek V4 FlashArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Sophos MDR alternatives: Expel MDR, Huntress Managed EDR, Red Canary
Expel MDR first, Sophos MDR an alternative
1 of 14 modelsSophos MDR was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Gemini 3.5 FlashArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Expel MDR alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Huntress Managed EDR, Red Canary, Sophos MDR
Neither was the first choice, one was named
9 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Claude Haiku 4.5Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: Rapid7 MDR, Sophos MDR, eSentire MDR
GPT-5.4 miniArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, CrowdStrike Falcon Complete alternatives: Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR, Rapid7 MDR, Sophos MDR
Perplexity SonarArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: CrowdStrike, Expel MDR, Red Canary, SentinelOne Singularity MDR, Sophos MDR
Mistral SmallArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: Huntress Managed EDR, Sophos MDR
Llama 4 MaverickArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: Huntress Managed EDR, Sophos MDR, SubRosa
Qwen 3.7 FlashArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: BlueVoyant, Expel MDR, Huntress Managed EDR, eSentire MDR
Kimi K2Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: ESET PROTECT MDR, Expel MDR, Rapid7 MDR, Sophos MDR
MiniMax M2.5Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Huntress Managed EDR alternatives: Sophos MDR
Muse Glimmer 30BArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Expel MDR, Red Canary, Sophos MDR, eSentire MDR
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Sophos MDR leads by two points.
Sophos MDR2%#2 of 10Expel MDR0%#7 of 10Mid-marketThe figures above
Level: the same share of first choices.
Sophos MDR12%#3 of 11Expel MDR12%#4 of 11Enterprise
Sophos MDR leads by two points.
Sophos MDR7%#4 of 13Expel MDR4%#5 of 13What the models said about Sophos MDR
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.
“multiple sources note it can be expensive for smaller organizations, so it's usually better if you can stretch the budget a bit” GPT-5.4 mini · budget prompt · soft negative
“Expensive, especially for smaller organizations... Communication issues — slow response times and overwhelming alert volumes” DeepSeek V4 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Sophos MDR has solid endpoint protection but multi-console workflows and manual triage slow response.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“I'd put Expel and Sophos MDR on the shortlist—not declare one universal winner.” GPT-6 Luna · direct prompt · first choice
“I'd recommend starting with Sophos MDR or CrowdStrike Falcon Complete” GLM 4.7 FlashX · paraphrase prompt · first choice
What the models said about Expel MDR
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“Avoid "enterprise-tier" providers on a budget: ... Expel, and Red Canary” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · hard negative
“Best For: Companies with a modern cloud/SaaS-heavy stack looking for complete transparency and a "Bring Your Own Tool" (BYOT) strategy.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“CrowdStrike Falcon OverWatch or Expel MDR are top recommendations” Mistral Small · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“choose Expel for a heterogeneous stack and operational transparency” GPT-6 Luna · direct prompt · first choice
Also compared
Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response vs Sophos MDRArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response vs Expel MDRHuntress Managed EDR vs Sophos MDRHuntress Managed EDR vs Expel MDRSophos MDR vs CrowdStrike Falcon CompleteSophos MDR vs Red CanarySophos MDR vs Rapid7 MDRSophos MDR vs CrowdStrikeExpel MDR vs CrowdStrike Falcon CompleteExpel MDR vs Red CanaryExpel MDR vs Rapid7 MDRExpel MDR vs CrowdStrikeAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full MDR standing
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.