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Fortra's Alert Logic MDR vs Sophos MDR comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Fortra's Alert Logic MDR
Ranking in Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
19th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (28th), SOC as a Service (4th)
Sophos MDR
Ranking in Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Managed Detection and Response (MDR) category, the mindshare of Fortra's Alert Logic MDR is 1.2%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sophos MDR is 6.0%, down from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2191746 - PeerSpot reviewer
It's a highly mature, competitively priced solution that provides total visibility into your ecosystem. FORTRA's Alert Logic has the only Cybersecurity Platform that integrates XDR+WAF+VM+DLP in one.
Alert Logic offers total visibility into the client's IT ecosystem. The solution's intrusion detection system inspects 100 percent of the network packets and installs universal agents on all physical and virtual servers for log collection. Alert Logic also aggregates logs of the client's various 3rd Party security tools into a single pane of glass. All of the analytics from those data feeds got to a 24/7 SOC with sophisticated resources. Alert Logic has massive threat intelligence resources to provide additional context to the incident response declarations. They do all the heavy lifting for clients who lack the technology and resources to operate their own SOC. The client is solely responsible for the incident response component. The macro analytics resides on Alert Logic's cloud. You have the ECM response and business application team on the client side. Everything works in tandem, which is the only way you can deal with the advanced threats we face today, especially the ransomware families. If you don't respond in minutes, you're in trouble.
Shaun Gordon - PeerSpot reviewer
Extensive data lake, ease of use is great and you can really get started very quickly
Sophos MDR is a service. MDR is managed detection and response. It's a managed security service. So instead of having an anti-malware, which in Sophos' case would be Intercept X, with MDR, they add human-led threat hunting. It's a managed service. So it's not a product that you sell the client per se. You're selling them a service, which is almost like an SLA, and that includes Cloud MDR. MDR is not a product. It's a service. The reality is that when it comes to the likes of SentinelOne, McAfee, CrowdStrike, ESET, and all the other players out there, they're single-product security companies. CrowdStrike is an anti-malware. That's one thing. ESET, same thing. But if you look at the other vendors, within the appliances, you're looking at Fortinet, Palo Alto, and Checkpoint. They only sell firewalls. That's all they do. When you deal with Sophos, they are the entire product suite. They sell firewalls. They sell Intercept X, which is their anti-malware, Intercept X for Server with anti-malware, email protection with ties into Office 365, and Sophos Plus encryption. All of these security products pull telemetry. So every time somebody hits a firewall, it's called, for argument's sake, that goes into their central data lake. All the firewalls around the world add that information to a data lake. Now, when you're dealing with Sophos, because of their exposure, because they've got so many different products, their data lake is a lot more extensive than competing vendors because they're not relying on one threat factor. They're not relying on one area of expertise. They're a global company. So, I can't compare their telemetry, for instance, to the likes of CrowdStrike. If CrowdStrike has probably started doing appliances, then the users will get that benefit as well. Sophos is the only vendor that does do that. It's like hiring a security team. Sophos do things differently in that they've got more telemetry and more insight into a network because they offer a variety of products. The other part about it is Sophos MDR; the service, unlike other vendors like CrowdStrike, is not limited to their products. If you are running CrowdStrike in your company, for instance, you can get their integration packs, in which case Sophos will manage your CrowdStrike system for you. Whereas with CrowdStrike, it's only CrowdStrike. You are locked into that vendor. So Sophos offers that flexibility. It's a multi-vendor service as opposed to SentinelOne or CrowdStrike, which is a single-vendor service. For instance, if I'm running Sophos, I would like to go with CrowdStrike MDR. I would have to remove my entire security investment, in this case, Sophos, and reinstall CrowdStrike in order to use their service. Sophos doesn't have that problem. If you've got CrowdStrike and you've already invested in CrowdStrike, cool. You stay on CrowdStrike. They will still manage it for you.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It is a very stable product."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"The most valuable aspect of Alert Logic is its technology platform. They have SOCs in the US and Europe, giving them global visibility of the threat landscape. They detect and respond to threats in minutes. Their biggest value is human expertise. You're being attacked by a human, and you cannot respond to it unless you have a human on the other side. They have the human and technological resources to respond."
"Everything is in one dashboard; I'm notified when there's an incident and advised on what steps to take."
"It has the ability to install agents. It is pretty straightforward. You can automate the process pretty easily."
"We receive infrastructure security warnings from it. So, we know what is going on and what needs to be addressed."
"While I still have on-premises appliances, I can remotely monitor everything from the cloud, and Alert Logic's ease-of-access features have helped me streamline my workflow and reduce implementation time."
"Notifications and the detail of notifications are most valuable. It is a user-friendly solution."
"Sophos MDR has improved the threat detection process by identifying and addressing the issues before they become severe."
"The important mechanism is the dilation of the desktop. It quarantines and removes threats from the network. Sometimes, security devices similar to firewalls are used. It also creates dynamic rules to protect against attacks. The security cross-synchronization is very important."
"There is a feature called XDR Central. With this, Sophos can connect to third-party security solutions."
"The authentication it offers minimizes the risk of access."
"The tool's ability to work with security threats is competitive. The best part is monitoring and the way we receive automated emails and updates. When an issue arises, a ticket automatically gets raised, clearly outlining the necessary actions to be taken from our end."
"Sophos MDR enhances our clients' cybersecurity."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to integrate multiple functions into a single dashboard regardless of the vendors being integrated."
"The user doesn't need a technician; it offers 24/7 support to identify and manage your infrastructure and take complete care of any technological incidents."
 

Cons

"They have ideas and email you whatever they find, but they don't have a dedicated security team who will work on an attack or a specific security instance."
"As a user involved with the user interface, I believe there is a need to continue improving it based on feedback from our customers."
"Alert Logic needs to expand its SOCs to serve more markets, such as the Middle East and Asia. There should be infrastructure that covers more time zones. The company should also develop an EDR that is natively integrated into their solution. Currently, a client must buy another EDR solution like CrowdStrike or Sophos. I think Alert Logic is developing this. Built-in email security could also be developed and integrated."
"Could be more of an endpoint protector."
"We'd like to have triggered alerts sent to us so we see errors quicker."
"The product needs to mature. We don't want to be bombarded with unnecessary issues and have the real ones slip through."
"Its menu is not very intuitive. I would like to see the user menu expanded a bit. The user menu is very layered, and because of the layers, you have to go down a path that is not very intuitive."
"The documentation, especially with the initial setup, needs improvement."
"The solution is expensive for customers."
"The reports should be more comprehensive and easier to organize."
"The solution's integration should be made easier because it is difficult."
"Maybe the reporting needs improvement."
"One of the limitations that we have found is with communications and the languages in different countries."
"Once in a great while, an update fails."
"There could be improvement in features like more detailed reporting for the end customer."
"Its technical support could be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Almost any product that is on the AWS Marketplace is super easy to subscribe to."
"Our ROI would probably be zero. We don't even use it. It sits in there. We get emails and just delete them. Around the world, we don't even use it."
"Price of the solution was very reasonable considering the size of our organization at the time, and so it worked out perfectly."
"Its pricing is very reasonable considering what you get for what you pay. There is quite a good value there. Its licensing is also very logical. They've got the licensing price points at a reasonable level. It is on a monthly license but a yearly contract. There are no additional costs to the standard licensing fees."
"Alert Logic has better competitive pricing than some of its competitors."
"Sophos MDR is less expensive than other products like Fortinet or Palo Alto."
"I rate Sophos MDR’s pricing a seven or eight out of ten."
"The solution has subscription-based pricing plans."
"Sophos MDR could be more affordable."
"The cost of the solution is based on how many users use it."
"MDR is a complete enterprise solution, and compared to other OEMs, it is one of the cheapest."
"It is an expensive platform."
"The tool is too expensive for small companies."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
6%
Computer Software Company
18%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Comms Service Provider
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about Sophos MDR?
The user doesn't need a technician; it offers 24/7 support to identify and manage your infrastructure and take complete care of any technological incidents.
What needs improvement with Sophos MDR?
There could be improvement in features like more detailed reporting for the end customer. For example, reports should be in simple language that is easy to read and understand for management level ...
What advice do you have for others considering Sophos MDR?
On the topic of improvements, if Sophos MDR offers better pricing on endpoints, it could be even more attractive. Additionally, Sophos offers breach compensation, which is a very appealing factor. ...
 

Also Known As

Alert Logic MDR, Alert Logic Managed Detection and ResponseAlert Logic Threat Manager, Alert Logic Cloud Defender, Critical Watch FusionVM
Sophos Managed Threat Response
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra's Alert Logic MDR vs. Sophos MDR and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.