MDR Cost Calculator - Estimate Your Managed Security Spend
Use this calculator to estimate your managed detection and response costs based on your specific environment. Adjust endpoint count, coverage scope, SLA requirements, and contract terms to see how pricing changes across different configurations. The calculator uses pricing data from verified buyer reports and partner channel intelligence gathered across all six major MDR vendors.
MDRCost.com is an independent pricing guide. We are not affiliated with CrowdStrike, Arctic Wolf, SentinelOne, Sophos, Huntress, Expel, or any MDR vendor. Pricing data is compiled from public sources, partner channels, and verified buyer reports. Always request a direct quote for your specific environment.
Configure Your Environment
Your MDR Cost Estimate
Building a 24/7 SOC costs roughly $822,500/year. MDR saves you $743,300/year.
How MDR Pricing Factors Interact
Coverage Level Impact
Endpoint-only monitoring is the base tier that every MDR vendor offers. Adding cloud workload monitoring typically increases the price by 40-60% because the vendor needs to ingest and correlate logs from AWS, Azure, or GCP environments. Full-stack coverage that adds email security, identity monitoring (Active Directory, Entra ID), and network telemetry roughly doubles the endpoint-only price. The jump from endpoint to full-stack is where most budget discussions happen, because the expanded visibility dramatically improves detection efficacy but at significant additional cost.
SLA and Response Time
Response time SLAs directly affect staffing costs for the MDR provider, which passes through to your pricing. A standard 8-hour response SLA means the vendor can batch and prioritise alerts during regular shifts. A 1-hour SLA requires dedicated analyst capacity standing by at all times, which is why premium SLAs cost 40-80% more than standard tiers. For most organisations, a 4-hour SLA provides the best balance of cost and risk reduction. Elite 30-minute SLAs are only justified for critical infrastructure, financial services, or healthcare environments where every minute of dwell time creates regulatory exposure.
Volume Discount Mechanics
MDR vendors use tiered volume pricing similar to cloud computing. The first 100 endpoints carry the highest per-unit cost. Discounts deepen at 250, 500, 1,000, and 5,000 endpoint thresholds. A 100-endpoint deployment might pay $18 per endpoint per month, while the same vendor charges $10 per endpoint for a 2,000-endpoint deal. This means a 20x increase in endpoints only results in a roughly 11x increase in total cost. Always negotiate - initial quotes typically have 20-30% margin built in for discount negotiation.
How This Compares to EDR Alone
EDR software alone costs $3-15 per endpoint per month, but you still need analysts to monitor alerts and respond to threats. Factor in 2-4 security analysts at $80,000-130,000 per year each, and the total cost of ownership for EDR approaches or exceeds MDR pricing, especially for organisations with fewer than 2,000 endpoints. The breakeven analysis between DIY EDR and managed MDR is covered in detail on edrcost.com.
MDR Calculator FAQ
How do I estimate my MDR cost?
Start with your endpoint count (workstations plus servers). Multiply by a base rate of $12-18 per endpoint per month for standard coverage. Adjust upward by 50% for cloud workload monitoring and another 50% for full-stack coverage including email and identity. SLA response time and contract length also affect pricing, with premium SLAs adding 20-50% and multi-year contracts reducing costs by 10-15%.
What is the average MDR cost for 500 endpoints?
For 500 endpoints with standard endpoint-only monitoring and an annual contract, expect to pay $60,000 to $180,000 per year. The low end represents vendors like Huntress or Sophos MDR Essentials, while the high end represents CrowdStrike Falcon Complete with premium SLAs. The median mid-market deal for 500 endpoints falls around $96,000 to $120,000 per year based on buyer-reported data.
How does MDR cost compare to building an in-house SOC?
An in-house 24/7 security operations centre requires 5-6 analysts plus a manager, costing $600,000-$900,000 per year in salaries alone. Add $200,000-$400,000 for tools and infrastructure, and the total easily exceeds $800,000 per year. MDR for the same 500-endpoint organisation costs $90,000-$300,000 per year, representing 60-90% savings. The breakeven point where in-house SOC becomes more cost-effective is typically around 5,000 endpoints.
Do MDR vendors offer volume discounts?
Yes, volume discounts are significant in MDR. Most vendors offer discount tiers at 100, 250, 500, 1,000, and 5,000 endpoints. A company with 100 endpoints might pay $18 per endpoint per month, while 2,000 endpoints could bring the price down to $10 per endpoint per month with the same vendor. Multi-year commitments provide additional 10-20% reductions. Always negotiate pricing - initial quotes are typically 20-30% above the final negotiated price.
What hidden costs should I factor into my MDR budget?
The subscription price typically represents 60-75% of total MDR spend. Budget for onboarding and deployment ($5,000-$25,000 one-time), potential log ingestion overages ($1-5 per GB per day for cloud-heavy environments), incident response retainer hours ($250-400 per hour beyond standard containment), and annual price escalation clauses of 3-7%. Coverage expansion to add cloud, email, or identity monitoring can double the base price.