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The Top 4 CrowdStrike Competitors & Alternatives for 2024

The Top 4 CrowdStrike Competitors & Alternatives for 2024


On July 19, 2024, endpoint detection and response provider CrowdStrike was involved in a global IT outage that affected over 8.5 million Windows devices worldwide. According to CrowdStrike, a faulty content update for its Falcon Sensor software caused the disruption — resulting in a significant number of Windows devices to crash.

This error led to major airlines, emergency services, media outlets and other businesses with computer systems blocked by the infamous Blue Screen of Death. You can read TechRepublic’s in-depth coverage of the CrowdStrike outage here.

SEE: How to Start a Career in Cybersecurity (TechRepublic Premium)

While CrowdStrike has since deployed a fix, it’s understandable for businesses to be wary of CrowdStrike as a viable EDR provider given the scale of the incident. If you fall in this boat, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we take a look at the best CrowdStrike alternatives and competitors for you and your organization.

Top CrowdStrike alternatives comparison

While all the EDR alternatives in this list perform well in terms of threat detection, they vary in key aspects like market performance, ease of deployment and initial pricing.

SentinelOne Singularity: Best overall CrowdStrike alternative

SentinelOne logo.
Image: SentinelOne

My go-to CrowdStrike EDR alternative is SentinelOne Singularity. It includes automatic threat resolution allowing for one-click remediation; provides role-based access control and multi-tenant management; and offers a unique Storyline feature for automated contextualization of events across all device platforms.

In Gartner’s 2023 Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms, SentinelOne was deemed a Leader in the EDR space and was praised for its intuitive and customizable user experience and broad platform support.

SEE: CrowdStrike vs Trellix (2024): What Are the Main Differences? (TechRepublic)

I personally like how SentinelOne merges EPP and enterprise-grade EDR capabilities into one platform, offering a comprehensive security solution in one service.

Why I chose SentinelOne

I chose SentinelOne as my best overall alternative for its strong balance of high quality detection and relatively affordable pricing. Per my research, SentinelOne is regarded as a solid replacement for CrowdStrike — especially since it offers arguably similar EDR performance at lower overall pricing.

Pricing

While SentinelOne offers a suite of security solutions, its main EDR software is offered in four subscription packages: Singularity Control, Complete, Commercial and Enterprise. Below is a quick overview of pricing and feature inclusions for each:

  • Singularity Control – $79.99 per endpoint; EDR, role-based access control and multi-tenant management.
  • Singularity Complete – $159.99 per endpoint; all Control features plus XDR capabilities and 14-day data retention.
  • Singularity Commercial – $209.99 per endpoint; all Complete features plus managed threat hunting, ITDR and 30-day data retention.
  • Singularity Enterprise – Call for curated pricing; all Commercial features plus network and vulnerability management and deployment services.

Features

  • Behavioral detection and analysis.
  • Customizable detection logic for automatic mitigation.
  • One-click remediation and rollback.
  • 14 to 30-day data retention, depending on plan.
SentinelOne Singularity’s desktop dashboard.
SentinelOne Singularity’s desktop dashboard. Image: SentinelOne

Pros and cons

Pros Cons
  • EPP and EDR in a single agent.
  • Easy to use interface.
  • Affordable subscription options.
  • Automated threat resolution and extensive attack contextualization.
  • Not as robust as CrowdStrike.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: Best for Microsoft ecosystems

Microsoft Defender logo.
Image: Microsoft

Another strong CrowdStrike substitute I recommend is Microsoft Defender for Endpoint or MDE. MDE utilizes AI-powered technology to protect against ransomware, cyberattacks and other adversaries at an enterprise level. Like SentinelOne, MDE is recognized as a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for EPPs and was also named a Leader in the Forrester Wave Endpoint Security, Q4 2023 report.

SEE: CrowdStrike vs Sophos (2024): Which Solution Is Better for Your Business? (TechRepublic)

Aside from AI capabilities, MDE offers a global threat intelligence database, granular controls and policies and a unified portal covering all endpoints and machines.

Why I chose Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

I picked MDE as a no-brainer choice for businesses that are already heavily invested in Microsoft’s suite of products. This is especially true given Microsoft’s 365 E5 software package that not only includes MDE, but also its other flagship services such as Word, Outlook and OneDrive.

Pricing

MDE has two subscription plans: MDE P1 and P2. P1 is their basic endpoint protection service with next-generation anti-malware and endpoint firewall capabilities. Meanwhile, P2 offers the full EDR service plus automated investigation and remediation and sandbox functionality. Both MDE P1 and P2 are bundled with Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5, respectively.

I believe the best value is to go for Microsoft’s extensive 365 E5 package that includes the full MDE EDR and other Microsoft services. Below is the price for each 365 bundle:

  • Microsoft 365 E3: $33.75 per user, per month; Windows for Enterprise, 1TB of cloud storage and MDE P1.
  • Microsoft 365 E5: $54.75 per user, per month; all 365 E3 features plus advanced security and compliance capabilities; business analytics and MDE P2.

Features

  • Threat intelligence and cyberthreat analytics.
  • Automated remediation.
  • Prioritized security recommendations.
  • Auto-deployed deception techniques.
MDE’s Secure Score and prioritized recommendations menu.
MDE’s Secure Score and prioritized recommendations menu. Image: Microsoft

Pros and cons

Pros Cons
  • Bundled with other Microsoft software.
  • Includes Microsoft’s Copilot for Security generative AI.
  • Optimized for Microsoft-centric environments.
  • May not be ideal for businesses which don’t prefer Microsoft services.

Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR: Best for transition into XDR

Palo Alto Networks logo.
Image: Palo Alto Networks

If your business is considering a transition into extended detection and response, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR is a good choice. It offers machine-learning-powered analytics spanning multiple data sources, has intelligent alert grouping that reduces investigation time and includes granular threat hunting via extended data collection and analysis.

SEE: VMware Carbon Black vs CrowdStrike Falcon (2024): Which Tool Is Best For Your Business? (TechRepublic)

As a solution, I like Cortex XDR’s wide coverage in endpoint security. It provides next-generation antivirus capabilities, disk encryption, USB device control, host firewall, among others.

Palo Alto Networks was also named a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for EPPs. In the report, it was lauded for “its global reach and multilingual product localization” that helps it stand as a viable pick for many businesses worldwide.

Why I chose Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR

I selected Cortex XDR for businesses that want to switch over from an EDR into an XDR solution. As an XDR, Palo Alto Cortex enables businesses to secure their network, endpoints, cloud and other aspects of their business — offering a holistic security solution that covers more bases. This is especially critical in protecting against more advanced attacks that affect organizations today.

Pricing

For concrete information on pricing, I highly suggest contacting Palo Alto Networks via its website or other official channels.

  • Cortex XDR pricing: Contact Palo Alto Networks.

Features

  • Purpose-built ransomware engine.
  • Endpoint firewall and device control.
  • Behavioral threat protection.
A screenshot of the Cortex XDR interface.
A screenshot of the Cortex XDR interface. Image: Palo Alto Networks

Pros and cons

Pros Cons
  • More comprehensive protection of a business’ security posture.
  • Threat detection covers multiple data sources.
  • Automated root cause analysis and sequencing of events.
  • Can be more complex to manage as an XDR.

Bitdefender GravityZone: Best for proactive endpoint protection

Bitdefender GravityZone logo.
Image: Bitdefender

If your priority is prevention, Bitdefender GravityZone is a decent choice. GravityZone is designed to handle fileless attacks, ransomware, phishing and other common threats to businesses. It also utilizes a simple, centralized management console for easy viewing of all data and tools available in the platform.

SEE: 5 Best Endpoint Detection & Response Solutions for 2024 (TechRepublic)

According to the Forrester Wave Endpoint Security, Q4 2023 findings, Bitdefender stands out for its “aggressive prevention-first mindset.” Per Forrester, this is showcased through its extensive endpoint control functions, vulnerability management and device/OS-neutral capabilities.

Why I chose Bitdefender GravityZone

I have Bitdefender GravityZone on this list for its straightforward and proactive approach to endpoint protection. It also gets points for its intuitive subscription and pricing scheme. Through its official site, Bitdefender GravityZone allows IT administrators to see an approximate price of a subscription corresponding with the exact number of endpoints they want covered and the contract length desired.

Pricing

Bitdefender has a number of subscription packages which can be customized based on the number of devices and the length of contract. It has three main tiers for small businesses: Small Business Security, Business Security, Business Security Premium.

Below is a brief glimpse of each tier’s pricing and feature inclusions:

  • Small Business Security: $199.49; 10 devices for 1 year; protection against phishing, ransomware and web-based attacks.
  • Business Security: $259.99; 10 devices for 1 year; network attack defense and web access controls.
  • Business Security Premium: $570.49; 10 devices for 1 year; sandbox analyzer and fileless attack defense capabilities.

Features

  • Anti phishing and fraud prevention features.
  • Ransomware prevention and mitigation.
  • Fileless attack protection.
  • Real-time exploit detection.
GravityZone Small Business Security’s summary dashboard.
GravityZone Small Business Security’s summary dashboard. Image: Bitdefender

Pros and cons

Pros Cons
  • Wide variety of subscriptions for all business sizes.
  • Emphasis on fileless attacks, ransomware and phishing.
  • Simple user interface and console.
  • Reporting could be more detailed.

Do you need an alternative to CrowdStrike?

It’s complicated. As easy as it is to dismiss CrowdStrike and its security solutions, there’s a reason why it topped our Best EDR software round-up early this year. It offers industry-leading performance and was widely recognized as the market leader in the space.

That being said, it’s also hard to ignore the massive consequences brought about by its faulty software update, which caused more than eight million Windows devices to crash.

Personally, I think the decision will depend on your business’ perspective on the incident and how severely or minimally you were affected by the disruption.

For organizations that experienced actual business loss due to the outage, looking into alternatives is probably the prudent choice. Meanwhile, businesses that were able to deal with the issue may opt to remain with CrowdStrike and see how they respond in the coming weeks.

Whichever you choose, it’s clear that other EDR providers are present which could serve as viable alternatives instead.

Methodology

My rundown of the top CrowdStrike EDR alternatives involved an in-depth analysis of each EDR’s security capabilities, pricing and value for money.

In particular, I looked into official product documentation, feature inclusions and independent findings from recognized testing firms to gather data. Furthermore, I also took heavy consideration of real user testimonials talking about the top EDR solutions available in the market and which ones were thought to be the best CrowdStrike alternatives.

Finally, I also took into account what type of businesses or organizations would best benefit from each EDR provider I listed above.



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