# Huntress Managed EDR vs Expel MDR: which do AI models recommend for MDR, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Managed detection and response. One of fourteen models named Huntress Managed EDR first on the direct prompt; zero named Expel MDR. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/security/managed-detection-and-response/huntress-managed-edr-vs-expel-mdr/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntress Managed EDR | 35% | #2 of 10 | 0% | 30 | 13 of 14 |
| Expel MDR | 4% | #4 of 10 | 0% | 17 | 9 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- MiniMax M2.5: huntress managed edr first (first choices: Huntress Managed EDR) (alternatives: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Sophos MDR)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response) (alternatives: Expel MDR, Red Canary, Sophos MDR)
- Mistral Small: neither first, one named (first choices: ESET PROTECT MDR) (alternatives: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Expel MDR, Sophos MDR)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response) (alternatives: Daylight Security, Huntress Managed EDR, SentinelOne Singularity MDR, Sophos MDR)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response) (alternatives: Huntress Managed EDR, Sophos MDR)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither first, one named (first choices: Sophos MDR) (alternatives: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Expel MDR, Falcon Complete, Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named (first choices: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response) (alternatives: Rapid7 MDR, Sophos MDR)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete) (alternatives: Cyderes MDR, Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither named (first choices: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response) (alternatives: Rapid7 MDR, Sophos MDR, eSentire MDR)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither named (first choices: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response) (alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Red Canary)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither named (first choices: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response) (alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Sophos MDR, eSentire MDR)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named (first choices: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response) (alternatives: Rapid7 MDR, eSentire MDR)
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Sophos MDR) (alternatives: Rapid7 MDR, eSentire MDR)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: neither named (first choices: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response) (alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon MDR, Rapid7 MDR, SentinelOne Singularity MDR, Sophos MDR, eSentire MDR)

## What the models said about Huntress Managed EDR

- "The best MDR service for a company with a limited budget is Huntress, as it delivers human-verified MDR at a price point that works for small-market budgets." (Llama 4 Maverick, budget prompt, first choice)
- "1. Huntress - Strong reputation for mid-market B2B companies ... I'd recommend requesting demos from Huntress, Sophos, and Arctic Wolf" (MiniMax M2.5, direct prompt, first choice)
- "For tightest budget, Huntress offers some of the most transparent and affordable pricing specifically designed for small businesses." (MiniMax M2.5, budget prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Expel MDR

- "Best Overall for Transparent, "Bring Your Own Tech" (BYOT) Security: Expel ... Expel is the top choice." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, paraphrase prompt, first choice)
- "the most cited MDR leaders in 2025-2026 are CrowdStrike, Expel and Red Canary" (Muse Glimmer 30B, comparative prompt, first choice)
- "Sophos MDR and Expel are frequently highlighted as top choices" (Mistral Small, paraphrase prompt, first choice)

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. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.