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Managed detection and response · October 2026 Edition

Sophos MDR vs Expel MDR

Two of fourteen models named Sophos MDR first on the direct prompt; zero named Expel MDR. Sophos MDR was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Expel MDR by nine and Sophos MDR carries 47 labels and Expel MDR 17, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Sophos MDR

accepted challenger

Named in six categories this edition.

Expel MDR

accepted challenger

Named in one category this edition.

First-choice share13%4%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.

Negative rate0%0%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.

Rank in category#3#4A position in a field of 10; printed, not drawn.

Labels4717A 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

Direct20

Paraphrase42

Comparative31

Budget-constrained00

Scale-constrained00

Negative00

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 October 2026 Edition, Sophos MDR and Expel MDR were named in the same answer thirty-one times, of the 132 answers naming Sophos MDR and the 51 naming Expel MDR. In those answers Expel MDR took the first choice two times and Sophos MDR one.

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 4.1 Fast
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.

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.

Kimi K2Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Sophos MDR alternatives: Rapid7 MDR, eSentire MDR

GPT-6 LunaSophos MDR alternatives: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Expel MDR, Falcon Complete, Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR

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

Gemini 3.5 FlashArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: Expel MDR, Red Canary, Sophos MDR

Perplexity SonarArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: Rapid7 MDR, Sophos MDR, eSentire MDR

Mistral SmallESET PROTECT MDR alternatives: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Expel MDR, Sophos MDR

DeepSeek V4 FlashArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Sophos MDR, eSentire MDR

Qwen 3.7 FlashArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: Daylight Security, Huntress Managed EDR, SentinelOne Singularity MDR, Sophos MDR

GLM 4.7 FlashXArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: Huntress Managed EDR, Sophos MDR

MiniMax M2.5Huntress Managed EDR alternatives: Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response, Sophos MDR

Muse Glimmer 30BArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon MDR, Rapid7 MDR, SentinelOne Singularity MDR, Sophos MDR, eSentire MDR

Neither was named

3 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.

GPT-5.4 miniCrowdStrike Falcon Complete alternatives: Cyderes MDR, Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR

Grok 4.1 FastArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Red Canary

Llama 4 MaverickArctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response alternatives: Rapid7 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 four points.

Sophos MDR#2 of 9

Expel MDR#7 of 9

The full small business standing →

Mid-marketThe figures above

Sophos MDR leads by nine points.

Sophos MDR#3 of 10

Expel MDR#4 of 10

The full mid-market standing →

Enterprise

The order flips: Expel MDR leads at enterprise.

Expel MDR#3 of 11

Sophos MDR#8 of 11

The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Sophos MDR

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of three in this category shown.

“Start with Arctic Wolf if you want a partnership approach with dedicated support, or Sophos MDR if you prioritize cost-effectiveness” Kimi K2 · direct prompt · first choice

“My default pick: Sophos MDR for a mid-market B2B company that wants a managed SOC without replacing its whole security stack.” GPT-6 Luna · direct prompt · first choice

“Choose Sophos or Arctic Wolf if you want to simplify your stack and consolidate vendors.” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative 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. Three of four in this category shown.

“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

Also compared

Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response vs Sophos MDR Arctic Wolf Managed Detection and Response vs Expel MDR Huntress Managed EDR vs Sophos MDR Huntress Managed EDR vs Expel MDR Sophos MDR vs CrowdStrike Falcon Complete Expel MDR vs CrowdStrike Falcon Complete All ten 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.