What is Expel?
Expel is a managed detection and response (MDR) provider founded in 2016 by Dave Merkel, Justin Bajko, and Yanek Korff, all formerly of Mandiant. Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, it is privately held and has raised $288.8 million.
Its 24/7 service connects through APIs to the security tools a customer already owns, with more than 160 integrations across endpoint, identity, cloud, SaaS, email, and Kubernetes, so there is no new agent to deploy. Customers follow every alert, investigation, and action in the Expel Workbench console. Pricing is quote-based across Starter, Select, and Premium packages.
Why teams look for Expel alternatives
Cost comes up most often. G2 users rate Expel at the top of the site’s price scale, which leads budget-conscious teams to compare options before renewal.
Some reviewers also want more control over detections and reporting, and a few describe alerts they expected Expel to act on directly. Overall sentiment on G2 is still positive at 4.6 out of 5, so these points come from a minority of users, but they are worth testing against your own requirements.
What to look for in an MDR alternative
Decide first whether you want MDR that runs on your existing tools or a provider that brings its own agent. Then look at response authority, meaning what the provider can contain without waiting for you, and how fast. Finally, ask how much of each investigation is automated, because that drives both speed and price.
Five Expel alternatives compared
MDR providers now range from tool-agnostic services to providers built around their own platform.
| Alternative | Approach | Pricing model | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exaforce | Agentic SOC platform plus 24/7 MDR | Quote-based | Teams wanting AI-driven investigation with transparent verdicts |
| Arctic Wolf | MDR on the Aurora platform with a named concierge team | Quote-based | Mid-market firms wanting a named team and a warranty |
| Red Canary, a Zscaler company | MDR across EDR, identity, cloud, and SIEM | Quote-based | Zscaler customers wanting MDR tied to their stack |
| Huntress | Managed EDR, ITDR, and SIEM with a 24/7 SOC | Published, from $8.99 per endpoint per month | SMBs and MSPs wanting transparent pricing |
| Sophos MDR | Vendor-agnostic MDR, now including Secureworks Taegis | Quote-based | Teams keeping existing tools who want flexible response options |
Exaforce MDR and the agentic SOC model
Exaforce runs its MDR service on its own agentic SOC platform. AI agents handle detection, triage, investigation, and response around the clock, while Exaforce analysts oversee the work and step in on decisions that need human judgment.
Because customers can see the same platform, every verdict comes with the reasoning behind it instead of arriving as a bare escalation. Coverage spans identity, cloud infrastructure, SaaS, endpoint, and email, and teams can start fully managed and bring more of the work in-house later.
Choosing the right fit
If you want a named team and a warranty, a concierge-style MDR suits you. If you are a smaller business or an MSP, published per-endpoint pricing makes budgeting simpler. If your environment is cloud-heavy and you want to see how every verdict was reached, look at providers running on an agentic platform you can access yourself.
Ask each shortlisted provider to walk through a recent real incident, from first alert to closure.
Sources: About Expel · Expel on G2 · Arctic Wolf MDR · Zscaler completes Red Canary acquisition · Huntress pricing · Sophos completes Secureworks acquisition
