Guide · EDR pricing
EDR cost guide
What EDR costs
EDR is one of the more transparently priced security controls: it's almost always a per-user (or per-endpoint) monthly subscription. List pricing clusters tightly between $8 and $15 per user per month, with the exact figure driven by tier, volume, and term. The table shows how that scales.
| Users / endpoints | At $8/user/mo | At $15/user/mo |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | $4,800/yr | $9,000/yr |
| 250 | $24,000/yr | $45,000/yr |
| 1,000 | $96,000/yr | $180,000/yr |
| 5,000 | $480,000/yr | $900,000/yr |
List pricing; volume and multi-year commitments typically negotiate 20–40% below these figures.
The AV → EDR → MDR → XDR ladder
"Endpoint security" spans four rungs of capability and cost. Each adds something the rung below lacks. Buying the right rung — not the highest one — is the budget decision.
| Tier | What it adds | Typical $/user/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Antivirus (NGAV) | Blocks known & behavioral malware. | $2 – $5 |
| EDR | + detection, investigation, response on the endpoint. | $8 – $15 |
| MDR | + a 24/7 human team to monitor & respond. | $12 – $25+ |
| XDR | + cross-domain telemetry (identity, email, cloud). | $15 – $30+ |
Tiers overlap by vendor; many platforms sell EDR and MDR as add-on layers on the same agent.
Total cost of ownership
The per-seat license is the visible cost; the operating cost is what catches teams off guard. An EDR deployment carries four real line items: the license, the deployment and tuning effort, integration with your SIEM and identity stack, and — the big one — the analyst time to act on alerts. An unmanaged EDR with no one watching it is a tripwire no one hears. That is precisely why so many teams buy the managed (MDR) tier instead of staffing the response themselves.
"EDR is the rare security line item that's both cheap and high-impact — but only if someone responds to what it finds. Budget for the response, not just the agent."
— SecurityBudget Research Team
Frequently asked questions
How much does EDR cost per endpoint?
EDR list pricing typically runs $8–$15 per user (or endpoint) per month, which is roughly $96–$180 per year. Volume, multi-year commitments, and bundling commonly bring negotiated pricing 20–40% below list. Premium tiers with managed response or XDR features cost more.
What is the difference between antivirus, EDR, MDR, and XDR?
Antivirus blocks known malware. EDR adds detection, investigation, and response across endpoint activity. MDR layers a human team on top to monitor and respond 24/7. XDR extends detection beyond the endpoint to identity, email, and cloud telemetry in one platform. Cost rises at each rung.
Is EDR worth the cost for a small business?
For most organizations, yes — endpoint compromise is one of the most common breach paths, and EDR is among the highest-ROI controls per dollar. At $8–$15/user/month it is affordable even for small teams, and many vendors bundle a managed option so you do not need a full SOC to benefit.
What is the total cost of ownership for EDR?
The license is only part of it. Add deployment and tuning effort, the staff time to triage alerts (or an MDR contract to do it for you), and integration with your SIEM or identity stack. For an unmanaged EDR, analyst time is usually the largest hidden cost.
Do you still need antivirus if you have EDR?
Modern EDR platforms include next-gen antivirus / prevention as a built-in layer, so you generally do not run a separate legacy AV alongside them. The EDR agent handles both prevention and detection-and-response in one.
References
See EDR in your full budget
Endpoint is one control of nine. See how it sits alongside identity, SIEM, and MDR in a complete program.
Open the budget calculatorEstimates are based on public pricing, industry benchmarks, and security frameworks. For planning only — not professional, financial, or legal advice.