Endpoint Security Pricing 2026: Defender Starts at $3

Published Prices Use Different Licensing Units

The table records official US pricing checked on November 15, 2026. Annual equivalents marked as calculated are arithmetic, not additional vendor offers. Buyer profiles are editorial assessments.

SentinelOne limits its displayed pricing to 5–100 workstations. Purchases go through authorized partners, whose agreed prices control; taxes and additional charges may apply. Larger deployments therefore need a quote. Singularity Enterprise is quote only: its public price is not disclosed.

For UK, Canadian, Australian and Singaporean buyers, use these USD figures as comparison benchmarks. Request local currency, tax and contractual terms before approval rather than treating a currency conversion as a regional offer.

Endpoint Counts and Existing Contracts Change the Budget

Microsoft permits up to five client devices per licensed user and targets organizations with up to 300 users. Servers require additional licenses. Its documentation also says deployments exceeding 60 servers need another licensing option. Those boundaries matter when a growing company budgets beyond employee laptops (Microsoft licensing FAQ).

Consider an illustrative company with 50 licensed employees and 100 eligible client devices. Defender standalone calculates to $1,800 annually: 50 × $3 × 12. This assumes every device fits the applicable user entitlement and excludes servers and services. Do not multiply Microsoft's user price by the device count.

For comparison, 100 Falcon Enterprise devices calculate to $18,499 annually. At SentinelOne's displayed Complete rate, 100 endpoints calculate to $17,999 before partner adjustments. These are subscription calculations from published rates, not quotations or evidence that the products deliver identical protection.

Existing Microsoft 365 Business Premium customers should first check their included Defender entitlement. Buying another endpoint platform requires a clear operational justification. Conversely, buying the entire productivity bundle solely for endpoint protection needs a broader business case: evaluate the services your organization will actually use.

Business Premium includes Microsoft Intune P1, Microsoft Entra ID capabilities and Defender for Office 365 alongside Defender for Business. Assess that consolidation opportunity with the wider Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace decision.

Keep implementation labor, migration, policy configuration and ongoing administration as separate budget lines. Ask each bidder to identify included work and exclusions rather than assuming the software subscription pays for deployment or daily operations.

Detection Features Need an Operational Response Plan

CrowdStrike's Enterprise product explicitly includes Falcon Insight XDR and Adversary OverWatch. Falcon Complete is a separate managed detection and response offering with round-the-clock expert coverage; pricing is quote only and not disclosed. Threat hunting and a fully managed response service should therefore be evaluated as separate purchasing requirements (Enterprise components and managed offering).

For SentinelOne, ask the partner to specify whether the proposed contract includes managed response, its scope and its separate cost. Do not infer that an endpoint package or managed hunting feature transfers responsibility for handling every incident.

NIST's small-business guidance recommends engaging a provider to monitor computers and networks when internal resources are insufficient. It also recommends assessing whether cybersecurity insurance is appropriate. Neither recommendation establishes that a particular subscription satisfies an insurer's conditions (NIST small-business guidance).

Before signing, assign responsibility for reviewing alerts, isolating affected devices, contacting employees and restoring operations. Ask the provider to document escalation contacts and response authority. These are procurement recommendations, not claims about a vendor's standard contract.

Endpoint spending should also accompany basic maintenance. The UK's NCSC advises keeping devices and applications updated, replacing unsupported devices, and checking that antivirus and firewalls are enabled (NCSC device guidance).

Budget account protection separately: use the business security keys compared guide when reviewing authentication purchases. Include shared credential administration in the same procurement discussion through business password manager pricing.

Choose According to Staffing and Existing Entitlements

Choose Defender for Business first for a cost-focused evaluation if your organization fits its licensing limits. Its standalone availability also makes it an option for businesses outside Microsoft's productivity ecosystem. Microsoft documents support for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android; validate the required capabilities on each platform during a pilot (Microsoft product overview).

Shortlist Falcon Enterprise if your requirements specifically include its investigation and threat-hunting components. Consider Go or Pro when purchasing business antivirus software and endpoint controls, but require the proposal to identify the investigation capabilities included in your chosen tier.

Evaluate SentinelOne Complete when its documented response features and retention fit your workflow. Consider Commercial when the additional identity capabilities, managed hunting and longer retention answer a defined requirement. Obtain a partner quote before treating the displayed price as a committed budget.

For an understaffed IT team, request a managed-service proposal alongside every software shortlist. Approve the purchase only after comparing the licensed population, included capabilities, deployment work and incident responsibilities. The strongest commercial choice is the package your team can operate effectively within its full budget.