Expel vs Arctic Wolf

Expel

Founded in May 2016 by ex-Mandiant/FireEye veterans Dave Merkel, Justin Bajko, and Yanek Korff, Expel takes a deliberate stance: no proprietary agent, full transparency into SOC activity via the Workbench portal, and integration with whatever security tools the customer already owns. The company reached unicorn status in November 2021 and was named a Leader in The Forrester Wave for MDR Services, Q1 2025. Independent and private.

Pros
  • Genuinely vendor-neutral: no Expel agent, integrates with existing EDR/SIEM/cloud stack
  • Transparent operations via Workbench (customers see every analyst action in real time)
  • Strong public commitments such as a 13-minute MTTR for critical threats
  • Founding team's Mandiant lineage gives credibility in IR and detection engineering
Cons
  • 'Bring your own tech' means customers must already own (and license) suitable EDR/SIEM/cloud tooling
  • Premium pricing relative to bundled MSSP offerings
  • Limited public pricing; sales-led

Pricing: Custom (contact sales)

Arctic Wolf

Arctic Wolf is a managed security operations platform that includes managed vulnerability management as part of its Concierge Security approach. Rather than providing a self-service vulnerability scanning tool, Arctic Wolf assigns dedicated security engineers (the Concierge Security Team) who configure, run, and interpret vulnerability scans on the customer's behalf, delivering prioritized remediation guidance. This managed approach targets organizations that lack in-house vulnerability management expertise and want a turnkey service rather than a platform they must operate themselves.

Pros
  • Fully managed service eliminates need for in-house VM expertise
  • Dedicated Concierge Security Team provides personalized guidance
  • Combined with Arctic Wolf MDR for unified security operations
  • Consistent scanning and reporting without internal staffing burden
  • Business-context remediation recommendations reduce noise
Cons
  • Limited control over scanning configuration and scheduling
  • Higher cost than self-managed tools for organizations with existing expertise
  • Scanning depth depends on Arctic Wolf's tooling, not customer choice
  • Less customizable than operating your own vulnerability management platform
  • Dependency on Arctic Wolf team for scan changes and priority adjustments

Pricing: Custom pricing based on environment size / Typically $3-5/asset/month

Related

Expel AlternativesArctic Wolf AlternativesExpel OverviewArctic Wolf Overview