Sophos alternatives: where to go, and how to switch without a protection gap
Seven destinations, one per reason to leave, and a nine-step cutover.
The short answer: Microsoft Defender for Business if you already pay for Microsoft 365 Business Premium (it's included), Huntress if you kept Sophos mostly for its 24/7 MDR and nobody on your side reads alerts, CrowdStrike Falcon or SentinelOne if a security person actually works the console, Bitdefender GravityZone or ESET PROTECT if you want to keep buying through a reseller, and HarfangLab if your data has to stay in Europe. Before you pick, split the job in two: endpoint protection and the firewall. Leaving one doesn't force you to leave the other. We compared these seven tools and their prices in 2026.
Some links may be affiliate links. The ranking is editorial: a sponsored placement is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
Why teams leave Sophos, and what they give up
Sophos protects well. CryptoGuard watches file contents for signs of malicious encryption and rolls affected files back, and more than 60 anti-exploit techniques work out of the box. Customers like that. People leave for other reasons: the invoice, the MSP, the console, and a firewall refresh landing at the same time.
Renewals climb, and there's no public price
Sophos publishes no prices. Everything goes through a partner, and you find out the number on the quote. Buyers report renewals that doubled over a few years ($24K to $49K in one thread), and a UK school saw a quote up more than 300%. A European reseller also passed on two 10% increases on XGS firewalls and their licenses in 2026. And the layers stack up: Endpoint, then EDR, then XDR, then MDR.
Your MSP is dropping Sophos
It comes up again and again on sysadmin forums: the MSP that runs your endpoints moves to an all-in-one platform, sometimes at several times the price. You then choose between following them, finding another provider, or buying Sophos licenses on their own, with no management contract.
You're already paying for Defender
Microsoft 365 Business Premium ($22.00 per user per month, $18.79 without Teams) includes Defender for Business. If your company bought it for email and device management, you're paying twice for endpoint protection. It's the easiest reason to leave to put a number on.
Sophos UTM reaches end of life in 2026
Sophos is retiring UTM (SG hardware, virtual and Home Edition) in 2026 and points customers to Sophos Firewall on XGS hardware. That's a new system: the config only partly carries over, and the migration promos are over. If you're rebuilding anyway, the whole stack goes back on the table.
A console that's changing, and thin reports
Sophos Central is becoming Sophos Fusion in 2026, so there's a console to relearn. Reviews keep raising the same things: settings that are hard to find, logs and dashboards that lack detail, and web policy exclusions that get painful across a large fleet.
False positives, resource use and support
Even happy customers mention occasional false positives, line-of-business apps getting blocked until someone adds an exclusion, and machines slowed down by RAM and CPU use. Some also say support takes longer than it used to. None of that is a dealbreaker alone, but it all counts when the quote lands.
You're leaving because… go to…
Usually one line fits you. Each card jumps to the full profile below.
Included in your plan, otherwise $3.00 per user per month.
Nobody watches alerts, especially at nightHuntress24/7 SOC included in the price, on top of Defender.
You have someone working the security consoleCrowdStrike FalconPublic per-device prices, 15-day trial with no card.
You want to keep buying through a resellerBitdefender GravityZoneSame sales model as Sophos, one console for a mixed fleet.
The Sophos console feels too complicatedESET PROTECTClear tiers, evaluation with no credit card.
Your data has to stay in EuropeHarfangLabFrench vendor, cloud, on-premises or SecNumCloud.
Sophos alternatives, tool by tool
For each tool: why move to it, who it's for (and who it isn't), its catch, how to move your fleet, and its 2026 price. Prices exclude tax. The score out of 5 is the one from our ranking of antivirus and EDR for business.
Microsoft Defender for Business: the obvious move on Microsoft 365
Most logicalWhy move to Defender. If your company pays for Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Defender for Business is already on your bill, and keeping Sophos means paying for endpoint protection twice. On its own it costs $3.00 per user per month, paid yearly, and covers up to 5 devices per user. That's the strongest cost argument on this page, and the one sysadmins who already made the jump bring up most.
Who it's for. A business of 10 to 300 users already on Microsoft 365, with Windows machines that are managed or ready to be.
Who it isn't for. Anyone over 300 users (the plan's cap), or a shop with nothing else at Microsoft: the all-in-one advantage goes away.
The catch. Sophos ships anti-exploit protection pre-tuned. With Defender, the equivalents (Exploit Guard, attack surface reduction rules) need tuning, and rules set too tight will break business apps: try them on your pilot group first. Servers aren't included; they're an add-on. The one-month trial needs a credit card, and the subscription renews automatically.
How to migrate from Sophos. It's the only destination that coexists cleanly with Sophos. Onboard machines to Defender first: on Windows 10 and later, Microsoft's antivirus drops into passive mode on its own while another antivirus is registered. Then remove Sophos machine by machine or in waves, and Defender takes over with no gap. On Windows Server, set the ForceDefenderPassiveMode registry key to 1 before onboarding.
- Labs score
- 4.4 out of 5
- Price
- $3.00 per user per month
- Best for
- Microsoft 365 shops
- Catch
- 300 users max, servers extra
Huntress: 24/7 eyes on your endpoints without a security team
No security teamWhy move to Huntress. Plenty of small businesses keep Sophos for one reason: MDR, analysts watching alerts around the clock. Huntress sells exactly that, at an MSRP of $8.99 per endpoint per month, with 24/7 SOC management included at no extra cost. It also manages the Defender antivirus already on your Windows machines for free. Defender plus Huntress is the combo sysadmins suggest most often when someone asks what to replace Sophos with.
Who it's for. A small or mid-size business with nobody to read alerts at 3 a.m., or an MSP managing many clients.
Who it isn't for. A team that wants to tune every EDR setting itself and do its own threat hunting: Huntress is built as a managed service, not an analyst's console.
The catch. Buying direct or through a reseller means a 50-seat minimum per product and a standard 12-month term. Below that, go through an MSP, where there's no minimum. Pricing is volume-based and doesn't cover deployment or day-to-day management.
How to migrate from Sophos. Roll out the Huntress agent and let Defender take over as the antivirus, using the same coexistence steps as Defender for Business. The trial is the same full version as the paid product, 24/7 SOC included, with no commitment: run it on your pilot group before you remove Sophos.
- Labs score
- 4.2 out of 5
- Price
- $8.99 per endpoint per month
- Best for
- SMBs with no security staff
- Catch
- 50-seat minimum buying direct
CrowdStrike Falcon: public prices and top-tier detection
For security teamsWhy move to CrowdStrike. It's one of the few high-end EDR vendors that lists prices, which feels like a relief after years of opaque Sophos quotes. Falcon Go costs $59.99 per device per year, Falcon Pro $99.99, Falcon Enterprise $184.99. The 15-day trial starts without a card.
Who it's for. A mid-size company with at least one person dedicated to security, or one that buys Falcon Complete, CrowdStrike's own 24/7 managed service.
Who it isn't for. A small business that just wants to swap its antivirus and never look at an alert. With nobody behind the console, you're paying for detection nobody acts on.
The catch. Falcon Go, the cheapest tier, is next-gen antivirus with device control and mobile protection, capped at 100 devices. Continuous visibility, detection and expert threat hunting only arrive with Enterprise. Pro adds host firewall management. Falcon Complete is quote-only. And in 2024, a faulty update took down 8.5 million Windows devices, so ask how updates are staged before you roll it out.
How to migrate from Sophos. Uninstall Sophos, install the Falcon sensor, batch by batch. If you're coming from Sophos MDR, compare against Falcon Complete, not Go.
- Labs score
- 4.2 out of 5
- Price
- $59.99 to $184.99 per device per year
- Best for
- teams that work their alerts
- Catch
- Go capped at 100 devices
SentinelOne Singularity: automated response, if you can tune it
Automated responseWhy move to SentinelOne. SentinelOne leans on automated response: the platform acts on a threat by itself instead of waiting for someone to read the alert. If Sophos leaves your team with too much manual cleanup, that's the main pitch.
Who it's for. A company with a security team, even a small one, or an MSP that watches the console for you. On MSP forums, one line sums up the consensus: SentinelOne is fantastic if you have a security team monitoring it.
Who it isn't for. A small business alone with the console. Tuning automated response takes time, and nobody will do it for you.
The catch. Singularity Complete costs $179.99 per endpoint per year and Commercial $229.99, Enterprise is quote-based, and you buy through a partner. Ask which tier matches your Sophos EDR or XDR.
How to migrate from Sophos. Uninstall Sophos, then deploy the agent in batches. Tune the automated response rules on your pilot group, and extend them fleet-wide once your exclusion list is stable.
- Labs score
- 4.1 out of 5
- Price
- $179.99 or $229.99 per endpoint per year
- Best for
- teams with security staff
- Catch
- demanding to tune
Bitdefender GravityZone: a European vendor with the same sales model
Best valueWhy move to Bitdefender. It's the switch that changes the fewest habits: a European vendor sold through resellers, like Sophos, with a single console for your fleet. Its detection earned AV-Comparatives' EDR Detection Validation certification in 2026. In the field, a German university moved from Sophos to Bitdefender when Sophos ended support for its on-premises console.
Who it's for. A business, school or local authority with a mixed fleet that wants to stay with a local reseller and negotiate volume pricing.
Who it isn't for. A team that wants a list price and a five-minute online checkout: at Bitdefender, everything is a quote.
The catch. No official price grid we could read in 2026: the price depends on seat count and reseller. Get at least two quotes, as you would for Sophos, and pin down what's included (EDR, servers, managed detection).
How to migrate from Sophos. Uninstall Sophos before installing the Bitdefender agent, since two active antivirus engines on one machine get in each other's way. Do it in small batches so each endpoint is unprotected for minutes, not days, and copy your Sophos exclusions into the GravityZone policy before the first batch.
- Labs score
- 4.3 out of 5
- Price
- quote-based, by seat count
- Best for
- mixed fleets, reseller buying
- Catch
- no public price
ESET PROTECT: clear tiers and a simple console
SimplestWhy move to ESET. If you're leaving Sophos because you can't find anything in the console anymore, ESET wins on clarity: five tiers that stack in an obvious way (PROTECT Entry, Advanced, Complete, Elite, then MDR), so you know what each step buys you. The vendor is European, and the evaluation starts without a credit card.
Who it's for. A business or MSP that wants solid protection run by one part-time admin, with the option to add a managed service later.
Who it isn't for. A team after the most advanced threat hunting on the market: look at CrowdStrike or SentinelOne instead.
The catch. Pricing goes through a quote or a reseller. If you're coming from Sophos EDR or XDR, ask which ESET tier covers the same scope: comparing your EDR with the entry tier means losing features while thinking you saved money.
How to migrate from Sophos. Same method as Bitdefender: uninstall Sophos, then install ESET, in batches. Use the switch to clean up your exclusions. Many were created to quiet one Sophos false positive and no longer have a reason to exist.
- Labs score
- 4.2 out of 5
- Price
- quote-based, by seat count
- Best for
- simple console, clear tiers
- Catch
- price through a reseller
HarfangLab: EU data residency, on-premises or sovereign cloud
Data stays in the EUWhy move to HarfangLab. HarfangLab is a French vendor covering EDR, endpoint protection, attack surface management, identity threat detection and email security. It deploys in the cloud, on your own servers, or in a SecNumCloud environment (France's qualified sovereign cloud), with the same features everywhere. The product carries a security visa from ANSSI, France's national cybersecurity agency.
Who it's for. A European subsidiary, public body or regulated business that has to keep security data in the EU, or even on an isolated network, since updates can be applied in isolation on-premises.
Who it isn't for. A small US business that wants to sign up online tonight: there's no public price, no self-serve trial, and everything starts with a demo.
The catch. Pricing is quote-only, after a demo, so you can't cost your switch in an evening the way you can with Microsoft or CrowdStrike.
How to migrate from Sophos. Book the demo before your Sophos renewal date, not after. If you go on-premises, have the server ready before cutover. The rest follows the usual method: uninstall Sophos, then install the agent, in batches.
- Labs score
- 4.0 out of 5
- Price
- quote-based, after a demo
- Best for
- EU data residency
- Catch
- no self-serve trial
The 7 alternatives side by side
For a rough idea, take 50 users with one machine each, over a year: Defender for Business alone comes to $1,800 ($0 extra if you already have Business Premium), Huntress to $5,394 at MSRP, CrowdStrike to $2,999.50 on Go, $4,999.50 on Pro and $9,249.50 on Enterprise, SentinelOne to $8,999.50 on Complete and $11,499.50 on Commercial. The rest are quote-based: always ask for the same scope (endpoints, servers, EDR, monitoring) so you can compare with your Sophos quote.
| Starting price | Catch and how to migrate | |
|---|---|---|
| SophosWhere you start | Quote-based, through a partner | Endpoint, EDR, XDR and MDR stack up; tamper protection must go off before you leave |
| Defender for BusinessScore 4.4 | $3.00 per user per month | Servers extra; coexists with Sophos in passive mode |
| HuntressScore 4.2 | $8.99 per endpoint per month | 50-seat minimum buying direct; runs on top of Defender |
| CrowdStrike FalconScore 4.2 | Go $59.99 per device per year | Go capped at 100 devices; full detection on Enterprise |
| SentinelOneScore 4.1 | Complete $179.99 per endpoint per year | Tune automated response on a pilot first |
| Bitdefender GravityZoneScore 4.3 | Quote-based | No public price; uninstall Sophos before installing |
| ESET PROTECTScore 4.2 | Quote-based | Price via reseller; match the tier to your Sophos EDR |
| HarfangLabScore 4.0 | Quote-based | Demo first; plan a server if on-premises |
2026 prices, excluding tax, subject to change. Run the numbers on your real endpoint and server count.
Leave Sophos in nine steps
Sophos says it in its own migration docs: between uninstalling one agent and installing the next, the endpoint is unprotected. The whole job is keeping that window as short as possible, and never losing control of a machine that's still tamper-protected.
List what Sophos actually does for you
FirstWrite down every active Sophos product: endpoint protection, EDR or XDR, MDR, firewall, email security, disk encryption. Add each license end date, the endpoint count and, separately, the server count, because Defender for Business, for one, bills servers as an add-on.
That list prevents the classic miss: the email or encryption subscription that quietly renews six months after you left.
- Time
- half a day
- Risk if rushed
- a forgotten subscription
Get a second quote before you leave
TipBefore you switch vendors, try switching resellers. A UK school reported a renewal quote up more than 300%, which another Sophos reseller beat by thousands. And if your MSP is dropping Sophos, you can buy the licenses alone, with no management contract.
If the second quote is still too high, you at least have a baseline to compare alternatives against.
- Possible saving
- thousands on a mid-size fleet
Export your exclusions and rules
Pull the scanning exclusions, allowed applications, device control rules and web policies from the console. They're what keep your business apps from being flagged. Without them, the new tool will block on day one what Sophos let through.
While you're there, drop the exclusions nobody can explain anymore.
- Format
- one list per policy
Run a pilot on 5 to 10% of the fleet
Pick varied machines: an executive's laptop, a finance PC with its line-of-business apps, a road warrior's notebook, a server if your tool covers it. Trials are enough: 15 days at CrowdStrike, one month at Defender, the full version at Huntress. Sophos also offers a 30-day trial if you want to compare side by side.
- Length
- two to three weeks
- Size
- 5 to 10% of endpoints
Going to Defender: onboard before you uninstall
No gapOnboard machines to Defender first. On Windows 10 and later, Microsoft's antivirus switches to passive mode on its own while Sophos is installed. On Windows Server, set ForceDefenderPassiveMode to 1 before onboarding. Add Defender's binaries to the Sophos exclusions while both run, and check the mode with Get-MpComputerStatus | select AMRunningMode.
Never stop the Defender services to make room: passive mode is enough, and it already turns off scheduled scans. Other EDRs aren't built to coexist: uninstall Sophos right before installing the new agent.
- Check
- AMRunningMode
- Servers
- registry key before onboarding
Turn off tamper protection, then confirm it's off
Top trapSophos won't uninstall while tamper protection is on. Turn it off in the console, per device or globally. Then confirm each machine actually received the new policy. On admin forums, this is the most common failure: the console says off, but the endpoint hasn't caught up. Force an update on the machine if needed.
If a machine still refuses, get its tamper protection password from the device page in the console. Avoid registry edits in safe mode.
- Where
- Sophos console, per device or global
- Fallback
- per-device password
Uninstall the agent at scale with SophosUninstall
On Windows, the tool lives at C:\Program Files\Sophos\Sophos Endpoint Agent\SophosUninstall.exe. The --quiet switch runs it silently, so push it in batches from your RMM or deployment tool. On macOS, open "Remove Sophos Endpoint" from Launchpad.
Don't delete devices from the Sophos console before the uninstall finishes: you'd lose that machine's tamper protection password and end up in safe mode. SophosZap, Sophos's cleanup tool, is a last resort, not a method.
- Command
- SophosUninstall.exe --quiet
- Order
- uninstall, then remove from console
Deploy the new agent and break it in for a month
Install the new agent right after the uninstall, batch by batch, so each machine sits unprotected as briefly as possible. Load your exclusions from the first batch. Then watch false positives for two to four weeks: that's when a blocked business app makes you miss Sophos, and when a well-placed exclusion fixes it.
- Break-in
- two to four weeks
Remove machines from the console, then don't renew
TimingOnce every endpoint is clean, remove them from the Sophos console, and keep your access until the end in case one was missed. Tell your reseller in writing well before the renewal date, and don't count on a reminder. The firewall is a separate project: if you keep your Sophos box, you only lose the link between firewall and endpoints that Sophos calls Synchronized Security.
- Who to tell
- your reseller, in writing
- Firewall
- separate project
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
What breaks a Sophos migration
These mistakes keep coming up in threads from admins who left Sophos. None of them is dramatic, and each costs more than the time it would have taken to avoid it.
Deleting devices from the console too early
A machine removed from the console before uninstall keeps Sophos, locked, with no password you can recover. That means safe mode, one machine at a time. The order is always: disable, uninstall, then remove.
Leaving endpoints bare for days
Uninstalling the whole fleet on Friday and installing the new tool on Monday hands attackers a weekend. Work in batches, with uninstall and install in the same hour.
Forgetting the servers
They often sit on a separate license, at Sophos and at Microsoft alike. An unprotected file server is exactly what ransomware goes looking for.
Buying an EDR nobody watches
An EDR raises alerts. If nobody reads them, especially overnight, it's not doing much more than antivirus would. If you're coming from Sophos MDR, replace it with a managed service (Huntress, Falcon Complete, ESET MDR), not software alone.
Comparing tiers that don't match
Sophos EDR against Falcon Go is EDR against next-gen antivirus. Line up the scope before the price, or the savings vanish at the first incident.
Bundling endpoints and firewall into one project
UTM end of life tempts you to change everything at once. Keep them apart: the firewall comes with its own network downtime. Our guide to switching from Fortinet also compares firewall options.
- Products, licenses and servers listed with end dates
- Second quote requested from another reseller
- Exclusions and rules exported
- Pilot signed off on 5 to 10% of the fleet
- Tamper protection off and confirmed on every endpoint
- Devices removed from the console only after uninstall
Sophos alternatives: frequently asked questions
What is the best Sophos alternative for MSPs?
For most MSPs, Defender plus Huntress: Huntress has no seat minimum for MSPs, includes its 24/7 SOC, and manages the Defender antivirus already on Windows. MSPs with their own security staff also look at SentinelOne, which works well when someone watches the console. Our antivirus and EDR ranking covers each one in more depth.
Is Defender for Business enough to replace Sophos Intercept X?
For most businesses under 300 users, yes, with one condition: you tune the anti-exploit protection yourself, which Sophos pre-configured. Try your settings on a pilot group before rolling them out. And if you had Sophos MDR, add a managed service, because Defender alone won't read your alerts at night.
What is the cheapest Sophos alternative?
Among vendors that publish prices, Defender for Business at $36 per user per year ($3.00 a month), or nothing extra if you already pay for Business Premium. Next comes CrowdStrike Falcon Go at $59.99 per device per year, capped at 100 devices. Huntress runs $107.88 per endpoint per year at MSRP, monitoring included, and SentinelOne $179.99 (Complete) or $229.99 (Commercial).
Can I run Sophos and another EDR at the same time?
Only with Defender, which goes passive next to Sophos. Two active third-party EDRs on one machine fight over files and can slow it down or lock it up: uninstall Sophos right before installing the other, in small batches.
Can I keep my Sophos firewall and switch endpoint protection?
Yes. Your Sophos firewall keeps working with another endpoint tool. You only lose Synchronized Security, the link between the two that can, for example, isolate an infected machine. A UTM at end of life is a different story: it needs replacing either way.
What happens to Sophos UTM after end of life?
It stops getting security updates in 2026, so it needs replacing. Sophos offers XGS hardware running Sophos Firewall, but it's a new system and your config only partly transfers. Admins also look at FortiGate, WatchGuard or Check Point. Old, unpatched boxes are what attackers go after: Sophos itself published a report on five years of campaigns against its firewalls.
Is there a Sophos MDR alternative?
Huntress for a small or mid-size business (24/7 SOC included in $8.99 per endpoint per month), Falcon Complete from CrowdStrike, or ESET's MDR tier for a more demanding fleet, the last two quote-based. Get in writing what the service does during an overnight incident, and what's still on you.
Is Sophos Central being replaced by Fusion?
Yes, in 2026 the management console takes the Sophos Fusion name and a new interface. Your policies carry over, but your team has to relearn where settings live. Use the change to ask your reseller for an exact list of what your contract covers.
Should I switch to Kaspersky instead?
No. The US Commerce Department has prohibited sales of Kaspersky software to US customers since 2024, so it's off the table in the US. The European options on this page (Bitdefender, ESET, HarfangLab) cover the same need.
What else should I review when I change antivirus?
Backups first: they save you if ransomware slips in between two agents. Our guide to switching from Acronis helps if you're rethinking that layer too. Then staff training, with our ranking of security awareness training tools.
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One tool to leave, the right destinations, the cutover in order.