MDR vs EDR vs XDR: Which Detection Stack Makes Sense for Your Business?
EDR. MDR. XDR. The acronyms are everywhere. The differences? Not always clear.
For mid-sized businesses, this creates a real challenge. Security budgets are tight. Internal teams are stretched. But the pressure to detect and respond to threats keeps building.
So which approach makes sense for your business? That depends on what you’re trying to protect, what tools you already use, and how much time and talent you have in-house.
This article strips back the marketing speak and gives you the facts. You’ll see exactly how EDR tools, XDR solutions, and managed services like MDR work, and where each fits best.
If you’re Googling “XDR vs EDR vs MDR” just to stay on top of it, you’re in the right place.
Let’s get into it.
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EDR vs XDR vs MDR: Let’s Break Them Down
1. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
EDR is the baseline. It monitors and defends your endpoints: laptops, servers, workstations.
Think of it as a sensor on every device. If something looks wrong, it flags it. If configured well, it can even act on it.
Key functions:
- Tracks endpoint activities like file access, login attempts, process execution
- Detects suspicious behaviour using behavioural analytics or signatures
- Sends alerts to your security team
- Lets your team isolate compromised devices, block malicious processes, and investigate events in detail
Why businesses use it:
- It’s focused. EDR zeroes in on endpoints, where most breaches start
- It offers deep visibility into device-level events
- It supports proactive threat hunting (if your team has the skills)
What it doesn’t do:
- No view of network traffic, cloud platforms, or third-party apps
- Doesn’t correlate threats across systems
- Won’t help you respond unless someone’s watching it closely
What you need to make it work:
- Skilled internal security teams or outsourced analysts
- Time to review and investigate alerts
- Integration with SIEM or SOAR tools (optional, but often necessary)
Best for:
- Mid-market IT teams that want direct control over incident response
- Companies with existing security operations or a dedicated analyst
- Organisations focused on endpoint protection and forensic response
Popular EDR solutions include SentinelOne, CrowdStrike, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, and Sophos Intercept X.
2. Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
MDR builds on EDR. But it comes with people.
It’s a managed service that monitors your environment, investigates threats, and responds when needed. You don’t run the tools, though. Your provider does.
What’s included:
- 24/7 monitoring of your endpoint security tools and threat landscape
- Alert triage, analysis, and prioritisation by a security team
- Incident response actions like device isolation, containment, and post-incident reports
- Threat intelligence to help detect patterns and prevent repeat attacks
Why businesses use it:
- No internal SOC needed
- Immediate value: no training, no hiring
- Access to a team that lives and breathes security
Where it helps most:
- You get expert oversight of your EDR tools and response playbooks
- Your in-house IT team stays focused on projects, not alerts
- It closes the skills gap if you don’t have security analysts on payroll
What to watch for:
- Not all MDR services are equal. Some are basic alerting. Others offer full remediation
- You may have limited visibility into backend tooling or decisions
- Integration with your existing stack can vary
Best for:
- Lean IT teams with limited security resources
- Mid-sized businesses looking for outcome-driven endpoint protection
- Companies seeking structured reporting and executive visibility
Good MDR providers combine tooling with real security analysts, ideally with 24/7 local coverage.
3. Extended Detection and Response (XDR)
XDR takes detection beyond the endpoint. It connects data from multiple sources (endpoints, network traffic, email, cloud platforms) and finds threats that hide in the gaps.
What it does:
- Collects telemetry from across your environment (not just endpoints)
- Correlates it automatically to identify linked indicators of attack
- Surfaces high-fidelity alerts that show where the threat came from, what it touched, and how it moved
- Can trigger automated or manual responses across systems
Sources typically include:
- Endpoint agents (like EDR)
- Firewalls and IDS for network traffic
- Email gateways
- Identity providers (e.g., Azure AD)
- Cloud platforms and SaaS apps
Why XDR matters:
- Attackers rarely stay on one system. XDR gives you context across all of them
- It reduces alert fatigue by connecting the dots
- Response is faster, smarter, and less reactive
Challenges:
- Needs setup. You can’t just plug it in and walk away
- Vendor capabilities vary a lot
- Can overlap with SIEM tools, which may confuse buyers
What it’s good for:
- Businesses with multiple tools and fragmented visibility
- Teams looking to consolidate alert sources into a single view
- Organisations aiming for a more mature security posture without building a full SOC
XDR solutions are available from vendors like Microsoft (Defender XDR), Palo Alto (Cortex), and SentinelOne (Singularity XDR).
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Key Differences at a Glance
Not every business needs full-stack detection. Some need clarity on endpoints. Others need response support.
And some want a complete view across devices, cloud, and network traffic.
| Feature/ Requirement | EDR | MDR | XDR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who manages it | Internal security or IT team | External provider (MSP or SOC) | Internal team or hybrid |
| Visibility scope | Endpoint activities only | Endpoint activities (managed) | Endpoint, network, cloud, email, identity |
| Response capability | Manual by your team | Handled by provider | Automated and manual response options |
| Effort to implement | Medium to high | Low, fully managed | Medium, setup and integration required |
| Proactive threat hunting | Yes, if resourced | Yes, included | Yes, with broader data correlation |
| Threat intelligence integration | Varies by platform | Yes, provider-led | Often built-in or integrated |
| Best for | Teams with skilled analysts | Businesses with limited in-house security | Orgs needing full visibility across environments |
| Use case examples | Detect malware on laptops | Respond to ransomware without in-house SOC | Identify lateral movement across systems |
| Internal resource needed | High | Low to medium | Medium |
| Tool ownership | You | Provider | You or shared |
Threat Detection and Response Solutions: Which Do You Need?
There’s no perfect stack. Just the right one for where your business is now.
Your choice should reflect three things:
- How much internal expertise you have
- What you’re trying to protect
- How quickly you need to respond when something goes wrong
Here’s how to match stack to your business requirements.
Choose EDR If:
- You have a small internal security team or analyst
- Your risk exposure is mostly at the device level
- You want detailed control over endpoint activities, logs, and workflows
- You already have SIEM or SOAR tools to build on
This works best when your team is ready to investigate and respond. If they’re not, alerts sit untouched. And that defeats the purpose.
Choose MDR If:
- You want round-the-clock monitoring without hiring a SOC
- You need more than just alerts. You want action
- Your team is focused on projects, not chasing threats
- You need expert support for compliance and incident response
This is often the right move for mid-sized companies. It’s fast to deploy, doesn’t stretch your team, and adds immediate value.
Choose XDR If:
- You have multiple tools but no single source of truth
- You’re missing links between endpoint protection and network traffic
- Your environment spans on-prem, cloud, and SaaS apps
- You want smarter, connected threat intelligence and fewer false positives
XDR solutions bring scale and correlation. But they’re not plug-and-play. You’ll need internal time or a partner to get full value.
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MDR vs EDR vs XDR: It’s Time to Make a Decision
EDR gives you depth on the endpoint.
MDR gives you people who handle the heavy lifting.
XDR gives you a broader, connected picture across systems.
Each path can deliver real protection when it’s aligned to your capacity and operating model.
If you want a security stack that actually works for your organisation, rather than one that overwhelms it, the cyber security specialists at Planet6 can walk you through the options.
No pressure. No hype. Just practical, evidence‑based direction and a security approach that supports your long‑term strategy.
FAQs
EDR monitors and responds on endpoints. MDR adds a managed security team to handle detection and response. XDR connects endpoints, network traffic, cloud, and identity for broader visibility.
Match the stack to your internal capability. Choose EDR if you have analysts, MDR if you need managed support, and XDR if you want connected visibility across systems.
Yes. EDR is often the foundation. MDR can manage the EDR platform. XDR can extend visibility by pulling data from EDR and other sources.
EDR is the lowest entry cost but requires internal skills. MDR adds service fees but reduces staffing needs. XDR varies by vendor and may require integration work but reduces tool sprawl.