MDR vs EDR: Which Does Your Business Need?

The short version: EDR gives you the tooling, MDR gives you the tooling plus the people to run it. If you already have a security operations team, EDR may be enough. If you don't, paying for detection you can't action is a false economy. The UK skills gap makes this decision more urgent than most MDs realise — 49% of UK businesses have a basic cyber security skills gap (DSIT, Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025).

What is the difference between MDR and EDR?

EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) is software that monitors laptops, servers and devices for malicious behaviour and flags or contains it. MDR (Managed Detection and Response) is a service: it includes EDR technology plus a 24/7 team that investigates every alert, hunts for threats, and takes response action on your behalf.

The cleanest way to think about it: EDR is a smoke alarm, MDR is a smoke alarm wired to a fire brigade that is always awake. EDR will tell you something is wrong. Whether anyone acts on that alert at 2am on a Sunday depends entirely on who is watching. That is the gap MDR closes. AMVIA's managed detection and response runs on Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, monitored by our in-house UK SOC around the clock.

MDR vs EDR: feature comparison

Both share the same detection core. The difference is everything that happens after a threat is detected — triage, investigation, response and reporting. The table below shows where standalone endpoint detection and response stops and a managed service begins.

*Pricing ranges are indicative for UK SMEs. Actual costs depend on endpoint count and service scope.*

When should you choose MDR?

Choose MDR if you do not have a dedicated in-house security team, need genuine 24/7 monitoring and response, want enterprise-grade protection at SME cost, or need to satisfy a cyber insurance requirement for managed detection. For the majority of UK businesses with 10–500 staff, this describes their reality.

The reason is simple: detection without response is noise. EDR generates alerts continuously, and most of them need a trained analyst to separate a real intrusion from a false positive. Without that person, alerts pile up unread. Ransomware can encrypt an entire network in minutes, so the National Cyber Security Centre stresses rapid detection and response as core to limiting damage (NCSC). MDR exists precisely because most SMEs can't staff that response themselves. AMVIA pairs MDR with 24/7 security monitoring so nothing waits until Monday.

When is standalone EDR enough?

Choose EDR if you already run a security operations centre or employ a dedicated security analyst who can monitor alerts, investigate incidents and take response action around the clock. In that scenario EDR gives your team the detection tooling and they supply the expertise — you are not paying twice for monitoring you already perform.

This is the right fit for larger organisations with a mature internal security function, or for businesses co-managing security alongside an in-house lead. If that is you, AMVIA's managed SOC service can layer on top of your existing EDR rather than replace it. But be honest about coverage: "we'll keep an eye on it" is not 24/7 monitoring, and attackers deliberately strike outside office hours.

How do the costs of MDR and EDR really compare?

On paper EDR looks cheaper — £3–£10 per endpoint per month versus MDR from £10 per endpoint. But the headline price ignores the analyst you need to operate EDR. Once you add salary, MDR is usually the lower total cost of ownership for an SME.

For a 100-endpoint business, MDR costs approximately £800–£2,500/month. Standalone EDR costs roughly £300–£1,000/month — but to run it effectively you need a security analyst, and that role costs £45,000–£65,000/year before recruitment, training and cover for holidays. Put another way, the "cheaper" option requires hiring a full-time specialist in a market where half of UK businesses already report a skills gap (DSIT 2025). For most SMEs, MDR delivers better outcomes at a lower true cost.

What does AMVIA recommend?

For most UK SMEs without a dedicated security analyst, we recommend MDR over standalone EDR. MDR combines EDR detection technology with 24/7 human monitoring and incident response, removing the need to hire and retain specialist staff. AMVIA's MDR starts from £10 per endpoint per month and includes threat hunting, monthly reporting and a dedicated response team.

We are a security-first partner, not a box-shifter, so we will tell you plainly when standalone EDR is the better call — usually when you already have a capable internal SOC. If you don't, the maths almost always favours MDR. One provider, security-first, Microsoft-certified engineers running Microsoft Defender for Endpoint as the detection core. If you want to see how EDR compares to traditional antivirus before deciding, read our EDR vs antivirus breakdown, or review Microsoft Defender for Business as the underlying technology.