Arctic Wolf vs Expel 2026: Pricing, Delivery Model, and BYO-SIEM
Arctic Wolf and Expel are the two most commonly shortlisted mid-market MDR vendors in 2026. They disagree on almost every commercial axis: metering, contract length, BYO-SIEM, and what the analyst delivers.
Pick Arctic Wolf if you want a named Concierge Security Team and you are comfortable with a three-year per-user commit. Pick Expel if you want per-integration pricing, a self-service portal (Workbench), and the freedom to bring your own SIEM.
Side-by-side ledger
| Axis | Arctic Wolf | Expel |
|---|---|---|
| Metering unit | Per user / year | Per technology integration / month |
| Typical commit | 36-month standard | 12-month minimum, multi-year discounts |
| Delivery model | Named Concierge Security Team (CST) | Workbench portal + analysts |
| BYO-SIEM | Limited; Aurora platform preferred | Yes; first-class support for Sentinel, Splunk, Chronicle |
| Published price | Quote-only | Quote-only |
| Inferred band | $ 75 to $ 250 per user / year | $ 4,000 to $ 12,000 per integration / month |
Recommendation by buyer profile
- 300 to 800 user mid-market, no in-house SOC. Arctic Wolf if the CST relationship is the procurement driver; Expel if BYO-SIEM is non-negotiable.
- Existing Splunk or Sentinel licence. Expel; the per-integration model avoids paying twice for ingest.
- Highly regulated (HIPAA, PCI, FedRAMP). Arctic Wolf; the CST model gives a named contact for audit.
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