Vijilan vs Field Effect. Their agent everywhere vs. your stack as-is.
Field Effect (formerly Covalence) is one of the most respectable SMB-focused MDRs in the market: founded by an ex-CSE operator, it posted 100% attack-step detection and an 11-minute mean time to detect in the 2024 MITRE managed-services evaluation, and its ARO alerting model genuinely kills noise. The comparison turns on architecture and brand. Field Effect requires its own kernel agent (no bring-your-own-EDR), delivers under co-branding rather than white-label, and sells direct alongside its MSP partners. Vijilan wraps the EDR your clients already run, ships full white-label at every tier, and is channel-exclusive by charter.
Field Effect earns its reputation: an act-first SOC with documented containment (host isolation, process kills, domain blocks, cloud account locking), strong third-party detection validation, per-user-only pricing, and rare-for-SMB network-layer visibility. Its structural trade-offs are equally clear: the proprietary agent is mandatory (CrowdStrike, SentinelOne or Defender estates face rip-and-replace), the platform is SIEM-like rather than a SIEM (30-day default log retention, 90-day security events, raw telemetry abstracted away, extended retention paid and prospective-only), the network layer needs an appliance, public branding support is co-branding rather than white-label, and Field Effect sells direct to businesses alongside its partner base. Vijilan's ThreatRespond inverts each one: vendor-agnostic over existing tooling, ThreatLog SIEM included at every tier with no per-GB charges, white-label as the product, and a vendor that is structurally incapable of competing with you. Choose Field Effect for a tightly integrated single-vendor SMB package with network visibility. Choose Vijilan when the practice has to run on your clients' existing stack and under your brand.
Side by side. Feature by feature.
| Capability | Vijilan | Field Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Response model | SOC owns containment: ThreatContain isolates hosts, disables accounts, blocks IPs, kills processes, 15-minute response SLA | Genuinely act-first: automated response on high-confidence threats plus analyst-initiated isolation, process kills, domain blocks and cloud account locking, tunable via Off/Limited/Balanced/Aggressive policies |
| Works with your existing EDR | Vendor-agnostic: ThreatRespond operates Defender, SentinelOne, Carbon Black and others as the response plane | Proprietary kernel agent required on every endpoint; no bring-your-own-EDR — existing EDR estates get replaced |
| Detection validation | CrowdStrike-certified team; Praxis AI triage with MITRE ATT&CK mapping on every investigation | 2024 MITRE managed-services evaluation: actionable detections on 100% of attack steps, 11-minute mean time to detect — among the strongest results in the field |
| SIEM and retention | ThreatLog SIEM included at every tier: no per-GB charges, compliance-grade retention | SIEM-like logging, not a SIEM: 30-day general / 90-day security-event defaults, raw logs abstracted from the customer, extended retention as a paid add-on that only applies from purchase forward |
| Network layer | Network detection and response within the SOC service, no appliance required | Real network monitoring plus a DNS firewall on MDR Complete — via a primary appliance (physical, virtual or cloud-hosted) and branch secondaries |
| White-label | Full white-label at every tier: portal, reports and notifications under your brand | Co-branding and portal themes for partners; the Field Effect brand stays visible on agent, portal and reports |
| Channel model | Channel-exclusive: sells only through MSPs/MSSPs/VARs, routes end customers to partners | MSP partner program with deal registration — but also sells direct and through vertical networks like ICE Mortgage Technology |
| Pricing model | Predictable per-user or per-endpoint subscription, rates gated behind partner verification | Per-user only, never per-device or per-GB, with a published price range on its site and onboarding included — genuinely simple |
| Cloud/SaaS coverage | M365, Entra ID, Okta, Google Workspace and broader SaaS within six-domain coverage | Strong M365 and Google Workspace BEC defense with auto account-locking; roughly 15-20 cloud app integrations per reviewers |
| Best fit | MSPs building a white-label SOC practice over mixed or established client stacks | SMB-focused MSPs standardizing greenfield clients on one integrated vendor with network visibility included |
// last updated 2026 · comparisons reflect public product information at time of writing
Pick Vijilan when…
- Your clients already run Defender, SentinelOne or Carbon Black and you won't rip out working EDR to get a managed SOC
- You need a real SIEM with compliance-grade retention included, not 30-day logs with retention sold separately and applied prospectively
- The service must carry your brand end to end — co-branded themes on a vendor portal aren't the same asset
- You want a security vendor with zero direct sales motion, so there is no scenario where it lands your prospect as its own customer
- Your analysts want to see the underlying telemetry — raw-log opacity is the most consistent practitioner complaint about the platform
- You have larger or regulated clients coming and want a path to managed CrowdStrike Falcon (ThreatDefend) and managed Falcon Next-Gen SIEM (NextDefend)
Pick Field Effect when…
honest answer: they're a better fit in these cases
- You're standardizing small clients on one integrated vendor and the single-agent simplicity outweighs EDR flexibility
- Network-layer visibility with a managed DNS firewall matters and you'll accept the appliance logistics to get it
- Your client base runs Google Workspace, which many SMB-focused MDR rivals still don't cover
- The ARO alert model appeals: three plain-language alert types with heavy noise filtering and step-by-step remediation guidance
- Per-user-only pricing with onboarding included is the billing shape your quotes need
Two act-first SOCs, one architectural fork
This is not a tickets-versus-fixes comparison — Field Effect's SOC genuinely acts, and its 2024 MITRE managed-services results (100% of attack steps detected, 11-minute mean time to detect) deserve plain credit. The fork is what the SOC is allowed to touch. Field Effect's response runs through its own kernel agent and appliance, so the price of admission is replacing whatever EDR your clients run today. Vijilan's ThreatContain runs through the client's existing stack — the Defender or SentinelOne deployment you already manage becomes the response plane, tenant by tenant, in about an hour each. Same instinct to act; opposite assumptions about whose tools get to stay.
SIEM-like is not a SIEM
Field Effect describes its logging as SIEM-like, and that's accurate: 30 days of general logs and 90 days of derived security events by default, raw telemetry abstracted behind the AROs, extended retention as a paid add-on that only covers data from the day you buy it. For clients with HIPAA, PCI or CMMC obligations — or an MSP whose analysts want to hunt in their own data — that abstraction is the recurring practitioner complaint. Vijilan includes ThreatLog, a real SIEM built on Falcon Next-Gen SIEM's index-free architecture, at every tier with no per-GB charges, so the audit trail your regulated clients need is part of the service rather than an upsell with a start date.
Co-brand, direct sales, and whose client it is
Field Effect runs a genuine MSP program — deal registration, named partner success managers, 85% MSP bookings growth in 2024 — and also maintains a direct sales path, publishes a request-pricing flow for businesses, and distributes through vertical networks like ICE Mortgage Technology. None of that is hidden, and for many partners it's an acceptable trade. But combine it with co-branding (the Field Effect name stays on the portal and reports) and the structural question surfaces: when the client renews in three years, whose service do they think they've been buying? Vijilan's answer is contractual: white-label at every tier, 100% of revenue through partners, end customers routed back to you. The brand equity accrues to the MSP, because that's the entire design.
Vijilan vs Field Effect FAQ.
Is Vijilan cheaper than Field Effect?+
Field Effect publishes a per-user price range on its site and prices per user only, with onboarding included — simple and often competitive for small clients. Vijilan prices per user or per endpoint with SIEM, active containment and full white-label included, and no data-volume billing; exact rates are shared through partner verification. Compare all-in for a real client mix, especially where compliance retention or network coverage would add Field Effect line-items.
Does Field Effect's SOC actually take action?+
Yes — credit where due. Documented active response includes host and server isolation, process termination, malicious domain blocking, and automatic locking of compromised M365 or Google Workspace accounts, with automated actions on high-confidence detections and response policies you can tune from Limited to Aggressive. The differences are architectural: those actions require Field Effect's own agent and appliance, while Vijilan acts through whatever tooling the client already runs.
Can Vijilan manage clients currently on Field Effect?+
Yes. The usual path is ThreatRespond over the destination EDR: because Field Effect's kernel agent is also the endpoint protection, you choose the replacement EDR first (Defender is the common landing spot), then Vijilan's SOC operates it with identity, SaaS, email and network coverage around it — under your brand. Export any retained logs before the subscription ends; retention doesn't travel.
What about Field Effect's network appliance and DNS firewall?+
It's a genuine differentiator for SMB network visibility, and if a client needs an inline DNS firewall it's worth weighing. Vijilan covers network detection and response within the SOC service without appliance logistics, and for clients that need dedicated network controls we'd pair the SOC with your preferred firewall stack rather than require proprietary hardware.
NextDefend™ managed Falcon Next-Gen SIEM and a SOC that acts, against the mainstream MDR and SIEM field.
ThreatRespond™ and ThreatDefend™ against the MSP security stack.
See it side-by-side
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