How much should MDR cost?

There is no defensible universal monthly price in the verified evidence gathered here. Obtain a scoped quote and compare total annual cost at the same asset counts, integrations, response authority and retention.

A useful counterexample is Microsoft Defender for Business's US list price of $3 per user per month paid annually, observed at the cutoff. That is software pricing within the product's eligibility limits, not a price for an independently staffed MDR operation.

Ask for five separate numbers: recurring service, required licenses, onboarding, metered consumption and optional incident/recovery work. Then add your own implementation and ongoing management hours at an internally approved labor cost. Show tax, minimum commitments, renewal uplift and exit support separately. For three-year comparisons, model each year explicitly; a first-year discount is not a permanent rate.

Use “quote required” for an unknown, never zero. A lower monthly bill can be a better deal, but only after the same response and coverage requirements have been priced.