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Cybersecurity · head to head

Cybereason Defense Platform vs Semperis

Cybereason Defense Platform logo

Cybereason Defense Platform

Cybersecurity

AI-driven endpoint protection and detection

From
$50/year
Rated
-
Semperis logo

Semperis

Cybersecurity

Identity threat detection and Active Directory forest recovery for AD, Entra ID and Okta, from a privately held US vendor.

From
On request
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Cybereason Defense Platform no published pricing on any platform tier: three plan levels (Enterprise, Enterprise Advanced, Enterprise Complete) feature-differentiated but cost-free; Semperis scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.
  • They diverge on capability: Cybereason Defense Platform covers Next-gen antivirus, Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cybereason Defense Platform and Semperis actually diverge.

Attributes where Cybereason Defense Platform and Semperis differ
AttributeCybereason Defense PlatformSemperis
Starting price$50/yearOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWindows, Macos, Linux, MobileWeb
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Cybereason Defense Platform

  • Next-gen antivirus
  • Endpoint detection and response
  • Machine learning detection
  • Behavioral analysis
  • Threat hunting
  • Automated remediation
  • XDR integration
  • Ransomware protection

Only in Semperis

  • Active Directory Forest Recovery
  • Malware-free restore
  • Replication-stream monitoring
  • Automated rollback
  • Attack indicator scoring
  • Entra ID and Okta coverage
  • Purple Knight
  • Forest Druid

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Cybereason Defense Platform

  • Enterprise threat detection and response platformnot Semperis
  • Managed detection and response (MDR) servicesnot Semperis
  • Advanced cybersecurity for large organizationsnot Semperis

Semperis

  • An organisation that cannot answer an auditor or insurer asking how long it would take to rebuild Active Directory after a destructive attacknot Cybereason Defense Platform
  • Post-incident recovery where domain controllers are compromised and restoring from system-state backup would reintroduce the attacker's footholdnot Cybereason Defense Platform
  • Continuous detection of privileged group changes and directory-level tampering that domain controller security logs missnot Cybereason Defense Platform
  • Hybrid estates where AD, Entra ID and Okta all matter and no single tool currently shows changes across the threenot Cybereason Defense Platform

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Cybereason Defense Platform

  • No published pricing on any platform tier: three plan levels (Enterprise, Enterprise Advanced, Enterprise Complete) feature-differentiated but cost-free
  • MDR services cost hidden: tiered MDR inclusion (Essentials, Essentials+XR, Complete) does not disclose pricing per tier
  • Add-on pricing absent: incident response, DFIR, assessments, mobile defense, threat hunting marked as 'Add-On' with no pricing
  • Sales-gated all pricing: no budget range or starting price available; customers must book demo or contact sales

Semperis

  • Scope is limited to Active Directory, Entra ID and Okta, so an organisation whose critical identity lives elsewhere gets little from it, and the recovery value declines in direct proportion to how much has already moved off on-premises AD.
  • The licence buys tooling, not a proven runbook: forest recovery is only worth what your last rehearsal demonstrated, and a plan that has never been executed end to end in a lab is an untested assumption regardless of what was purchased.
  • It overlaps with backup and directory management products from Quest, Veeam, Commvault and others, so the buyer must argue internally why a dedicated product is needed alongside a backup contract that already claims to protect Active Directory.
  • Running Directory Services Protector well requires someone who understands AD internals, replication metadata and Tier 0 attack paths, and without that person the alerts on privileged changes are either ignored or auto-reverted in ways that break legitimate administration.
  • Licensing is driven by identity object counts, so directories carrying years of stale user accounts and service principals pay for objects that should have been deleted, and the cleanup project that would reduce the bill is the one nobody has time for.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cybereason Defense Platform

$50/year
  • Cybereason NGAV$50/year
    • Next-gen antivirus
    • Machine learning detection
    • Ransomware protection
  • Cybereason EDR$85/year
    • All NGAV features
    • Endpoint detection
    • Automated response
  • Cybereason Complete$150/year
    • All EDR features
    • Managed detection
    • 24/7 SOC support

Semperis

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Semperis review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Cybereason Defense Platform if

  • You need next-gen antivirus.
  • You work on Windows, Macos, Linux, Mobile.
  • You also want endpoint detection and response.

Choose Semperis if

  • You need active directory forest recovery.
  • You also want malware-free restore.

Questions people ask

Is Cybereason Defense Platform or Semperis better?
Neither clearly leads. Cybereason Defense Platform starts at $50/year and Semperis at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cybereason Defense Platform or Semperis?
Cybereason Defense Platform starts at $50/year and Semperis at On request.
Does Cybereason Defense Platform or Semperis run on more platforms?
Cybereason Defense Platform runs on Windows, Macos, Linux, Mobile. Semperis runs on Web.
What is Cybereason Defense Platform best used for?
Cybereason Defense Platform is most often used for enterprise threat detection and response platform, managed detection and response (mdr) services, advanced cybersecurity for large organizations. Of those, enterprise threat detection and response platform and managed detection and response (mdr) services are not what Semperis is typically brought in for.
What can Cybereason Defense Platform do that Semperis cannot?
Cybereason Defense Platform covers Next-gen antivirus, Endpoint detection and response, Machine learning detection, Behavioral analysis. Semperis covers Active Directory Forest Recovery, Malware-free restore, Replication-stream monitoring, Automated rollback.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cybereason Defense Platform: What are the Cybereason Enterprise pricing tiers?

Cybereason offers three tiers (Enterprise, Enterprise Advanced, Enterprise Complete) with different MDR service levels (MDR Essentials, MDR Essentials+XR, MDR Complete), but exact pricing is not published.

Source
Semperis: Does this replace my backups?

No. It replaces the Active Directory recovery procedure specifically. You still need backups for everything else, and the point of Semperis is that a generic system-state backup of a domain controller is a poor way to recover a forest because it restores the operating system along with whatever compromised it.

Cybereason Defense Platform: How much do add-on services cost (incident response, DFIR, threat hunting)?

Add-on services (incident response, DFIR, security assessments, mobile defense, threat hunting) are available across all plans but marked as 'Add-On' with no published pricing.

Source
Semperis: Is it useful if we are cloud-only on Entra ID?

Partly. Directory Services Protector covers Entra ID and Okta for change tracking and posture, but the forest recovery product, which is the strongest reason to buy, applies to on-premises Active Directory. A genuinely cloud-only organisation should weigh it against Microsoft's own tooling.

Cybereason Defense Platform: How do I get pricing from Cybereason?

Click 'Book a Demo' or 'Talk to a Cybereason Defender' on the website. Cybereason sales will discuss pricing, platform fit, and custom solutions based on your organization's needs.

Source
Semperis: Are Purple Knight and Forest Druid really free?

Yes, both are free downloads with no licence requirement, and they are widely used by organisations that are not Semperis customers. They are also, transparently, the top of the sales funnel.

Semperis: How long does forest recovery actually take?

The honest answer is whatever your rehearsal took. The vendor's case is hours instead of days, and automation genuinely removes most manual steps, but the number that matters for your board is the one from a test in your own environment.

Semperis: Does it require agents on domain controllers?

It collects directory changes from the AD replication stream, which is what lets it see changes that bypass the security log. Deployment details vary by product and version, so confirm the exact architecture against your domain controller change-control rules.

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