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Government · head to head

DemandStar vs VMware Carbon Black

DemandStar logo

DemandStar

Government

Bid distribution network that is free for government agencies and charges the suppliers instead

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
V

VMware Carbon Black

Cybersecurity

Cloud-delivered endpoint protection and EDR, now owned by Broadcom and positioned alongside Symantec.

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only DemandStar has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: DemandStar coverage is opt-in by agency, so a supplier paying for a state tier receives only participating agencies and must still monitor other portals for the rest.; VMware Carbon Black broadcom's enterprise model concentrates direct sales and support on its largest accounts and moves everyone else to resellers, so a mid-size customer can lose named support contacts and face a substantially repriced renewal with limited notice.
  • They diverge on capability: DemandStar covers Free for agencies, VMware Carbon Black covers Endpoint Standard.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DemandStar and VMware Carbon Black actually diverge.

Attributes where DemandStar and VMware Carbon Black differ
AttributeDemandStarVMware Carbon Black
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree for agencies, per year by geographic coverage for supplierssubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebDesktop, Api
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
FoundedUnknown2002

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 DemandStar

  • Free for agencies
  • Commodity code matching
  • eBidding
  • Plan holder lists
  • Supplier registration
  • Geographic subscription tiers

Only in VMware Carbon Black

  • Endpoint Standard
  • Enterprise EDR
  • Audit and Remediation
  • Single sensor
  • Live Response
  • Workload protection
  • Container security
  • Watchlists and feeds

What people use each for

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

DemandStar

  • A city purchasing officer who wants wider bid distribution without running a procurement to buy softwarenot VMware Carbon Black
  • A contractor who works in three adjacent counties and wants notifications only for that footprintnot VMware Carbon Black
  • An agency needing sealed electronic bid submission to replace paper deliveries to the clerknot VMware Carbon Black
  • A supplier testing whether public sector work is viable before committing to a national subscriptionnot VMware Carbon Black

VMware Carbon Black

  • A SOC that wants unfiltered endpoint telemetry to hunt over rather than only vendor-generated alertsnot DemandStar
  • A vSphere estate that wants workload protection deployed through the hypervisor instead of installing an agent in every guestnot DemandStar
  • Replacing signature antivirus after an incident where the incumbent product had no record of what the attacker didnot DemandStar
  • An organisation already inside a Broadcom or Symantec enterprise agreement that can consolidate endpoint onto an existing contractnot DemandStar

Where each one falls short

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

DemandStar

  • Coverage is opt-in by agency, so a supplier paying for a state tier receives only participating agencies and must still monitor other portals for the rest.
  • The free supplier tier charges around 5 US dollars per bid document download, which turns an apparently free plan into a metered one as soon as you actually pursue opportunities.
  • State pricing ranges from roughly 100 to 1,499 US dollars with the variation driven by agency density, so suppliers cannot predict cost from geography alone.
  • Because agencies pay nothing, they have little leverage over the roadmap and features are driven by what makes supplier subscriptions sell.
  • The brand is being folded into Euna OpenBid following the Euna Solutions consolidation, so suppliers and agencies should expect the name and portal to change.

VMware Carbon Black

  • Broadcom's enterprise model concentrates direct sales and support on its largest accounts and moves everyone else to resellers, so a mid-size customer can lose named support contacts and face a substantially repriced renewal with limited notice.
  • Continuous EDR recording is retained for a defined window and longer retention is a paid tier, so the investigation you most need is often the one whose telemetry has already aged out, and that is discovered during the incident rather than before it.
  • The product assumes an operator: watchlists, policy tuning and alert triage are ongoing work, and organisations without a dedicated analyst or an MDR contract typically leave policies in monitor mode and pay for telemetry that is never reviewed.
  • The sensor operates in the same kernel and file-filter territory as other endpoint agents, so running it alongside an incumbent antivirus, DLP or backup agent commonly produces performance complaints and requires maintained exclusion lists on both sides.
  • Linux sensor support is tied to specific distribution and kernel versions, so a routine operating system upgrade can leave hosts without a supported sensor until a matching build ships, and anything outside the supported list gets no coverage at all.

Pricing, plan by plan

DemandStar

Free
  • Government agencyFree
    • Post unlimited solicitations
    • Access the supplier network
    • eBidding and plan holder lists
  • Supplier freeFree
    • Bid notifications for one agency of your choice
    • Bid document downloads charged around 5 USD each
    • Supplier profile and registration
  • Supplier county$60/year
    • All participating agencies within one county
    • Unlimited bid document access for that county
    • Approximate rate, varies by county
  • Supplier state$100/year
    • All participating agencies within one state
    • Priced from around 100 to 1,499 USD depending on agency density

VMware Carbon Black

On request
  • CB Endpoint StandardFree
    • NGAV
    • Behavioral EDR
    • Device control
  • CB Endpoint AdvancedFree
    • All Standard features
    • Threat hunting
    • Audit and remediation
  • CB Endpoint EnterpriseFree
    • All Advanced features
    • Advanced threat hunting
    • Live response

Which should you pick?

Choose DemandStar if

  • You need free for agencies.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want commodity code matching.
DemandStar review

Choose VMware Carbon Black if

  • You need endpoint standard.
  • You work on Desktop, Api.
  • You also want enterprise edr.
VMware Carbon Black review

Questions people ask

Is DemandStar or VMware Carbon Black better?
Neither clearly leads. DemandStar starts at Free and VMware Carbon Black at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DemandStar or VMware Carbon Black?
DemandStar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for DemandStar and On request for VMware Carbon Black.
Does DemandStar or VMware Carbon Black run on more platforms?
DemandStar runs on Web. VMware Carbon Black runs on Desktop, Api.
Can I use DemandStar for free?
Yes. DemandStar has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. VMware Carbon Black starts at On request.
What is DemandStar best used for?
DemandStar is most often used for a city purchasing officer who wants wider bid distribution without running a procurement to buy software, a contractor who works in three adjacent counties and wants notifications only for that footprint, an agency needing sealed electronic bid submission to replace paper deliveries to the clerk, a supplier testing whether public sector work is viable before committing to a national subscription. Of those, a city purchasing officer who wants wider bid distribution without running a procurement to buy software and a contractor who works in three adjacent counties and wants notifications only for that footprint are not what VMware Carbon Black is typically brought in for.
What can DemandStar do that VMware Carbon Black cannot?
DemandStar covers Free for agencies, Commodity code matching, eBidding, Plan holder lists. VMware Carbon Black covers Endpoint Standard, Enterprise EDR, Audit and Remediation, Single sensor.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DemandStar: Is DemandStar free for governments?

Yes, entirely. Agencies post solicitations and access the supplier network at no cost; suppliers fund the platform.

VMware Carbon Black: Who owns Carbon Black now?

Broadcom. It acquired VMware in November 2023, and Carbon Black now sits in Broadcom's enterprise security business alongside Symantec. VMware branding is being phased out.

DemandStar: What do suppliers pay?

Free for one agency with roughly 5 USD per document download, about 60 USD a year per county, 100 to 1,499 per state, and 2,699 for national coverage.

VMware Carbon Black: Why do the docs use names I do not recognise?

The product has been renamed repeatedly. CB Defense is now Endpoint Standard, CB ThreatHunter is Enterprise EDR and CB LiveOps is Audit and Remediation. Older community answers and runbooks still use the previous names.

DemandStar: Who owns DemandStar?

Euna Solutions, the public sector portfolio formerly known as GTY Technology, which also absorbed Bonfire and Ion Wave.

VMware Carbon Black: Does it replace my existing antivirus?

Yes on supported Windows, macOS and Linux versions, and running it alongside another antivirus is not recommended because the two agents contend for the same hooks. Check your compliance requirements, as some auditors still ask for a named antivirus product.

DemandStar: Does it cover every agency?

No. Only agencies that have opted in, which is the main limitation for suppliers buying wide coverage.

VMware Carbon Black: Do I need a full-time analyst to run it?

To get value from Enterprise EDR, effectively yes. The prevention tier can run with part-time attention, but the hunting and recording capability is only worth its cost if somebody is querying it, which is why many customers buy it through an MDR provider.

VMware Carbon Black: How is it licensed?

Per endpoint, per year, with the capability tier determining the rate and workload and container protection priced separately. Extended EDR data retention is an additional line item.

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