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Cybersecurity · head to head

Speakeasy vs VMware Carbon Black

Speakeasy logo

Speakeasy

Cybersecurity

AI control plane for governing enterprise agents, MCP servers, and skills

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
V

VMware Carbon Black

Cybersecurity

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Speakeasy no self-serve pricing is published; every plan requires a sales conversation.; 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: Speakeasy covers AI tool catalog, VMware Carbon Black covers Endpoint Standard.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Speakeasy and VMware Carbon Black differ
AttributeSpeakeasyVMware Carbon Black
Pricing modelquotesubscription
Platformsweb, apiDesktop, Api
FoundedUnknown2002

Identical on both: starting price (On request), 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 Speakeasy

  • AI tool catalog
  • Per-agent identity
  • Role-based access control
  • Real-time policy enforcement
  • Audit logging
  • MDM and SSO integration

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.

Speakeasy

  • Governing AI agents at enterprise scalenot VMware Carbon Black
  • Preventing shadow AI tool sprawlnot VMware Carbon Black
  • Enforcing least-privilege access for agentsnot VMware Carbon Black
  • Auditing AI tool call activity for compliancenot VMware Carbon Black

VMware Carbon Black

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

Where each one falls short

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

Speakeasy

  • No self-serve pricing is published; every plan requires a sales conversation.
  • The product pivoted away from its original SDK-generation offering, so past documentation and customers built on that use case are no longer the focus.
  • Requires integration with an existing identity provider such as Okta or Entra ID to be useful, so it is not a standalone solution.
  • No published free tier or trial pricing was found.

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

Speakeasy

On request
  • Enterprise$undefined/mo
    • Custom pricing
    • AI tool catalog and visibility
    • Per-agent identity and access control

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 Speakeasy if

  • You need ai tool catalog.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want per-agent identity.
Speakeasy 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 Speakeasy or VMware Carbon Black better?
Neither clearly leads. Speakeasy starts at On request 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, Speakeasy or VMware Carbon Black?
Speakeasy starts at On request and VMware Carbon Black at On request.
Does Speakeasy or VMware Carbon Black run on more platforms?
Speakeasy runs on web, api. VMware Carbon Black runs on Desktop, Api.
What is Speakeasy best used for?
Speakeasy is most often used for governing ai agents at enterprise scale, preventing shadow ai tool sprawl, enforcing least-privilege access for agents, auditing ai tool call activity for compliance. Of those, governing ai agents at enterprise scale and preventing shadow ai tool sprawl are not what VMware Carbon Black is typically brought in for.
What can Speakeasy do that VMware Carbon Black cannot?
Speakeasy covers AI tool catalog, Per-agent identity, Role-based access control, Real-time policy enforcement. VMware Carbon Black covers Endpoint Standard, Enterprise EDR, Audit and Remediation, Single sensor.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Speakeasy: How much does Speakeasy cost?

Speakeasy offers an Enterprise tier with features including SaaS catalog integrations, custom server creation, code mode efficiency, and serverless hosting. No specific pricing is published; interested parties contact the company to discuss pricing.

Source
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.

Speakeasy: What is included in Speakeasy's Enterprise plan?

The Enterprise plan includes SaaS catalog integrations, custom server creation, code mode efficiency, and serverless hosting. Customers contact Speakeasy to discuss their specific pricing for these features.

Source
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.

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.

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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