CrowdStrike Falcon Alternatives 2026: 5 Free Options
CrowdStrike Falcon alternatives: Wazuh, Velociraptor, osquery, LimaCharlie and 3 more. Prices and licenses checked October 25, 2026.
•4 min read•Security Software & Testing
Verdict:CrowdStrike is a managed, cloud-delivered product, so most realistic alternatives are either cheaper commercial agents or open-source tooling that you operate yourself. That difference matters more than feature lists. If you want prevention plus response with a vendor on the hook, compare SentinelOne at $179.99 per endpoint a year against Falcon Enterprise at $184.99; the list prices are close, so pick on detection tests and support quality. For a small business already on Microsoft 365, Defender for Business at $3 per user a month is the budget route, with the compromise that it fits Microsoft stacks best. LimaCharlie gives real EDR for free on two endpoints and charges $3.00 per endpoint after that, a good option for small, technical fleets. If you have analysts and want to avoid licence fees, Wazuh, Velociraptor, osquery and Security Onion cover visibility, detection and hunting, but none matches CrowdStrike's managed hunting or global threat intelligence, and you take on the maintenance and tuning. Osquery and Velociraptor in particular do not block anything by themselves. Run any candidate alongside Falcon on a test group first, then simulate a known attack technique and check whether the alert, the context and the response action are all there.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wazuh | Free (free, no license cost; paid support and cloud not priced on the page) | Windows, Linux, macOS, Self-hosted | Self-managed detection and compliance | Docs only |
| Velociraptor | Free | Windows, Linux, macOS | Threat hunting and forensics | Docs only |
| osquery | Free | Windows, Linux, macOS | Endpoint telemetry for engineering teams | Docs only |
| LimaCharlie | Free (Community: up to 2 endpoints, free EDR and telemetry, 1 year storage); paid from $3 per endpoint (Standard EDR; billing period not stated) | Windows, Linux, macOS, Web | Small fleets that want real EDR | Docs only |
| Security Onion | Free (free platform; a paid Pro edition exists) | Linux (ISO), AWS, Azure, Google Cloud | Teams with analysts and network visibility | Docs only |
| Microsoft Defender for Business | Paid from $3 per user/month, billed yearly | Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux | Microsoft 365 small businesses | Docs only |
| SentinelOne | Paid from $179.99 per endpoint/year (Singularity Complete, 5-100 workstations) | Windows, macOS, Linux | Enterprises comparing EDR vendors | Docs only |
| Huntress | Paid from $8.99 per endpoint/month list price (Managed EDR; Managed ITDR $4.80 per identity, Managed SIEM $4.00 per data source) | Web browser | Security & System | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want a commercial EDR head-to-head with CrowdStrike (SentinelOne is the pick)
- You are a Microsoft 365 small business on a budget (Microsoft Defender for Business is the pick)
- You have a small fleet and want a free EDR start (LimaCharlie is the pick)
- You have analysts and want open-source detection (Wazuh is the pick)
- You mostly need hunting and forensics (Velociraptor is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on CrowdStrike Falcon features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
CrowdStrike Falcon today: Paid from $59.99 per device/year, billed annually (Falcon Go, up to 100 devices) (CrowdStrike Falcon pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for CrowdStrike Falcon alternatives
CrowdStrike Falcon Go is $59.99 per device per year with a cap of 100 devices; Pro is $99.99 and Enterprise $184.99 per device per year. Complete, the managed 24/7 service, is quoted by sales. Annual subscriptions are billed in full up front, with a full refund if you cancel within 30 days. Monthly billing exists for Go, Pro and Enterprise at $7.99, $14.99 and $19.99 per device.
Wazuh
Compared with CrowdStrike Falcon: Free, open-source XDR and SIEM with agents for Windows, Linux and macOS. Offers detection, file integrity and compliance checks but not CrowdStrike's cloud threat intelligence or managed hunting, and you run the stack.
Price: Free (free, no license cost; paid support and cloud not priced on the page) (Wazuh pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, Linux, macOS, Self-hosted. GPL-2.0 (most code); AGPL-3.0 (engine) (open source).
Project activity: 17.5k GitHub stars · latest release v4.14.9 (Oct 15, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Self-managed detection and compliance.
Worth knowing: XDR/SIEM with host agents; free cloud trial.
Velociraptor
Compared with CrowdStrike Falcon: AGPL-3.0 endpoint visibility and incident-response collection tool. Excellent for hunting and forensics after an alert, but it is not a prevention agent, so it replaces CrowdStrike's investigation features and not blocking.
Price: Free (Velociraptor pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, Linux, macOS. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 4.4k GitHub stars · latest release v0.77.3 (Oct 5, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Threat hunting and forensics.
Worth knowing: Endpoint visibility, hunting and DFIR collection, not a prevention agent.
osquery
Compared with CrowdStrike Falcon: Apache-2.0 or GPL-2.0 agent that exposes endpoints as SQL tables. Gives telemetry and visibility for free, but no blocking, console or response actions, so it is a building block and not an EDR replacement.
Price: Free (osquery pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, Linux, macOS. Apache-2.0 OR GPL-2.0-only (open source).
Project activity: 23.7k GitHub stars · latest release 5.24.0 (Oct 9, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Endpoint telemetry for engineering teams.
Worth knowing: SQL-style endpoint telemetry; no blocking or response on its own.
LimaCharlie
Compared with CrowdStrike Falcon: SaaS EDR with a free tier for 2 endpoints and Standard at $3.00 per endpoint, against CrowdStrike Falcon Go at $59.99 per device a year. Pay-as-you-go and API-driven, with a smaller brand and fewer managed services.
Price: Free (Community: up to 2 endpoints, free EDR and telemetry, 1 year storage); paid from $3 per endpoint (Standard EDR; billing period not stated) (LimaCharlie pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, Linux, macOS, Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Small fleets that want real EDR.
Worth knowing: Telemetry is $0.20/GB on paid.
Security Onion
Compared with CrowdStrike Falcon: Free platform bundling Suricata, Zeek, Elastic Agent and osquery. Strong on network and host monitoring for a defender team, but source-available under Elastic License 2.0, and heavier to operate than a single endpoint agent.
Price: Free (free platform; a paid Pro edition exists) (Security Onion pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Linux (ISO), AWS, Azure, Google Cloud. Elastic License 2.0.
Best for: Teams with analysts and network visibility.
Worth knowing: Bundles Suricata, Zeek, Elastic Agent and osquery; heavier to run than a single agent.
Microsoft Defender for Business
Compared with CrowdStrike Falcon: Paid endpoint protection at $3 per user a month billed yearly, covering up to 5 devices per user on Microsoft's published terms. Cheaper than Falcon Go per device, and fits Microsoft 365 shops, but weaker outside the Microsoft ecosystem.
Price: Paid from $3 per user/month, billed yearly (Microsoft Defender for Business pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux. Proprietary.
Best for: Microsoft 365 small businesses.
Worth knowing: 30-day free trial; the platform list is Microsoft's published coverage and was not re-read here.
SentinelOne
Compared with CrowdStrike Falcon: Direct commercial competitor, listed at $179.99 per endpoint a year for Singularity Complete, against CrowdStrike's $184.99 for Falcon Enterprise. Similar autonomous EDR approach; savings come from negotiation, not list price.
Price: Paid from $179.99 per endpoint/year (Singularity Complete, 5-100 workstations) (SentinelOne pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux. Proprietary.
Best for: Enterprises comparing EDR vendors.
Worth knowing: Sold through partners; the partner price controls.
Other popular options (paid)
Huntress
Compared with CrowdStrike Falcon: Managed EDR lists at $8.99 per endpoint per month, with a standard 12-month term. Direct customers and resellers have a 50-seat minimum per product; MSPs have none. Aimed at small IT teams and MSPs.
Price: Paid from $8.99 per endpoint/month list price (Managed EDR; Managed ITDR $4.80 per identity, Managed SIEM $4.00 per data source) (Huntress pricing, checked 2026-10-25).
Which one to pick
- You want a commercial EDR head-to-head with CrowdStrike: SentinelOne
- You are a Microsoft 365 small business on a budget: Microsoft Defender for Business
- You have a small fleet and want a free EDR start: LimaCharlie
- You have analysts and want open-source detection: Wazuh
- You mostly need hunting and forensics: Velociraptor
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Wazuh, Velociraptor, osquery, LimaCharlie, Security Onion, Microsoft Defender for Business, SentinelOne: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from CrowdStrike Falcon. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-25: CrowdStrike Falcon, Wazuh, Velociraptor, osquery, LimaCharlie, Security Onion, Microsoft Defender for Business, SentinelOne, Huntress. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.