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Bitdefender GravityZone, ESET PROTECT or Sophos Central for a fifty-device UK business

29 September 2026 9 min read

Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security lists the lowest published UK per-device price at around £24.60 a year, with ESET PROTECT Entry close behind at about £33.72, while Sophos Central publishes no price and requires a partner quote. None of the three entry tiers includes EDR, and endpoint protection sits inside the UK's Cyber Essentials malware control.

Written by Kate Bennett Group CEO, Compare the Cloud

A UK small business protecting fifty devices gets the lowest published per-device price from Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security, at £24.60 a device a year at list on a 25-device band, with ESET PROTECT Entry close behind at roughly £33.72. Sophos Central publishes no price at all; every quote comes from a partner. Neither Bitdefender's nor ESET's entry tier includes EDR, so budget for an upgrade if you expect to investigate incidents rather than just block them.

Key pointers

Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security is the cheapest self-service option, at about £24.60 a device a year at list for a 25-device licence, excluding VAT.
ESET PROTECT Entry runs about £33.72 a device a year on the same basis. In independent testing, Bitdefender edged out ESET on both protection scores, though both passed comfortably.
Sophos Central has no published UK price for any business tier. Every fifty-device quote comes through a partner, so budget extra time to get a comparable number.
None of the three entry-level tiers includes EDR (endpoint detection and response). Bitdefender's sits one tier up as Business Security Premium; ESET's sits in a higher PROTECT tier; ask Sophos's partner where EDR appears in their quote.
Bitdefender and ESET both cover Windows, macOS and Linux, including file servers, from the same device count. Sophos licenses servers separately, through Sophos Server Protection, so a fifty-device Sophos quote needs to state server numbers on top.
Bitdefender and ESET both let you buy and manage up to 100 devices online without a salesperson; a fifty-device order fits comfortably inside that self-service limit.
Anti-malware protection is one of the five technical controls in the UK's Cyber Essentials scheme, so whichever product you choose needs real-time scanning and tamper protection switched on if certification matters to your contracts.
Get a written, dated quote before you commit. Bitdefender and ESET show total figures at checkout; Sophos's total only appears once a partner has priced your exact device count.

Choosing endpoint protection for fifty devices — The buying route splits at the quote stage, then rejoins on EDR, compliance and renewal checks.

What endpoint protection actually buys a fifty-device business

Endpoint protection is software that runs on every laptop, desktop and server you own and stops malware, ransomware and other attacks before they do damage. For a business with around fifty devices, the practical decision is not whether to have it. It is which vendor's entry-level business tier gives you a working console, decent detection and a price you can plan around, without you needing a dedicated security analyst.

All three products in this comparison are sold as a subscription, licensed per device, and managed through a cloud console rather than software installed on a local server. That matters for a small business because there is no separate management server to patch, back up or replace. You add and remove devices from a web dashboard, and the licence count simply goes up or down.

Price is not the only difference worth weighing. All three took part in the same AV-Comparatives Business Security Test covering March to June 2026. In that round, AV-Comparatives' Approved Business Security Product Award went to Bitdefender and ESET; Sophos's result did not meet the award's combined criteria on protection, false alarms and performance for that period. Testing rounds run every few months and results can move, so treat it as one dated data point alongside price and what each entry tier includes, not a verdict on the product.

Pricing and cost model

All three vendors charge per device per year, in pounds, excluding VAT. None offers monthly billing for a direct UK buyer; Bitdefender's own subscription terms are annual (or longer) commitments only.

Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security. Bitdefender's own UK pricing tool, read live on its business comparison page, lists Business Security at £299.99 for ten devices on a one-year term, excluding VAT, with a 30 percent first-term promotion bringing that to £209.99. An independent UK price check dated 9 September 2026 put the same product at £614.99 list (£430.49 on the same promotion) for twenty-five devices, which works out at about £24.60 a device a year at list. Bitdefender's own calculator shows the per-device rate falling as the device count rises, so a fifty-device order should land below £24.60 a device; the only way to get the exact figure for your own device count is to run it through Bitdefender's own tool, since the vendor does not publish a fixed fifty-device price.

ESET PROTECT Entry. ESET does not display a static price on its UK product page; the figure only appears once you enter a device count in ESET's own store. An independent UK check dated 9 September 2026 recorded ESET PROTECT Entry at roughly £33.72 a device a year at around 25 devices, excluding VAT, bought and managed online for up to 100 devices through ESET PROTECT Hub. That is around £9 a device more than Bitdefender's equivalent band.

Sophos Central. Sophos publishes no list price for any tier of its endpoint protection. Its own how-to-buy page for Sophos Endpoint asks buyers to "get a quote" and describes "simple, per-user pricing with no hidden extras," but the actual number only comes from a Sophos partner once you supply your device count and required tier. Budget time for that conversation if you are shortlisting Sophos: you cannot get a comparable like-for-like figure from the website alone.

Assumptions. The £24.60 and £33.72 per-device figures above are both quoted at roughly 25 devices, not at your actual fifty-device count, because neither vendor publishes a fixed fifty-device price on a static page. Treat them as the closest available reference point, not a quote. Confirm your own figure, and your renewal price once any first-term promotion ends, before you sign.

Vendor and option comparison

Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security	ESET PROTECT Entry	Sophos Central (Sophos Endpoint)
Published UK price	£299.99 for 10 devices, 1 year, list, excl. VAT (£209.99 on a first-term promotion). About £24.60 a device a year at a 25-device band.	No static price; roughly £33.72 a device a year at around 25 devices, excl. VAT.	None published; quote-only through a partner.
Self-service device cap	Up to 100 devices online	Up to 100 devices online	Not applicable; sold through partners at any size
EDR included at this tier	No, EDR is Business Security Premium	No, EDR is a higher PROTECT tier	No, Sophos EDR is a separate add-on to Sophos Endpoint
Device and OS coverage	Windows, macOS, Linux, physical and virtual servers, one device count	Windows, macOS, Linux and file servers, plus mobile, one subscription	Windows, macOS and Linux endpoints; servers need a separate Sophos Server Protection licence
Real-World Protection Test (Mar-Jun 2026)	99.8 percent	98.8 percent	98.3 percent
Malware Protection Test (March 2026)	99.5 percent	99.2 percent	96.6 percent
AV-Comparatives Approved Business Security Product Award, July 2026	Approved	Approved	Not approved
Vendor country	Romania	Slovakia	United Kingdom (Abingdon, Oxfordshire)
Best suited to	Price-sensitive buyers who want the lowest list price and are happy to self-serve	Buyers who want the same self-service route as Bitdefender but will weigh test results and console feel before deciding	Buyers who already work with a Sophos partner or want everything, including EDR and firewall, negotiated as one deal

Bitdefender wins on published price for a fifty-device business that just wants malware and ransomware protection, a management console, and the option to self-serve. ESET is the one to shortlist alongside it if the small price gap matters less to you than console usability or the specific test result in a given round; run both trials before deciding, since AV-Comparatives results shift round to round. Sophos is not a poor product, but it is the wrong choice if a fixed, comparable price matters to your decision, because you cannot get one without opening a sales conversation.

None of the three is the right answer if what you actually need is EDR from day one on a limited budget. In that case, price the higher tier (Business Security Premium, ESET's Advanced or Complete tier, or Sophos EDR) rather than assuming the entry tier will do the job, because none of the entry tiers in this comparison include it.

UK compliance mapping

Endpoint protection is not a legal requirement for a UK small business, but it is one of five technical controls in Cyber Essentials, the UK Government's baseline cyber security certification. The scheme is developed by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and delivered through IASME. Its malware protection control expects anti-malware to be active on every in-scope device, kept up to date and configured so a standard user cannot switch it off; the alternative route is application allow-listing rather than antivirus software.

Cyber Essentials is voluntary, not law, but a growing number of organisations require suppliers to hold it before they will award a contract. If passing Cyber Essentials, or its more thorough Cyber Essentials Plus audit, is part of why you are buying endpoint protection, confirm with whichever vendor you choose that real-time scanning, automatic updates and tamper protection are switched on by default in the tier you buy, since the assessor checks configuration, not just the presence of a product.

Editorial analysis

For a fifty-device UK business with no dedicated security team, the honest comparison is between price certainty and everything else. Bitdefender and ESET both let you see a total figure, add your card details and be covered within minutes; Sophos asks you to talk to someone first. That difference alone will decide the shortlist for many small businesses, independent of test scores or feature lists.

Where it gets harder is EDR. A fifty-device business with no in-house security analyst rarely has anyone who would use EDR's investigation tools day to day, which is a reasonable argument for staying on the cheaper, prevention-only entry tier from any of the three. The counter-argument is that ransomware recovery is expensive and slow without it, and that the jump in price from entry tier to EDR tier is smaller in cash terms at fifty devices than it looks in percentage terms. Get a number for both tiers from whichever vendor you shortlist before you decide which side of that trade-off you are on.

Sources

Bitdefender GravityZone Solutions (UK compare tool) - Bitdefender
GravityZone Business Security - Bitdefender
Best Antivirus and Endpoint Security for UK Business in 2026 - independent UK price check, 9 September 2026
ESET PROTECT Entry - ESET
Buy Sophos Endpoint - Advanced, XDR, or MDR Complete - Sophos
Business Security Test H1 2026 (March - June) - AV-Comparatives
Information on license usage and calculation - Sophos
Cyber Essentials - National Cyber Security Centre

Data & Insights

Published UK per-device annual price (list, ex VAT)

Bitdefender and ESET both publish a per-device figure at roughly 25 devices; Sophos publishes none.

View the data

Published UK per-device annual price (list, ex VAT)
Category	Price per device per year (GBP, ex VAT)
Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security	£24.60
ESET PROTECT Entry	£33.72

Source: Bitdefender; independent UK price check, 9 September 2026

AV-Comparatives Business Security Test results, H1 2026

Bitdefender, ESET and Sophos all took part in the same test round; none failed.

View the data

AV-Comparatives Business Security Test results, H1 2026
Category	Real-World Protection Test (Mar-Jun 2026)	Malware Protection Test (March 2026)
Bitdefender	99.8%	99.5%
ESET	98.8%	99.2%
Sophos	98.3%	96.6%

Source: AV-Comparatives Business Security Test H1 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Bitdefender Business Security or ESET PROTECT Entry include ransomware rollback?

Bitdefender's Business Security tier includes ransomware mitigation as standard, restoring files from its own copies when it blocks an attack. ESET's Entry tier is positioned as its base protection layer, with more advanced detection and response capability reserved for its higher PROTECT tiers; confirm the exact rollback behaviour of the tier you are quoted before you rely on it.

Will any of these three help us pass Cyber Essentials?

All three sell products built around real-time malware scanning, which is what the NCSC's Cyber Essentials scheme expects under its malware protection control. Passing certification depends on how the product is configured (updates enabled, tamper protection on, no way for a standard user to switch it off), not just which vendor you buy from, so check the configuration guidance for the specific tier you choose.

Can we mix Windows, Mac and Linux devices under one licence?

Yes for Bitdefender and ESET, from a single device count. Bitdefender's Business Security counts desktops, laptops and both physical and virtual servers, across Windows, macOS and Linux, in one licence pool. ESET PROTECT Entry covers Windows, macOS, Linux and file servers plus mobile devices under one subscription. Sophos treats servers differently: endpoint devices are licensed through Sophos Endpoint, and servers need a separate Sophos Server Protection licence, so ask your partner for the server count as a distinct line on any quote.

What happens if we grow past a hundred devices?

Both Bitdefender and ESET sell online, self-service, only up to 100 devices; beyond that you need to go through a partner or the vendor's sales team. If you expect to grow past a hundred devices within your contract term, ask about that transition before you sign, so pricing and support do not reset unexpectedly.

Is there a monthly payment option?

Not for a direct UK buyer on any of the three at this size. Bitdefender's subscriptions run on one, two or three-year terms with no monthly option published for self-service buyers. ESET and Sophos pricing, where available, is also quoted annually; ask a Sophos partner directly if monthly billing matters to you.

We already use Microsoft 365. Does that change the decision?

It might. If your fifty devices already sit inside Microsoft 365, Microsoft's own Defender for Business is worth pricing alongside these three, since it bundles endpoint detection and response at its published entry price rather than reserving EDR for a higher tier. It is outside the scope of this three-way comparison, but it belongs on your shortlist if switching consoles is something you would rather avoid.

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Bitdefender GravityZone Business Security lists at £299.99 for ten devices for one year, excluding VAT, on Bitdefender's own UK pricing tool, and £614.99 for twenty-five devices under an independent UK price check dated 9 September 2026, working out at roughly £24.60 a device a year at that band.
A 30 percent first-term promotion was running on Bitdefender's UK site at research time, cutting the ten-device list price of £299.99 to £209.99; that discount applies to the first term only and does not carry into renewal.
ESET PROTECT Entry is priced at roughly £33.72 a device a year at around 25 devices, excluding VAT, sold online up to 100 devices through ESET's own store.
Sophos publishes no fixed price for Sophos Central endpoint protection anywhere on its site. Its own how-to-buy page asks buyers to "get a quote" rather than listing a figure.
Bitdefender Business Security covers desktops, laptops and both physical and virtual servers across Windows, macOS and Linux from a single device count.
ESET PROTECT Entry covers computers, smartphones and file servers, but ESET's own product page lists Multi-Factor Authentication and Extended Detection & Response as unavailable at Entry level, reserved for higher tiers.
Neither Bitdefender Business Security nor ESET PROTECT Entry includes EDR. Bitdefender's EDR sits in Business Security Premium; ESET's threat-hunting and XDR capability sits in higher PROTECT tiers.
Sophos Central's base tier is called Sophos Endpoint; Sophos EDR and Sophos XDR are separate, higher add-ons, and Sophos MDR is a fully managed 24-hour service on top of XDR.
AV-Comparatives' Business Security Test for March to June 2026 recorded Real-World Protection Test scores of 99.8 percent for Bitdefender, 98.8 percent for ESET and 98.3 percent for Sophos; its Approved Business Security Product Award for that round went to Bitdefender and ESET, based on the round's combined protection, false-alarm and performance criteria.
Cyber Essentials, the UK Government's baseline security certification, lists malware protection as one of five required technical controls, alongside firewalls, secure configuration, update management and user access control.
Bitdefender's subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled; check your renewal date against the promotional period so you are not surprised by the list price.
All three vendors quote UK prices excluding VAT, so add the UK's standard 20 percent rate to any figure before you compare it with an all-in quote from a reseller.