CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Expel vs Trustwave

Expel sells managed detection and response (MDR) delivered through its Workbench platform, with 24x7 human analysts working in the security tools a customer already has. Trustwave describes itself as a pure-play MSSP that combines expertise with AI. CISO Tribune files both under MDR and managed SOC. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Expel
  • Trustwave
Expel vs Trustwave: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
ExpelExpel sells managed detection and response (MDR) delivered through its Workbench platform, with 24x7 human analysts working in the security tools a customer already has.expel.comTrustwaveTrustwave describes itself as a pure-play MSSP that combines expertise with AI.trustwave.com
What it sells
  • Expel MDR[5][7]A managed detection and response service that works with the security tools a customer already has.
  • Ruxie[3][5]Expel's AI and automation engine used in its MDR service.
  • LevelBlue SpiderLabs[3][4]LevelBlue SpiderLabs is a global team of security consultants, threat hunters, incident responders, forensic investigators and researchers.
Categories
Headquarters
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Founded
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesOwned by LevelBlue since 2025[1][5]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 3, 2026[4]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[5]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
Not written yetFrom its own pages, the company sells managed security services to organisations running hybrid environments, with services for cloud assets, policy enforcement and operations. The company's specialists tailor a security program to the needs of each client organisation. The company serves organisations that need breach response, forensic investigation and incident reporting. The company serves organisations seeking to find, prioritise and minimise their vulnerabilities.
Last verified
September 27, 2026November 2, 2026

Where they overlap

  • MDR and managed SOC is the primary category of both Expel and Trustwave.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Trustwave is also filed under Managed security service providers.
  • Expel lists Expel MDR and Ruxie. Trustwave lists LevelBlue SpiderLabs.
  • Trustwave is owned by LevelBlue, since 2025.

How they differ

CISO Tribune files both Expel and Trustwave under MDR and managed SOC as the primary category, and Trustwave is also filed under managed security service providers. Expel sells Expel MDR, a managed detection and response service that works with the security tools a customer already has, with 24x7 analysts who investigate and respond. Expel delivers it through its Workbench platform, and it states a 14-minute mean time to remediate. Expel also names Ruxie as its AI and automation engine, and it offers email threat detection and response.

Trustwave describes itself as a pure-play MSSP that combines expertise with AI. It offers services for cloud assets, policy enforcement and operations across hybrid environments, along with breach response, forensic investigation and incident reporting. Trustwave also lists vulnerability services aimed at shrinking the attack surface, and its managed services support 360+ telemetry sources. It sells LevelBlue SpiderLabs, a global team of 1k+ security consultants, threat hunters, incident responders, forensic investigators and researchers.

On the overlap, both offer managed detection and response work, but Expel centers its description on connecting to a customer's existing stack through more than 160 technology integrations. Trustwave has been owned by LevelBlue since 2025.

What it sells: Expel

What Expel MDR does[5][7]
Expel MDR provides 24x7 SOC monitoring, with analysts who investigate and respond. Expel says it connects to an existing stack and correlates threats across endpoint, identity, cloud, network, SaaS and more. Expel states a 14-minute mean time to remediate.
What Ruxie does[3][5]
Expel says Ruxie gathers evidence, enriches alerts and matches patterns in seconds. Expel analysts then investigate and make the critical calls.

Questions about Expel and Trustwave

What do Expel and Trustwave sell?
Expel sells Expel MDR and Ruxie. Trustwave sells LevelBlue SpiderLabs.
Are Expel and Trustwave in the same category?
Yes. MDR and managed SOC is the primary category of both on CISO Tribune.
Who owns Expel and Trustwave?
Trustwave is owned by LevelBlue, since 2025.
Who are Expel and Trustwave sold to?
From its own pages, the company sells managed security services to organisations running hybrid environments, with services for cloud assets, policy enforcement and operations.

About Expel

Expel sells managed detection and response (MDR) delivered through its Workbench platform, with 24x7 human analysts working in the security tools a customer already has. Expel says its service is built so that technology makes it fast and humans make it accurate.[5]

Expel describes the service as managed detection and response with analysts who can be reached directly over Slack or Teams. Expel says customers connect Workbench to their existing stack, and Expel then correlates threats across endpoint, identity, cloud, network, SaaS and more. Expel says no agents need to be deployed and no rip-and-replace is required.[5]

Ruxie is the name Expel gives its AI and automation engine. Expel says Ruxie gathers evidence, enriches alerts and matches patterns so that Expel analysts can investigate and make the critical calls. Expel states a 14-minute mean time to remediate for its MDR service.[5]

Expel Workbench is the platform through which customers see Expel's work. Expel says customers can see every investigation and response in real time inside Workbench.[5]

Expel says its MDR covers cloud, endpoint, identity, network, SaaS, email and more, across more than 160 technology integrations. Expel names Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, CrowdStrike, Okta and Wiz among those integrations.[5][10]

Expel also offers email threat detection and response, in which Expel says it monitors the email environment 24x7. Expel says this works alongside Proofpoint, Mimecast, Abnormal Security and Sublime. Expel also describes MDR coverage of the AI attack surface, covering attacker use of AI, employee misuse of AI tools and attacks on customer-built AI systems, with detections mapped to MITRE ATLAS.[6][7]

Expel was started by practitioners. Dave Merkel is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Justin Bajko is a co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, and Yanek Korff is a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer. Greg Notch is Chief Technology Officer.[8]

2. Expel says Workbench infrastructure runs on GCP and AWS in the U.S, and that alert data is retained up to 15 months, configurable per contract.[1][2][5][9]

Expel on the record

Sources

Expel full record

  1. [1]Workbench operations platformExpel · expel.com · published August 5, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Expel announces 20 million in series b fundingExpel · expel.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Leading managed detection and response (MDR) provider | ExpelExpel · undated page, accessed October 24, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Expel Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 24, 2026 · Tier C
  5. [5]Managed Detection and Response Services | Expel MDRExpel · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Email threat detection | ExpelExpel · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]AI attack surface coverage | ExpelExpel · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Company | ExpelExpel · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Security and compliance support from your MDR | ExpelExpel · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Managed Security Solutions | ExpelExpel · undated page, accessed November 3, 2026 · Tier A

Trustwave full record

  1. [1]Levelblue completes acquisition of trustwave to form the worlds largest managed security services providerLevelBlue · levelblue.com · published August 19, 2025 · Tier A
  2. [2]trustwave.comLevelBlue (Trustwave's website now redirects here) · trustwave.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]SpiderlabsLevelBlue · levelblue.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Secure What's Next | LevelBlueLevelBlue · undated page, accessed October 29, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Trustwave Services Reviews & Provider DetailsG2 · undated page, accessed October 29, 2026 · Tier C

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