Carbon Black (Broadcom) Pricing 2026
Carbon Black Endpoint Standard (EDR) costs approximately $5/device/month historically, but pricing has become significantly less predictable since Broadcom's acquisition. Enterprise minimums typically apply.
Broadcom Acquisition Warning
Broadcom completed the VMware acquisition in October 2023 and has historically raised prices significantly on acquired products. Many Carbon Black customers have reported 30 to 80% price increases at renewal. If you are evaluating Carbon Black, obtain a written quote locked to your full contract term. Many organisations are migrating to CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, or Microsoft Defender at renewal.
Carbon Black Products — Pricing Overview
- ✓NGAV + EDR
- ✓Cloud-based management
- ✓Threat intelligence
- ✓Watchlist detection
- ✓Continuous recording (permanent)
- ✓Immutable forensic timeline
- ✓On-premises deployment option
- ✓Long-term retention (unlimited)
Carbon Black Pricing FAQ
How much does Carbon Black (Broadcom) EDR cost?
Carbon Black Endpoint Standard (formerly CB Defense), which is the cloud-delivered NGAV and EDR product, is priced at approximately $5 per device per month ($60 per device per year) for commercial buyers. Carbon Black EDR (the on-premises continuous response product, formerly Cb Response) is licensed per server or per endpoint with a minimum of 1,000 endpoints and custom pricing only - expect $80,000 to $200,000 per year for 1,000 to 2,000 endpoints. Since Broadcom's acquisition of VMware completed in 2023, pricing and availability have become more opaque and reseller-dependent.
Has Broadcom's acquisition of VMware affected Carbon Black pricing?
Significantly. Since Broadcom completed the VMware acquisition in late 2023, Carbon Black has been reorganised under the Broadcom Security portfolio. Several SMB-oriented offerings have been discontinued or had minimum seat requirements increased. Broadcom has historically applied significant price increases and minimum commitment levels to acquired product lines. Many existing Carbon Black customers report 30 to 80% increases at renewal. Several large organisations have migrated to CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, or Microsoft Defender as a result. If you are evaluating Carbon Black for a new deployment, obtain a written quote with pricing locked for the full contract term.
Is Carbon Black EDR a good choice in 2026?
Carbon Black's continuous recording capability (Carbon Black EDR on-premises) remains technically distinctive - it records every process, file, and network event permanently, enabling forensic investigations years after an incident. This makes it the preferred choice for government, defence, and regulated industries that require immutable, long-term endpoint telemetry. However, for most commercial buyers evaluating EDR in 2026, the pricing and commercial uncertainty under Broadcom, combined with the superior ease of use of cloud-native alternatives, makes CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, or Microsoft Defender better choices.
What is the minimum purchase size for Carbon Black EDR?
Carbon Black Endpoint Standard (cloud EDR) historically allowed smaller purchases through resellers at no hard minimum, but Broadcom has moved toward enterprise-only sales with minimums typically around 1,000 endpoints. Carbon Black EDR (on-premises) requires a minimum of 1,000 endpoints and is only available through authorised Broadcom resellers. For organisations under 500 endpoints, Carbon Black is not a practical option in 2026 - SentinelOne, Sophos, or Microsoft Defender are more accessible alternatives.