Sophos vs Kaspersky for MSPs

For a US-based MSP, the Sophos versus Kaspersky question has a short answer before you compare a single feature: you cannot legally deploy Kaspersky for US clients. The US Commerce Department banned the software in 2024, and the prohibition has been fully in force since September that year.

Kaspersky still earns strong marks in independent lab tests, so this guide covers both the technical comparison and the regulatory reality that decides it for any MSP serving US customers.

TL;DR: Sophos vs Kaspersky

The US Kaspersky Ban Changes the Math

On June 20, 2024, the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security issued its first-ever Information and Communications Technology and Services prohibition, blocking Kaspersky Lab from selling antivirus and cybersecurity products to US persons. New agreements were prohibited after July 20, 2024, and Kaspersky's ability to push signature updates, codebase updates, and run its Kaspersky Security Network in the US was cut off after September 29, 2024. The stated reason was supply-chain risk tied to Kaspersky's Russian jurisdiction.

The practical effect for an MSP is total. An antivirus product that cannot receive signature or engine updates is not protection, it is a liability sitting on every endpoint you manage. Kaspersky wound down its US operations in response, so there is no US channel, no US support, and no path to license it for American clients. Whatever Kaspersky's technical merits, a US MSP deploying it now is shipping unpatched security software into client environments, which is the opposite of the job.

This is the rare comparison where the regulatory layer outranks the feature matrix. For any MSP serving US customers, the decision is settled here, and the rest of the comparison only matters for context or for shops operating entirely outside US jurisdiction.

Detection and Protection

On raw detection, this was never a lopsided fight. Kaspersky has spent years near the top of independent lab tests like AV-Comparatives and AV-TEST, with consistently high malware catch rates and low false positives. Stripped of the geopolitics, its engine is genuinely good, which is what made the ban a real loss of a capable product rather than a convenient excuse.

Sophos Intercept X brings deep-learning malware classification, anti-exploit technology, and CryptoGuard ransomware rollback, and it backs that with current third-party validation. Our Sophos Intercept X review goes deeper on that agent. Sophos posted 100% detection across all 16 attack steps in the MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise 2025 Evaluation and has been a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms for 16 straight reports. It also adds a layer Kaspersky never matched for the SMB channel: Sophos MDR, a 24/7 managed SOC rated 4.7 out of 5 on G2 across roughly 1,500 reviews.

So even setting the ban aside, Sophos competes on detection while adding managed response and a connected firewall story. Kaspersky was strong at the endpoint; Sophos is strong across a portfolio. The MSP security stack guide covers why that managed layer has become non-negotiable for client environments.

The other gap is freshness of validation. Kaspersky's strongest public lab results predate its US exit, and a banned vendor is not submitting to the same Western evaluations or shipping the same cadence of US-facing updates going forward. Sophos keeps showing up in current rounds, which matters when a client's auditor or cyber-insurer wants recent third-party proof rather than a legacy reputation. For an MSP, defensible security means evidence you can point to this year, not a catch rate from before the product left the market.

Pricing and Licensing

Historically Kaspersky competed hard on price, often undercutting Western vendors at the SMB tier, which is part of why it built share with budget-conscious buyers. That advantage is now irrelevant in the US, because there is no compliant way to buy or renew it for American clients regardless of the sticker.

Sophos prices through the channel. Intercept X starts near $28 per user per year and climbs to the $50 to $70 range for Advanced and EDR tiers, with Sophos MDR billed separately at roughly $7 to $17 per endpoint per month. Your client number is partner cost plus your markup, usually 20% to 40%, and the MSP Elevate program adds rebates and volume incentives that make the channel economics work. It is not the cheapest endpoint product on the market, but it is a fully supported one you can legally sell and renew.

For US MSPs weighing what to standardize on, the comparison that really matters is Sophos against other deployable vendors. The CrowdStrike Falcon review for MSPs and the SentinelOne review for MSPs cover the two names that belong on that shortlist alongside Sophos. Our Sophos alternatives roundup compares the full field, and SentinelOne vs Sophos runs the closest head-to-head.

What the Ban Means for MSP Compliance

The risk does not stop at "do not buy more." If any client environment you manage still has Kaspersky installed, that is now a remediation item, not a background detail. Unsupported, update-blocked security software flags in audits, can void parts of a cyber-insurance policy, and undermines the security posture you are promising clients under contract. Several compliance frameworks and insurers explicitly call out banned or end-of-support security tools.

The clean move is to inventory every managed endpoint for Kaspersky, plan migration to a supported platform, and document the removal. Treat it the way you would any end-of-life security product: a tracked project with a deadline, not something to notice during the next incident. Folding that check into a regular stack audit keeps it from slipping, and it gives you a clean story for the client when they ask why the antivirus changed.

Migration itself is the part to plan carefully, because uninstalling one endpoint agent and standing up another leaves a coverage gap if you rush it. Stage the rollout: deploy Sophos alongside, confirm it is reporting healthy in Sophos Central, then pull Kaspersky so no managed endpoint sits unprotected mid-swap. Build the cost of that transition into the client conversation rather than absorbing it silently, since the ban, not your shop, forced the change, and clients generally understand a compliance-driven migration when you frame it that way.

Sophos vs Kaspersky: Which Should an MSP Run?

For a US MSP, run Sophos, or another supported vendor, and treat Kaspersky as a product to remove rather than evaluate. The ban is not a temporary advisory; it has been fully enforced since late 2024, and there is no compliant path to deploy or renew Kaspersky for US persons. Sophos gives you current detection, a connected firewall, a top-rated managed SOC, and a working MSP channel, which is everything Kaspersky can no longer provide here.

If you operate entirely outside US jurisdiction, Kaspersky's lab pedigree and pricing still make it a real contender on the endpoint, and the comparison comes down to whether you want a single capable agent or Sophos's broader portfolio. But for the audience most of this market serves, the question answers itself: you cannot build client security on software you are not allowed to update.