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CrowdStrike detects threats after they happen. WinSentinel prevents them by hardening the machine before attacks arrive. They're complementary — run both for defense in depth.
| Capability | WinSentinel | CrowdStrike Falcon |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Function | Proactive hardening & posture | Reactive threat detection (EDR/XDR) |
| Security Posture Score | ✓ 0–100 across 13+ modules | ✗ No configuration audit score |
| Configuration Hardening | ✓ Auto-remediation | ✗ Not a hardening tool |
| Threat Detection | Preventive (close attack surface) | ✓ Real-time behavioral detection |
| Open Source | ✓ MIT licensed | ✗ Proprietary |
| Setup Time | 30 seconds (dotnet tool) | Agent deployment + cloud console |
| Windows-Native Focus | ✓ Built for Windows | Multi-platform (generic agent) |
| CI/CD Integration | ✓ GitHub Action | ✗ Not applicable |
| Transparency | ✓ Full source on GitHub | ✗ Black box agent |
$0/forever
All features, no limits, one machine. Full power.
Pro fleet: $29/25 nodes ($1.16/node) · $79/100 nodes
$5–15/endpoint/mo
Per-endpoint. Annual contracts. Enterprise sales.
Falcon Go starts ~$5/ep/mo, Falcon Pro ~$15/ep/mo
CrowdStrike watches for threats. WinSentinel ensures there are fewer attack surfaces to exploit. Harden first, detect second.
dotnet tool install --global WinSentinel.Cli
No - they're complementary. CrowdStrike detects and responds to threats after they reach an endpoint. WinSentinel reduces the attack surface beforehand by hardening Windows configuration. Running both gives you defense in depth: prevention plus detection.
Yes. WinSentinel hardens the machine (firewall, encryption, SMB, credentials, PowerShell policy and more) so there's less for an EDR to catch, while CrowdStrike handles active threat detection and response.
WinSentinel is free for unlimited use on a single machine. CrowdStrike Falcon is per-endpoint EDR with annual contracts. WinSentinel Pro - which adds fleet management across many machines - is $29/mo for up to 25 nodes or $79/mo for up to 100 nodes, with annual billing saving 17%.
Yes. The CLI and every audit module are free and open source under the MIT license, installed with dotnet tool install --global WinSentinel.Cli. A single machine gets the full power - all audit modules, the real-time monitor, scheduled scans, and PDF reports - with no limits and no account required. Pro is only for organizations that want to manage many machines from one control plane.
Yes. WinSentinel is built specifically for Windows 10 and Windows 11 (and Windows Server). It uses native Windows APIs to audit configuration that cross-platform tools treat generically, which is why its hardening checks are deeper on Windows.