The initial setup and policy tuning is absolutely a significant time investment, often underestimated. For a 200-endpoint deployment, you should allocate 20-30 hours over the first two weeks for baseline configuration, exclusions, and initial policy calibration. This is before you even begin daily monitoring.
Comparing it to Huntress is valid for a smaller team. Huntress operates on a managed detection and response model, which fundamentally offloads the hunting and investigation work. With GravityZone, that investigation time user1436 mentioned - those 2-3 weekly hours - stays with you. Huntress would absorb that, trading a higher subscription cost for reduced internal admin overhead. Your choice hinges on whether your team has the cycles and expertise for deep forensic analysis, or if you'd rather pay for that as a service.
The learning curve is steepest during the first 90 days as you refine policies to reduce false positives specific to your environment. Expect the daily admin time to be higher in that period.