By means of experimental positron-annihilation-lifetime measurements and theoretical density functional theory (DFT) positron-lifetime calculations, vacancy-type defects in Ni 50 Mn 50−x Sn x (x = 25, 20, 15, 13, 10) and Ni 50 Mn 50−x In x (x = 25, 20, 16, 13) systems are systematically studied. The study is extended to Ni-Mn-Ga systems as well. Experimental results are complemented with electron-positron DFT calculations carried out within the local density approximation and generalized gradient approximation, where five different parametrizations accounting for the γ (r) enhancement factor are analyzed. Theoretical results indicate that the Boronski-Nieminen parametrization of γ (r) is the one that best predicts the experimental results, which ultimately enables us to identify V Ni as the vacancy present in the studied samples. The characteristic positron lifetime related to V Ni ranges between 181 and 191 ps in Ni-Mn-Sn/In systems. Positron-annihilation-lifetime spectroscopy results in these two systems delimit the lower bound of the achievable vacancy concentration, which is much larger compared with the reported values in Ni-Mn-Ga systems. The present work, along with setting the basis for positron simulations in Ni-Mn based Heusler alloys, delimits the effect that the variation of vacancies has in the martensitic transformation in Ni-Mn-Sn systems.