Business firewall costs: Indicative prices and how to calculate your actual budget
Small business firewall hardware can cost approximately USD 700 - 1,000; for organizations with 15 - 100 users, the indicative range is USD 1,500 - 4,000, according to Fortinet. These are international reference prices, rather than local quotes for Vietnam. Your actual budget should also account for security licensing, deployment, renewals and management. This article explains each cost component, shows how to calculate total costs over three years and helps businesses choose a suitable firewall approach.
The article brings together international price ranges from Huntress and Fortinet and provides a budgeting template businesses can use when working with suppliers. The USD figures are reference information from those sources, not selling prices in Vietnam or an IPSIP price list.
1. How much does a business Firewall cost?
Fortinet's pricing guide gives an indicative range of USD 700 - 1,000 for small business firewall hardware. For organizations with approximately 15 - 100 users, it lists USD 1,500 - 4,000 for hardware. These are general ranges, rather than prices for a particular device model and licensing package.
Huntress publishes broader ranges by deployment type:
Item | International price range according to Huntress | How to interpret the price |
Hardware firewall | USD 1,000–20,000 or more upfront | Should not be treated as an all-inclusive budget |
Software firewall | USD 5–50/month | Confirm the scope and licensing unit |
Cloud firewall/FWaaS | USD 10–100/user/month | Costs may increase with the number of users |
Firewall management service | USD 50–300/month | Clarify whether hardware and licenses are included |
The two hardware ranges differ because the sources group products differently. Businesses should use them as an initial budgeting reference, then request a quote based on their actual configuration.
When receiving a quote in Vietnamese dong (VND), check its validity period, VAT, license term and deployment charges. Simply converting a USD figure does not make it an official local selling price.
2. Which items should a Firewall quote break out?
A practical way to control your budget is to ask suppliers to complete the same list of cost items. This helps IT, procurement and finance teams see what is included and what is missing.
Item | Details to confirm in the quote |
Hardware or platform | Product code, quantity, accessories, purchase or rental arrangement |
Security licenses | Package name, licensed features, term and start date |
Vendor support | Support scope, hardware replacement conditions and term |
Deployment | Assessment, configuration, migration, testing and handover |
Management | Service hours, monitoring, alert handling and configuration changes |
Logs and reporting | Storage location, retention period, access rights and additional charges |
Renewals and expansion | Subsequent annual fees, additional branches and additional users |
Taxes and payment | VAT, currency, payment schedule and quote validity |
In particular, distinguish vendor support from day-to-day operational services. Do not assume a support contract includes someone monitoring alerts, handling policy changes or reviewing your configurations. Ask for these tasks to be explicitly stated in the service scope.
3. Why can businesses of the same size receive different quotes?
3.1. Assess performance against the features you will enable
The Fortinet Product Matrix lists Firewall Throughput, NGFW Throughput, Threat Protection Throughput and SSL Inspection Throughput separately. Basic firewall throughput alone is therefore insufficient when selecting hardware for a configuration that uses deeper security inspection.
When requesting advice, provide your peak traffic levels and the features you intend to use. Ask the supplier to identify the performance metric used to select the model, the measurement conditions and the proposed testing approach in your actual environment.
3.2. Network architecture determines the deployment scope
A single office, a business with multiple branches and a SaaS platform have different traffic paths. To obtain a relevant quote, describe where the firewall will sit, which systems need to be accessed and which network segments must be separated.
Businesses can prepare a diagram of their existing environment using the guide to enterprise VLAN design and segmentation. A clearer diagram makes it easier for suppliers to define deployment tasks and acceptance criteria.
3.3. Redundancy requirements and operational responsibilities
If your business requires high availability (HA), the quote should separately show the number of devices, the licenses applicable to each device and the failover testing work. Do not assume that adding a second device automatically means the entire system can maintain service during an incident.
For operations, define who can approve new firewall rules, who implements changes and who restores service if a configuration causes a problem. Agree on these requirements before comparing service fees.
4. How to calculate total Firewall costs over 3 years
To compare options, businesses can build a budget using this formula:
Three-year TCO = Upfront costs + Recurring costs over 36 months + Planned additional costs.Upfront costs may include hardware and deployment. Recurring costs include renewals, management and log storage as specified in the contract. If you manage the firewall internally, include the staff time allocated to it.
Illustrative budget example
Suppose a business uses the figures below to explore the calculation. All amounts are hypothetical. They are not market prices, IPSIP quotes or figures derived from the reference sources.
Cost item | Assumption | Three-year total |
Hardware | VND 30 million, purchased once | VND 30 million |
Deployment | VND 8 million, one-time charge | VND 8 million |
Licensing and support | VND 12 million/year, paid for all three years | VND 36 million |
Management | VND 2 million/month for 36 months | VND 72 million |
Total | VND 146 million |
Under these assumptions, the average budget is approximately VND 4.06 million/month. The example excludes VAT, separate log storage, expansion and redundant hardware. If the purchase price already includes the first year's license, adjust the renewal line to avoid double counting.
When applying this approach to actual quotes, compare the same term and scope. An option that includes continuous monitoring should be compared with another option offering equivalent operational responsibilities.
5. Should you buy a Firewall, outsource management or use a Cloud Firewall?
5.1. Purchase hardware and manage it internally
Businesses can consider this option when they already have someone responsible for configuration, updates, backups and incident handling. Before deciding, estimate the staff hours required and define who will cover the work when that person is unavailable.
If you are still exploring features and deployment options, read the business firewall guide before preparing your procurement requirements.
5.2. Purchase hardware and outsource Firewall management
This option is worth considering when a business wants a provider to take responsibility for operations under a contract. Ask for a clear scope: what is monitored, which alerts are handled, how many change requests are included, how frequently reports are delivered and what response times apply.
Businesses can refer to IPSIP's Managed Firewall 24/7 service and request a scope assessment before asking for a quote.
5.3. Use a cloud Firewall or FWaaS
Cloud firewalls do not share a single pricing model across all providers. For example, AWS Network Firewall charges by endpoint hours and the volume of data processed; TLS inspection carries an additional hourly charge. A per-user price table therefore cannot be applied to every cloud firewall service.
If you are considering a cloud option, request a cost model for normal traffic, peak periods and expansion scenarios. For a virtual firewall you deploy yourself, also clarify whether server resources are included in the license price.
6. Checklist for requesting a business Firewall quote
To reduce repeated follow-up discussions, prepare the following:
Current environment: Number of offices, branches, users and active devices.
Traffic: Connection bandwidth, peak usage and critical applications.
Architecture: Network diagram, VLANs, servers, cloud infrastructure and connections between locations.
Remote access: Number of concurrent users and the planned authentication approach.
Features: Functions to be enabled and encrypted traffic inspection requirements.
Continuity: Acceptable downtime and redundancy requirements.
Operations: Internal management or outsourcing, service hours and the change approval process.
Budget: Comparison period, growth plans and items requiring separate quotes.
Also ask suppliers to answer four questions: What does the price include? How much do renewals cost? Who manages the firewall? How will acceptance be verified?
Acceptance criteria should identify the connections that must work, the policies that must be tested and the documentation to be handed over. This makes it possible to assess deployment results against specific requirements.
7. Mistakes that make Firewall budgets harder to control
Comparing a hardware price with an all-inclusive service price: Align the scope of both options before evaluating them.
Asking only about the first-year price: Request a year-by-year breakdown for the intended period of use.
Excluding internal operational effort: Include the responsible staff and their allocated time in the budget.
Leaving ownership of configuration data unresolved: Specify the handover of configurations, accounts and logs when the contract ends.
Buying before assessing requirements: Complete the requirements and acceptance criteria before finalizing the model.
------------------
Frequently asked questions about Firewall costs
Does the Firewall price include micenses?
Check each quote individually. Ask for the hardware price, license package name, term and start date to be listed separately. If you purchase a bundle, confirm which items are already included to avoid paying twice.
How much should a business with 50 employees spend on a Firewall?
Employee count alone is not enough to set a budget. Provide traffic levels, concurrent connections, applications, redundancy requirements and the management scope. The international price ranges in this article offer only an initial reference.
Can a free Firewall reduce costs?
Businesses should assess deployment resources and management effort even when there is no license fee. Use the same TCO table to determine whether the option fits your operational capabilities.
Does Managed Firewall include a SOC?
Do not assume the two service scopes are identical. Check whether the contract includes log collection, event analysis and incident handling, or only firewall management. If you need broader security monitoring, explore the SOC 24/7 service.
Get advice on a suitable Firewall budget
To determine business firewall costs, first clarify which systems need protection and who will be responsible for operations. Then request a quote covering hardware, licensing, deployment, renewals and management so you can compare options over the same period.
Businesses can contact IPSIP and provide a network diagram, bandwidth details, branch count and operational requirements. This information provides a concrete basis for discussing configurations and budgets.
--------------
References
