SASE Seat Cost Break-Even Calculator

Calculate whether a secure access service edge rollout trims per-user network security costs enough to justify migration. Enter the current stack cost per user, the SASE quote, and the user count to see annual savings, first-year net impact after one-time migration spend, and the payback timeline.

Blended monthly cost of firewalls, VPN, CASB, and other point solutions allocated per user.
Monthly subscription per user for the unified SASE platform, including any add-on modules.
Licensed employees, contractors, and service accounts that require secure access.
Defaults to $0.00 when blank. Include professional services, dual-running overlap, and training costs.

Financial outputs are estimates. Validate with vendor proposals, contract terms, and your finance team before approving migrations.

Examples

  • Example 1 — $145.00 legacy cost, $98.00 SASE cost, 850 users, $120,000.00 migration ⇒ Annual legacy spend: $1,479,000.00 | Annual SASE spend: $999,600.00 | Annual savings: $479,400.00 | Net first-year impact after migration: $359,400.00 | Payback timeline: 3.00 months
  • Example 2 — $95.00 legacy cost, $110.00 SASE cost, 400 users, migration blank ⇒ Annual legacy spend: $456,000.00 | Annual SASE spend: $528,000.00 | Annual increase: $72,000.00 | Net first-year impact after migration: -$72,000.00 | Payback timeline: No payback (costs increase)

FAQ

How should I estimate current stack cost per user?

Sum annual spend on firewalls, VPN concentrators, CASB, SWG, and ZTNA licenses, then divide by the active user count to get a comparable per-seat figure.

Can I include hardware refresh avoidance?

Yes. Add the annualized hardware refresh or maintenance spend you expect to retire into the legacy cost per user for an apples-to-apples comparison.

What if migration happens mid-year?

Adjust the user count or per-user costs to reflect the portion of the estate moving this year. You can also prorate the migration cost before entering it.

Does the calculator handle multi-tier pricing?

Average the SASE vendor’s tiered pricing across all seats or run separate scenarios by user cohort, then sum the results externally.

Additional Information

  • Annual figures multiply monthly per-user costs by 12 to align with typical security budgeting cycles.
  • Migration cost can include vendor onboarding, parallel license overlap, and internal labor converted to dollars.
  • Savings descriptor flips automatically when SASE costs more than your current stack so stakeholders see the delta clearly.
  • Payback timeline divides migration spend by monthly savings; if savings are negative, the calculator flags the increase instead of a misleading payback.
  • Use the results alongside uptime, performance, and risk reduction metrics to build a full SASE business case.

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