SD-WAN Cost / Pricing Guide: What You Need to Know in 2025

Software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) replaces traditional router-centric networks, allowing businesses to use multiple internet connections simultaneously. This shift has gained serious momentum as organizations seek more flexible, cost-effective networking solutions.

The appeal is straightforward. SD-WAN makes it easier to acquire connectivity across different transport types, including fiber, coax, LTE/5G, fixed wireless, and satellite. Network costs drop significantly, with some organizations seeing savings up to 84% compared to traditional MPLS circuits. Management becomes simpler through centralized interfaces, and you get better visibility with traffic optimization tools.

While SD-WAN pricing is quite complex (as you’ll see later in this pricing guide), below is some summary data for SD-WAN quotes from the Lightyear dataset across two bandwidth tiers.

The SD-WAN Pricing Reality

SD-WAN pricing can be all over the place, so to help illustrate variance we utilized blinded data from Lightyear's dataset and pulled four SD-WAN quotes from recent RFPs that reveal material MRC (monthly recurring cost) variations across SD-WAN vendors and bandwidth tiers, per site:

These numbers reveal important market realities. At 200Mbps, there's a 3x price difference between the highest and lowest options. At 2Gbps, the variation is pricing is similar on a multiples basis (2.5x) but much larger on a dollars basis - $496 to $1,256 monthly. It's fair to say that pricing can vary significantly by provider and solution offered.

These aren't arbitrary differences. They reflect five key factors that determine the true cost of SD-WAN deployment and ongoing operations.

5 Critical Factors That Drive SD-WAN Costs

1. Features & Functionality

The first choice organizations need to make is whether to deploy pure SD-WAN or adopt secure access service edge (SASE) architecture. This decision impacts capabilities and costs across your entire network infrastructure.

Traditional SD-WAN focuses exclusively on network connectivity and optimization. These solutions excel at application-aware routing, load balancing, WAN optimization, and traffic management across diverse connectivity options. Organizations gain enhanced flexibility and scalability while reducing latency and improving availability compared to legacy MPLS networks.

SASE goes beyond basic networking, combining SD-WAN with comprehensive security capabilities delivered through cloud platforms. This architecture integrates advanced security features including next-generation firewalls, encryption protocols, and zero-trust access controls. Plus, SASE solutions can seamlessly integrate with AWS and other cloud service providers while maintaining the networking overlay functionality that makes SD-WAN attractive.

The SASE security stack typically encompasses next-generation firewall (NGFW) capabilities, intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS), secure web gateway (SWG) functionality, zero trust network access (ZTNA), cloud access security broker (CASB) services, data loss prevention (DLP), remote browser isolation (RBI), and user entity behavior analytics (UEBA).

Vendors structure security pricing through three primary models:

• Per feature (a la carte): Most expensive approach but provides highest flexibility for specific requirements

• Bundled packages: Moderate cost with pre-defined combinations of security capabilities

• All-inclusive pricing: Predictable costs but potential over-provisioning of unused features

2. Capacity & Scalability

Bandwidth requirements and growth projections are the foundation of SD-WAN cost planning. Organizations should carefully evaluate current needs while anticipating future expansion to avoid costly architecture changes down the road.

Clarify bandwidth requirements per site, total user counts across locations, current site inventory, and realistic growth projections including potential mergers and acquisitions. These factors determine whether you need basic connectivity or if you need a solution capable of handling enterprise-scale traffic loads.

Smart organizations use this tiered approach:

• Small offices (1-25 users): Basic connectivity with standard SD-WAN features

• Medium offices (26-100 users): Enhanced capabilities and higher bandwidth allocation

• Large sites/data centers: Maximum capacity with redundancy and advanced traffic optimization features

3. Service & Support Model

The service model you select affects both implementation complexity and long-term operational expenses. These options dominate the market:

• Self-supported: Customer manages everything including configuration and troubleshooting. Lowest ongoing cost but requires significant internal networking expertise.

• Co-managed: Shared responsibility where provider handles routine tasks while customer maintains control. Balanced approach with moderate costs and reduced internal resource requirements.

• Fully managed: Provider runs everything including SD-WAN deployment and ongoing administration. Highest cost but minimal internal resources required.

4. Deployment Model

Your capacity needs directly influence the deployment model you choose.. Organizations with modest bandwidth needs might succeed with cloud-based virtual overlays, while enterprises with substantial traffic requirements often need on-premises hardware to maintain performance standards. The choice between virtual appliances and physical devices affects both upfront investment and ongoing licensing costs.

SD-WAN deployment architecture determines both upfront investments and ongoing operational expenses. The choice between cloud, on-premises, or hybrid approaches affects licensing requirements, hardware costs, and long-term scalability.

Cloud SD-WAN delivers services from provider infrastructure through software-defined networking overlays. Organizations need only network connections at customer sites, typically dedicated fiber or high-speed broadband internet service. This model minimizes upfront costs and accelerates deployment but creates ongoing subscription dependencies and potential concerns about network management complexity.

On-premises deployment relies on customer hardware installed at each location. While this approach requires higher initial capital expenditure for devices and licenses, it provides maximum control over virtual overlay configuration and eliminates recurring subscription fees for core functionality. Organizations with stringent security requirements or performance needs often prefer this architecture despite higher upfront investment.

Hybrid SD-WAN combines premise-based devices with cloud-based services, creating flexible but complex pricing structures. This approach suits organizations with mixed requirements across different site types but requires careful planning to avoid excessive fees and operational complexity.

Each deployment model has a distinct cost structure:

• Cloud solutions typically involve minimal upfront costs with higher recurring subscription fees.

• On-premises deployments require substantial initial hardware and licensing investments followed by annual maintenance contracts.

• Hybrid approaches combine elements of both models, often resulting in per-site, per-user, or bandwidth-based billing that can become expensive without careful management.

5. Network Resiliency & Provisioning

Site Criticality Tiers

Network uptime requirements vary dramatically across site types, directly impacting connectivity costs and SD-WAN configuration complexity. Understanding these criticality tiers helps you optimize spending by matching internet connectivity investments to actual business requirements rather than implementing uniform solutions across all locations.

Data centers require maximum uptime with instant failover capabilities, while retail locations might tolerate brief outages during off-peak hours. Office environments typically need high availability with minimal business disruption tolerance. And manufacturing facilities require customized approaches based on specific business impact analysis.

Connectivity Options & Costs

SD-WAN's strength lies in supporting diverse connectivity types to optimize performance, reliability, and cost across complex network infrastructure. Organizations can strategically combine different transport options based on site criticality and budget constraints.

Wireline options include dedicated internet access (DIA) with service level agreements for premium performance and guaranteed availability or business broadband connections that provide cost-effective solutions with variable performance characteristics. Wireless alternatives include fixed wireless services for high-throughput secondary connections, cellular and 5G networks ideal for urban locations with modest bandwidth needs, and satellite connectivity essential for isolated or remote locations.

Organizations can combine expensive DIA circuits for critical applications with lower-cost broadband for general traffic, achieving both reliability and cost efficiency while transitioning away from expensive MPLS network dependencies.

Network service provider selection significantly impacts both procurement complexity and ongoing costs. Single carrier or aggregator approaches simplify procurement and administration but often increase costs for sites delivered through partner networks. Multi-carrier strategies select optimal service providers with local access for each site, typically offering lower costs and direct support but requiring more complex vendor management across diverse network infrastructure.

Making Smart SD-WAN Procurement Decisions

Total Cost Considerations

Purchasing an SD-WAN solution extends beyond monthly subscription fees. Organizations must account for implementation and professional services costs, circuit installation and recurring transport charges, and equipment maintenance and upgrade expenses, as well as staff training for ongoing management.

Implementing regular telecom expense audits can help identify optimization opportunities and ensure accurate billing across SD-WAN infrastructure. Getting a handle on these costs early prevents budget surprises down the road.

Vendor Evaluation Best Practices

Successful SD-WAN procurement requires evaluating both technical capabilities and cost structures. Organizations should create detailed requirements matrices organized by site tier and criticality levels. Request component-level pricing breakdowns that separate SD-WAN overlay costs from underlying transport expenses to enable accurate comparisons.

When to Use Professional Procurement Help

Here are a few signs your organization would be better off seeking expert assistance for SD-WAN procurement:

• Multi-site deployments spanning diverse geographic regions that benefit from specialized market knowledge

• Limited internal networking expertise where professional guidance improves outcomes

• Complex integration requirements with existing enterprise systems demanding specialized knowledge

• Aggressive implementation timelines requiring coordinated project management across multiple vendors

A professional procurement solution provides the market intelligence and vendor relationships necessary to navigate these complex scenarios successfully.

How to Ensure You're Getting The Right Tech at The Right Price

SD-WAN deployment complexity requires specialized expertise that combines technical knowledge with comprehensive market intelligence. To find the right solution that meets your performance needs and budget constraints, you need access to network serviceability data across multiple carriers, pricing benchmarks spanning diverse vendors, and technical requirement validation.

Lightyear's procurement platform delivers network intelligence spanning 1,200+ vendors globally, automated quoting processes, and expert consultation for SD-WAN deployments. The platform provides access to pricing intelligence and network serviceability data to support vendor evaluation and selection decisions.

Lightyear's digital RFP process automates vendor discovery and quoting while providing implementation management software with white-glove support and automated escalations to ensure smooth installations. The platform also offers bulk procurement capabilities for large multi-site deployments.

Want to navigate SD-WAN complexity with confidence? Lightyear combines market intelligence, automated workflows, and expert support to ensure you get the right technology at the right price while maintaining complete visibility into your network infrastructure investment.

Go here to learn more about Lightyear.