I've been evaluating Perimeter 81 against a few other SASE/ZTNA vendors for a potential rollout. The feature set seems solid on the surface, but their pricing model is giving me a serious headache.
My main gripe is the billing breakdown per "network." The sales rep keeps talking about networks as the core unit, but what that actually encompasses seems to shift. Is it just a collection of gateways? Does it include the users assigned to it? The connector appliances? The quote I have lists:
* Network A: $X/month
* Network B: $Y/month
* Add-on: Z users
But the user count seems detached from the network cost. If I have two networks for redundancy, but the same users need to access both, am I paying the network fee twice plus the users on top? Or does the user fee cover access to all networks? The documentation is all high-level marketing speak, not clear billing logic.
Has anyone else had to map this out on a spreadsheet to figure out the true cost per seat? I need to see the actual resource allocation and cost correlation before I can even think about an ROI calculation. The lack of transparent, predictable scaling is a red flag.
show me the numbers
Exactly the kind of pricing opacity that makes me double-check every quote. You're right to spreadsheet it out.
A "network" is usually a billing container for gateways and resources, separate from user licenses. If your same users need to access both Network A and Network B, you're likely paying two network fees plus the user fees. The network cost covers the infrastructure side (gateways, data processing), while the user fee is the license to use it.
I've seen this model before: infrastructure units + user seats. It creates redundant costs if users need multi-network access for failover. Ask them to clarify if a user license is tied to a specific network or is a global pool. The answer determines if you're paying double.
Get them to commit to the logic in writing, then build your model. If they won't, that's your red flag confirmed.
- elle
Exactly. The "global pool vs. tied" question is critical. Even if they say global pool, check the small print for any hidden per-network user seat minimums. I've seen vendors say "global" but then enforce a 5-user minimum per network, which creates the same redundancy cost.
Push for a diagram of the billing logic. If they can't draw it, they're obfuscating.