SIEM Cost Calculator
Estimate your Security Information and Event Management costs across 6 platforms. Compare per-GB, per-EPS, per-user, and flat-rate pricing models to find the most cost-effective option for your environment.
SIEM Cost Calculator
Enter your environment details to estimate SIEM costs across 6 platforms and pricing models.
Typical range: 10 - 5,000 GB/day
Firewalls, endpoints, cloud services
Compliance often requires 365-730 days
SIEM platform users / analysts
SIEM Vendor Pricing Overview
Published and estimated pricing ranges for the six most commonly evaluated SIEM platforms. Actual pricing requires vendor quote.
| Vendor | Pricing Model | Typical Range |
|---|---|---|
| Splunk Enterprise | Per GB ingested | $150 - $500+/GB/month |
| Microsoft Sentinel | Per GB ingested | $2.46 - $3.50/GB |
| IBM QRadar | Per EPS | $4 - $12/EPS/month |
| Elastic SIEM | Per GB stored | $95 - $175/GB/month |
| LogRhythm | Per user + flat | $12 - $25/user + base |
| Sumo Logic | Flat rate tiers | $1,700 - $10,000+/month |
Ranges are approximate and based on public list prices, analyst reports, and market data as of Q1 2026. Volume discounts of 20-40% are common for multi-year enterprise agreements.
SIEM Cost FAQ
What is the average cost of a SIEM?
SIEM costs vary enormously. Small organizations (under 25 GB/day) typically spend $30,000 - $150,000 per year on licensing alone. Mid-market organizations (25-200 GB/day) commonly see $150,000 - $500,000. Large enterprises above 200 GB/day often spend $500,000 to several million dollars annually. Total cost of ownership including staffing and integration usually doubles the licensing figure.
Which SIEM pricing model is most cost-effective?
It depends on your log mix. Per-GB pricing (Splunk, Sentinel) rewards organizations that generate high-value, low-volume logs. Per-EPS pricing (QRadar) rewards those who can filter noisy sources. Flat-rate tiers (Sumo Logic) suit orgs with predictable volume. Per-user (LogRhythm) suits small analyst teams. Model your actual log profile against each structure before committing.
What hidden costs should I budget for?
Beyond licensing: storage and retention fees (often $0.02 - $0.05/GB/month for cold storage), integration development ($150 - $400 per custom connector), tuning and rule development (ongoing analyst time), training ($2,000 - $5,000 per analyst), and premium support contracts (typically 20-25% of license). Also budget for infrastructure if running on-premise.
How much storage does a SIEM need?
Raw log storage depends on compression ratio (typically 5-10x for text logs). 100 GB/day raw becomes 10-20 GB/day compressed. For 365-day retention, that is 3.6 - 7.3 TB per 100 GB/day of raw logs. Hot storage (searchable) costs more; cold/archive storage is cheaper. Most compliance frameworks require 90 days to 1 year of accessible logs.
How many analysts do I need to run a SIEM?
Industry guidance: 1 analyst per 50-75 GB/day for an active security program, or 1 analyst per 500-1,000 managed devices. A 24x7 SOC requires approximately 5-6 analysts per coverage seat (including shift overlap and leave). Part-time SIEM operations with business-hours-only coverage can get by with 1-2 analysts for smaller environments.
Is cloud SIEM cheaper than on-premise?
Cloud SIEM eliminates hardware CapEx and reduces infrastructure management but typically has higher per-GB costs. On-premise requires upfront hardware investment (often $200,000 - $500,000 for mid-size), plus maintenance, power, space, and dedicated infrastructure staff. Cloud wins on simplicity and scalability; on-premise can win on unit cost at very high volumes where hardware is amortized. See the Cloud vs On-Prem page for a full comparison.