VPN vs. ZTNA – TCO Calculator | PoCLAB Cost Studio

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VPN vs. Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Inputs & Assumptions

VPN vs. ZTNA – TCO model

Compare the 3–7 year cost of a legacy VPN headend against a ZTNA service, including licenses, infra, operations, and helpdesk “pain tax”.

Legacy VPN headend

Cloud-delivered ZTNA

Includes soft costs (tickets)

Users e.g. 2,500 remote users

Time horizon (years) 3–7 typical

VPN Model

VPN license per user / month ($) gateway or client licenses

VPN infra CAPEX (one-time, $) appliances, setup

VPN infra OPEX / year ($) support, maintenance

VPN ops FTE count administration & tuning

Helpdesk tickets per user / year (VPN) passwords, drops, reauth

Cost per helpdesk ticket ($) fully loaded

Ops Cost (Shared)

Ops cost / FTE / year ($) fully loaded engineer

ZTNA Model

ZTNA license per user / month ($) subscription

ZTNA infra OPEX / year ($) if any on-prem

ZTNA ops FTE count typically lower

Helpdesk tickets per user / year (ZTNA) usually fewer

5-Year TCO Comparison

Legacy VPN VPN Headend

$0 / user / month

ZTNA Zero Trust Access

$0 / user / month

Relative 5-Year TCO –

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ZTNA is neutral vs. VPN in this model.

Adjust license, FTE and ticket assumptions to explore upside.

ZTNA price break-even vs VPN (per user / month)

Adjust inputs to see the ZTNA license break-even curve.

All values are directional only. This calculator is designed to compare architectures rather than provide a formal quote. Tune inputs to match your environment (licensing model, helpdesk data, discount levels, etc.).