Pay-as-you-go DDoS protection lets you pay based on actual usage instead of fixed monthly fees. This model includes base fees, charges for protected IPs, and traffic-related costs. Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Base Fees: Providers like Google Cloud Armor charge $5/month per policy, while Azure’s IP Protection costs $199/month per IP.
- Traffic Costs: Charges vary by traffic volume. For example, Google Cloud Armor charges $0.75 per million global requests.
- Attack Response: Some providers, like Azure, offer cost credits for resources scaled during attacks.
- Extra Features: Additional charges may apply for features like extra protected ports, domains, or CDN services.
Quick Comparison
| Provider | Base Fee | Traffic Costs | Attack Protections | Extra Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Cloud Armor | $5/month per policy | $0.75/million global requests | No credits | $1/month per additional rule |
| Azure | $199/month per IP (IP Protection) | Included in base fee | Credits for scaled resources | $29.50/month per extra IP |
| Alibaba Cloud | $1/day for 1–100 IPs | Region-specific pricing | Not specified | CDN services at $3,000/month |
This pricing model is ideal for businesses seeking flexibility and scalability but requires careful planning to manage costs effectively.
Azure DDoS IP Protection
Cost Components
Breaking down the costs of pay-as-you-go models helps in understanding how charges are structured.
Basic Fees
Basic service fees differ depending on the provider. For example, Google Cloud Armor charges $5 per security policy each month and $1 per rule per month as baseline costs. On the other hand, Azure’s IP Protection has a flat rate of $199 monthly for every protected public IP resource.
For organizations needing broader coverage, Azure’s Network Protection plan supports up to 100 public IP resources at $2,944 per month. This brings the cost down to approximately $29.44 per IP when fully utilized, making it a more economical choice for larger setups. Beyond these basic fees, usage-based charges account for traffic fluctuations.
Usage and Attack Response Fees
These fees depend on traffic levels and the need for protection. Google Cloud Armor uses a tiered pricing model:
- Globally scoped security policies: $0.75 per million requests
- Regionally scoped security policies: $0.60 per million requests
Costs can spike during Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Some providers, however, include cost protections. For instance, Azure DDoS Network Protection offers credits for scaled-out resources during attacks, covering:
- Data processing for Azure Firewall
- Scaling of Application Gateway with WAF
- Expansion of VM and Azure Kubernetes Service
- Network bandwidth data egress
Extra Features
Additional features often come with extra charges. Here’s an example of BytePlus pricing:
| Feature | Base Allowance | Additional Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Protected Ports | First 50 included | $100/month per 5 extra ports |
| Protected Domains | First 50 included | $100/month per 5 extra domains |
Their CDN service package costs $3,000 per month, which includes real-time monitoring and enhanced mitigation tools. Data transfer fees are structured as follows:
| Data Transfer (TB) | Cost (USD/GB/hour) |
|---|---|
| 0–100 | $0.0400 |
| 101–500 | $0.0320 |
| 501–1,000 | $0.0240 |
| 1,000+ | $0.0160 |
These additional costs provide flexibility and scalability, depending on specific needs.
Price Tiers and Extra Charges
Price Tier Structure
Pay-as-you-go DDoS protection often uses pricing tiers based on the number of resources and the level of protection required. For instance, Alibaba Cloud Anti-DDoS Origin 2.0 follows this structure:
| Number of IP Addresses | Cost (USD/day/IP) |
|---|---|
| 1-100 | $1.00 |
| 101-300 | $0.80 |
| 301-500 | $0.60 |
| 501-700 | $0.50 |
| 701-1,000 | $0.40 |
| 1,001-10,000,000 | $0.30 |
Region-specific pricing also applies. For example, costs are $231/day in mainland China, $100/day outside China, or $331/day for all regions combined.
Azure offers two pricing tiers for protection:
- IP Protection: $199 per month for each protected IP.
- Network Protection: $2,944 per month for up to 100 IP resources. Additional IPs cost $29.50 each per month.
Let’s look at how businesses can manage these extra costs effectively.
Managing Extra Charges
To keep pay-as-you-go DDoS protection costs under control, businesses can take these steps:
- Traffic Analysis and Planning: Carefully study traffic patterns to estimate resource needs and avoid unexpected costs. For instance, with Alibaba Cloud, each IP’s traffic is calculated separately. If 32 IPs have traffic split as 12 IPs at 10 GB/day and 20 IPs at 15 GB/day, the total daily traffic would amount to 640 GB.
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Automated Cost Controls: Use automated tools to limit expenses during DDoS attacks. As Matt Biilmann, founder of Netlify, explains:
"For free users, my philosophy has always been that we can never go back and fix it if we ruin your moment of glory, but we can always cancel an invoice or refund a charge. Our support team does their best to identify these situations in advance of a user ever being made aware."
- Strategic Tier Selection: Choose the right pricing tier based on your needs. For Azure, IP Protection is more economical for fewer than 15 IPs, while Network Protection becomes a better option for larger setups.
Additionally, implementing spending caps and automated kill switches can help prevent runaway costs during attacks. Some providers also offer refunds for attack mitigation, but it’s essential to understand the conditions under which refunds are granted.
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Less Visible Costs
Hidden fees and ongoing support expenses can significantly impact the total budget for DDoS protection, beyond the advertised charges.
Setup Fees
Pay-as-you-go DDoS protection often comes with hefty upfront costs that aren’t always transparent. For instance, AWS Shield Advanced requires a one-year commitment at $3,000 per month, plus data transfer fees. Other providers may charge fixed recurring fees, regardless of whether an attack occurs or not. These setup costs, frequently overlooked, can add a substantial burden to the overall expense of implementing DDoS protection.
Support Costs
After the initial setup, ongoing support costs can further increase the financial commitment. These expenses often depend on the quality and availability of the provider’s support services.
Providers with their own Security Operations Centers (SOC) offer 24/7 monitoring, access to expert network engineers, manual traffic filtering during incidents, and emergency response services – typically included in enterprise-level plans.
To put it into perspective, a DDoS attack averaging 2.5 Gbps can cost small to mid-sized businesses around $120,000, while enterprises may face losses exceeding $2 million. Choosing a provider with a well-established SOC and strong support services may seem more expensive upfront, but it often saves money in the long run by minimizing the risks of prolonged attacks or service disruptions.
Cost Management Tips
Combining smart traffic management with integrated solutions can help lower DDoS protection expenses while maintaining strong security.
Traffic Planning
Good traffic planning is key to managing DDoS costs. Using real-time analytics, you can spot patterns and predict traffic spikes. As Andrei Dumitrescu put it, "Traffic spikes can be exhilarating when you’re ready for them, or disastrous if you’re not".
Here are some ways to improve traffic management and avoid unexpected costs:
- Set up real-time monitoring: Use analytics to track CPU usage, latency, and error rates. This helps you catch potential issues early, before they affect your budget.
- Use hybrid protection strategies: Combine cloud-based solutions with on-premises setups. This lets you handle large-scale attacks in the cloud while managing smaller, localized threats in-house, saving resources.
Volume Discounts
You can cut costs further by managing traffic volumes wisely and working closely with your service providers. Consider these tips:
- Tailor protection measures to match your traffic patterns.
- Scale defenses to meet actual needs instead of over-provisioning.
- Use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to spread traffic and lighten the load on your main servers.
These strategies can help you make the most of integrated solutions for better cost management.
OneNine Security Integration
Taking things a step further, integrating specialized website management services can help streamline expenses. OneNine offers several advantages:
- Unlimited bandwidth: Included in their plans, so you avoid extra charges during traffic spikes.
- Dedicated support: With an average response time of just 10 minutes, you get quick assistance when needed.
- Guaranteed uptime: They provide financial compensation if service levels fall short.
This integration doesn’t just save money – it can also boost performance. For example, Ernest Chapman reported a 700% increase in website speed after switching to OneNine’s solutions.
Summary
Here’s a quick breakdown of the key aspects of pay-as-you-go DDoS pricing:
Main Cost Factors
Pay-as-you-go DDoS pricing is influenced by both technical and operational considerations. The main drivers include:
- Protection layers: Tools for L3, L4, and L7 protection add to the cost.
- Attack complexity: The more complex the attack, the higher the mitigation expenses.
- Infrastructure scope: Operational costs rise based on the size of traffic scrubbing centers.
For instance, Azure’s pricing highlights these factors. Their IP Protection costs $199/month per public IP, while Network Protection is priced at $2,944/month for up to 100 IPs, with an additional $29.50 per extra IP. These examples underline the importance of understanding cost drivers to align protection with your financial goals.
Protection vs. Budget
Balancing DDoS protection features with your budget is crucial. Key elements to evaluate include:
- Advertised bandwidth limits and associated costs
- Traffic capacity supported by the backbone operator
- Availability of global points of presence (PoPs)
- Qualifications and response times of the support team
Azure’s tiered pricing offers insights here. IP Protection is more economical for setups with fewer than 15 public IPs, while Network Protection provides better value for larger deployments. Keep in mind that smaller fees, like setup or overage charges, can add up. Be sure to review the entire pricing structure, including support costs, before making a decision.
