Cost of Firewall

[mikel108]

OK..I have some burning question that I just need to know the answer to.

Why is it that Firewalls cost so much? On average they cost more than an AV, yet it is not like they have to make new signature files everyday.

[Pilli]

I guess it is the onward development costs but most developers offer a free, albeit, neutered alternative.

Kerio 2.1.5 is still available for free and has a s good following, although no longer being developed it works really well especially if you are behind a router and can use rulesets written by others.

I am sure you will get lots more suggestions, try them and then decide for yourself what best suits you :)

Pilli

[mikel108]

Thanks for the reply Philli.

I actually have a firewall that I have used for a long time.

I have only in the past several months decided to get better educated about security, my PC and the web.

The higher cost of a firewall compared to an AV is always something I wanted to ask. My thinking was that maybe development of a firewall is a lot more demanding. I fiqured the people here at Wilders might give me a better appreciation for the higher cost of those types of programs(firewalls).

Thanks Again

[meneer]

Add subscription to the cost of antivirus. That's the cash cow for av firms.

[mikel108]

Don't firewalls have a yearly fee???

If not, good point.

[meneer]

-{ Quote: "Don't firewalls have a yearly fee???

If not, good point." }-
Some of them. Outpost for instance, lets you buy a subscription for yearly updates, but they are not required, the license is lifetime. The firewall will protect with or without subscription (provided that there are no big bugs of course).

[Arup]

Kerio, either old or new is free, so is Zone Alarm, Fiseclab, NetVeda, Jetico, Sygate, Softperfect as well as others like Securepoint and others on the big list of free firewalls at this forum.

All of the abovementioned do a pretty good job.

[mikel108]

Thanks for the reply Arup. I understand that there are free firewalls, as that is what I use.

The answer to the question that I was trying to find out, is WHY the firewall companies charge so much for their product, when compared to an antivirus that has to be updated all the time(I know its partly apples to oranges).

I certainly think that I have recieved reasonable answers from Philli, and Meneer.

Can anyone else think of what might drive these prices up?? It would just seem that when you can get it for free, 40-50 USD is a big jump to try and get most customers to make.

[Arup]

Paid products are usually aimed at corporates where any breach of security would mean disaster, so for them it is a small price to pay for securing their network, home owners usually go for the free products.

[Just wondering]

It may be because...they are needed by most everyone.

and for many FW companies....it is a one time fee.

[mikel108]

-{ Quote: "Paid products are usually aimed at corporates where any breach of security would mean disaster, so for them it is a small price to pay for securing their network, home owners usually go for the free products." }-


More great point. Thanks Arup, and Just wondering

[Just wondering]

1. Marketing 101----Seeing how FWs are a must...ya go for what the market
will bear.

2. Offer a free "teaser" with many bells and whistles..turned off. To lure you into
buying the big brother.

3. The hundreds of hours needed to delvelop.

[Sputnik]

There are more then enough free or limited versions for home users... I think there's no need to spend alot of money on a good firewall... ZA Free or the limited Kerio will protect you good enough :)

[Diver]

Utilities published by small outfits tend to be expensive compared to the stuff made by the larger companies. That is just how it is. Don't fret there is Kerio 2.15 if you can do rules and ZA free if you can't.

[Paranoid2000]

-{ Quote: "The answer to the question that I was trying to find out, is WHY the firewall companies charge so much for their product, when compared to an antivirus that has to be updated all the time(I know its partly apples to oranges)." }-From what I have seen, the price of most firewalls is equal to that of most anti-virus software so I can't see any substance to this statement. If you shop around you can get discounts on both types of products which bring them down to the ~$20 level (though you need to move fast for a 50% discount on Outpost (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=72445) since this ends April 4th). However anti-viruses do require an annual subscription making them far more expensive in the long term - many anti-trojans (e.g. BOClean, TDS-3, TrojanHunter) do not, though upgrade fees in the future cannot be ruled out.

The only exception would be Tiny firewall, where the Pro version weighs in at $100 but this does cover the areas of a firewall ($30-40), Process Guard ($30), RegDefend ($30) and an uninstaller ($30 for Total Uninstall) so would seem worthwhile if you are prepared to spend enough time learning it.

[mikel108]

Obviously Paranoid2000, you have been too scared to go to the ZA and Sygate sites. They charge $49 and $47 USD respectively. Since these are the ones I have personally used I based it on this. Look "n" Stop is $39.**(EDIT)
i originally listed Look n Stop as $50. This was because their site automatically converts to Candian money. I missed this, sorry.

F-Prot, EZ AV, Bitdefender --- $29

Kaspersky, NOD32, Avast ---- $40 APRX

Certainly there is a price difference ;)

[mikel108]

Moderator since I think my question has pretty much been answered will you now lock this thread.

[Diver]

For me it is very hard to compare an AV and a firewll on the price front. A firewall is like most other applications. There will be maintence, but it is not daily. An AV is really a service that is implemented via software. Many of the AV vendors use this business model, even if some of the big ones like Symantec do not. Rationalizing the price of something like Tiny by looking at the parts does not make sense to me. Most of those small utilities tend to be very expensive. How about trying to justify the cost of a Porche because if it was bought one part at a time it would cost four times as much?

[Bubba]

-{ Quote: "Moderator since I think my question has pretty much been answered will you now lock this thread." }-There are only a few reasons that We lock threads....and this is not one of them. If you don't mind we'll continue the discussion in case others have comments to offer.

Regards,
Bubba

[mikel108]

Fair enough.

My thinking was that they keep offering free antiviruses to me.

My question has always been why Firewalls cost so much. Is it the developement (re: how much time invovled) or ect, ect.

Its hard to pay such a steep price when there are good free choices.

[mikel108]

-{ Quote: "For me it is very hard to compare an AV and a firewll on the price front. A firewall is like most other applications. There will be maintence, but it is not daily. An AV is really a service that is implemented via software. Many of the AV vendors use this business model, even if some of the big ones like Symantec do not. Rationalizing the price of something like Tiny by looking at the parts does not make sense to me. Most of those small utilities tend to be very expensive. How about trying to justify the cost of a Porche because if it was bought one part at a time it would cost four times as much?" }-


This is a great post, and is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Diver

[mikel108]

-{ Quote: "Obviously Paranoid2000, you have been too scared to go to the ZA and Sygate sites. They charge $49 and $47 USD respectively. Since these are the ones I have personally used I based it on this. Look "n" Stop is $39.**(EDIT)
i originally listed Look n Stop as $50. This was because their site automatically converts to Candian money. I missed this, sorry.

F-Prot, EZ AV, Bitdefender --- $29

Kaspersky, NOD32, Avast ---- $40 APRX

Certainly there is a price difference ;)" }-


I have made a correction in this post as noted above.

I contacted Look "n" Stop, and their great support team gave a great quick and informative response. They confirmed what Philli, Maneer and Diver had posted. I am now more knowledgeable. Bring on Jeopardy!

[hollywoodpc]

Hi there Mikel .
Remember my pm to you ? I hope so . Try it and see