Cloud Architecture
Cloud Security Cost Guide: What AWS GuardDuty, Azure Sentinel and GCP Security Command Center Actually Cost
Security Is Not Free in Cloud
One of the most frequently overlooked components of cloud TCO is security tooling. Native cloud security services can add 10-25% to your total cloud bill. Understanding these costs upfront prevents budget shocks.
Threat Detection and SIEM
| Service | Pricing Model | Typical Cost (100 VMs) |
|---|---|---|
| AWS GuardDuty | Per CloudTrail event + VPC flow log GB | $200-600/month |
| Azure Sentinel | Per GB data ingested | $500-2,000/month |
| GCP Security Command Center | Standard: Free; Premium: per asset/month | $0-500/month |
| OCI Cloud Guard | FREE for OCI resources | $0 |
AWS Security Services Detailed
| Service | Price | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| GuardDuty | $1-4/million events | Threat detection, crypto mining, account compromise |
| Security Hub | $0.001/finding check | Aggregates findings from GuardDuty, Inspector, Macie |
| Inspector | $0.11/EC2 instance/month | Vulnerability assessment |
| Macie | $1.25/GB data scanned | PII detection in S3 |
| WAF | $5/WebACL + $1/million requests | Web application firewall |
| Shield Advanced | $3,000/month minimum | DDoS protection (SLA-backed) |
Azure Security Services
| Service | Price | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Defender for Cloud | $0.02/server/hour (~$15/mo) | Workload protection |
| Microsoft Sentinel | $2.46/GB ingested | SIEM and SOAR |
| Azure DDoS Protection Standard | $2,944/month + $26/protected resource | DDoS protection |
| Azure Firewall Premium | $2.63/hour + $0.016/GB | Network firewall |
Minimum Security Stack Cost Estimate
For a 50-VM production environment on AWS:
| Service | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| GuardDuty (enabled across accounts) | $120 |
| Security Hub | $50 |
| Inspector (50 VMs × $0.11) | $6 |
| CloudTrail (2 regions) | $4 |
| Config (500 rule evaluations) | $10 |
| WAF (2 WebACLs + 10M requests) | $30 |
| Security baseline total | ~$220/month |
Cost Optimisation for Security
- GCP Security Command Center Standard is free — the Premium tier adds compliance dashboards but Standard covers basic threat detection
- OCI Cloud Guard is free — significant advantage for cost-conscious deployments
- AWS GuardDuty costs can be reduced by tuning log volume — exclude high-volume, low-value logs
- Azure Sentinel ingestion costs: filter out low-value logs before ingestion, use the Analytics workspace commitment tiers for predictable pricing
Never skip security to save money — but do understand what you're paying for. OCI's free security services (Cloud Guard, security zones) are a meaningful advantage for security-conscious, cost-sensitive deployments.
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