Cost Comparison
A cost comparison between the YubiKey and alternative technologies for identification and authentication. The YubiKey has the lowest total fees and annual total cost per credential, and can give savings up to 77%.
Please note that all scenarios in the cost comparison are for 5,000 users.
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| Item |
Yubico YubiKey |
Soft Token | SMS |
Legacy token |
YubiKey Assumptions | ||
| One Time Costs | |||||||
| Software license/Startup cost | $1,000 | $5,000 |
|
|
YubiRadius startup package | ||
| Hardware credential cost | $50,000 | $28,000 | $- | $127,500 | All users have a YubiKey at retail prices | ||
| Software credential cost | $- | $- | $- | $91,875 | All users can have the soft YubiKey as a backup | ||
| Server cost |
$6,000 |
$6,000 | $12,000 | $12,000 | YubiRadius is used with the YubiCloud for validation | ||
| Total one-time costs |
$57,000 |
$39,000 | $62,000 | $406,375 | |||
| Recurring Service Costs | |||||||
| Annual Service Fees | $- | $50,000 | $20,000 | $- | |||
| Software Maintenance Fees | $1,000 | $- | $10,000 | $35,000 | YubiRadius support package | ||
| IT staffing | $25,000 | $38,500 | $55,000 | $55,000 | Minimal IT required with YubiRadius/YubiCloud | ||
| Support staffing | $60,000 | $80,000 | $80,000 | $80,000 | AFGA report 25% lower support requirement with YubiKey than Legacy | ||
| Replacement H/W tokens | $4,500 | $2,800 | $- | $12,750 | Assume 300 YubiKeys are lost a year at retail prices | ||
| SMS Fees | $- | $- | $300,000 | $- | |||
| Replacement packaging/ship | $900 | $2,400 | $- | $3,000 | Assume $2/key as regular mail OK for distribution (+ bulk supply) | ||
| Total recurring costs | $91,4000 | $173,700 | $465,000 | $185,750 | |||
| Total cost of ownership | |||||||
| Total one time costs | $57,000 | $39,000 | $62,000 | $406,375 | Soft Token: 60% of users with soft token, 40% with legacy hard token | ||
| Total recurring costs | $274,200 | $521,100 | $1,395,000 | $557,250 | SMS: $0,10 per SMS, 3/day, 200 days/year. | ||
| Total fees | $331,200 | $560,100 | $1,457,000 | $963,624 | |||
| Annual total cost per credential | $22 | $37 | $97 | $64 | |||
| Estimated YubiKey TCO saving | 41% | 77% | 66% | ||||