MSP Security Economics
Is your MSP cybersecurity practice actually profitable?
Run an honest assessment based on your real numbers. See where vendor pass-through, labor, and overhead are eating your margin — and what Fortress unlocks.
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What this MSP profitability calculator computes
This free calculator models the real economics of an MSP cybersecurity practice. Plug in your actual numbers and it computes your true margin per client, where that margin leaks, your GRC/vCISO and SOC opportunity, and what you recover by consolidating a fragmented vendor stack onto one platform.
Your true margin per client
Most MSPs think their cybersecurity line is more profitable than it is. The calculator subtracts vendor pass-through (typically 65–85% of license revenue), loaded labor cost per seat served, and allocated overhead from your service revenue — showing your real margin, not your assumed one.
Where your margin leaks
Vendor sprawl, under-priced labor, and tool overlap are the three biggest margin killers for MSPs. The calculator breaks down how much each is costing you per month.
Your GRC/vCISO and SOC opportunity
If you're not yet delivering GRC/vCISO or 24/7 SOC services — or you're paying an external partner — the calculator shows the margin difference between outsourced delivery and platform-based delivery.
How MSP cybersecurity pricing works
MSP cybersecurity pricing has two layers: the service/labor fee (your margin) and the license/tool fee (mostly passed through to vendors). Most MSPs price the license layer competitively but underprice the service layer — the part that actually carries margin. The second hidden cost is labor capacity: a technician can only manage so many clients before quality drops. Platform-based delivery raises the number of clients each technician can support, which is where margin expansion actually comes from — not from raising prices, but from raising capacity.
Who this calculator is for
Built for MSP and MSSP owners, operations leads, and anyone deciding whether to add or reprice cybersecurity services. If you advise an SMB client on their security spend, you can model the economics from their side too.