# SIEM Ingest Cost Calculator

> Estimate monthly and annual SIEM or log-analytics ingest cost from GB per day and your per-GB price, with a free daily allowance and fixed fees.

Category: IT, networking & security · Applies to: Worldwide · Last updated: 2026-10-29
Interactive calculator: https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/siem-ingest-cost-calculator

Most usage-priced SIEM and log platforms charge per gigabyte ingested. Enter your daily volume and the price from your own contract; no vendor prices are assumed.

Also called: Log ingestion cost calculator.

## Inputs
- Ingest per day (unit GB; default 50)
- Days per month (default 30)
- Price per GB ingested (default 2)
- Free allowance per day (unit GB; default ; optional)
- Fixed monthly fees (default ; optional)
- Currency

## Results
- Monthly cost
- Annual cost
- Ingest charges per month
- GB ingested per month
- Billable GB per month
- Effective cost per GB

## Formula

```
Billable GB = max(0, GB/day − Free GB/day) × Days;  Monthly = Billable GB × Price + Fixed;  Annual = Monthly × 12
```

Where:
- Price: your per-GB ingest price
- Fixed: monthly fees not tied to volume

## Worked example
1. Billable = (50 − 5) × 30 = 1,350 GB.
2. Ingest = 1,350 × $2 = $2,700; plus $500 fixed = $3,200 a month.
3. Annual = 3,200 × 12 = $38,400; effective cost = 3,200 ÷ 1,500 GB = $2.1333 per GB.

**Result:** At 50 GB a day and $2 per GB with 5 GB a day free and $500 in fees, the SIEM costs $3,200 a month.

## What the result means

Ingest is usually the biggest lever: filtering noisy sources before ingestion cuts cost directly. Compare commitment tiers by putting their effective per-GB price into the same calculation.

## Assumptions and limits
- Daily volume is the same every day of the month.
- Prices are flat per GB; tiered or commitment pricing must be converted to an effective rate.
- Retention beyond the included period, archive storage, search compute and taxes are not included unless you add them as fixed fees.

## Questions

### Why is no price filled in for my vendor?

Prices vary by vendor, region, tier and contract, and change often. Enter the rate you actually pay.

### How do I estimate GB per day?

Use the Log Retention Storage Calculator to convert events per second and event size into raw GB per day.

## Related calculators
- [Log Retention Storage Calculator](https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/log-retention-storage-calculator)
- [Cloud Egress Cost Calculator](https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/cloud-egress-cost-calculator)
- [Percentage Calculator](https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/percentage-calculator)

Source: GM¹X CalcVerse — https://calculators.geekmidst.com/calculators/siem-ingest-cost-calculator