White Label VPN: Full Cost Breakdown with TCO Calculator

If you’re comparing white label VPN solutions, you already know the basics. You’re not here to learn what a VPN is. You’re here to see the real numbers that affect your bottom line.

Licensing, gateways, branding, user churn — if you don’t run them through a VPN TCO calculator, you’re setting yourself up for hidden losses. And that’s the last thing a serious reseller or MSP wants.

The global VPN market is still booming. But only the sellers who know their real cost-to-serve make it work long-term. This is where the smart money protects itself.

Try Our Free White Label VPN TCO Calculator

Run your setup fees. Play with different user counts. Stress-test your VPN gateway pricing. Make sure your margin holds — no surprises.

White Label VPN TCO Calculator

Get a clear picture of your total cost of ownership, revenue potential, and break-even — in minutes.

1) How many paying users do you expect in your first year? 2) What price do you want to charge per user, per month? 3) What region are most of your customers in? (Optional) North America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa Global 4) Do you want to include a password manager with your VPN? Yes No 5) What best describes your business size? Solo founder Micro (2–9 employees) Small (10–49 employees) Medium (50–249 employees) Large (250+ employees) Calculate My TCO & Revenue

Your Estimates:

Year 1 Total Cost: $0

Year 2+ Annual Cost: $0

3-Year TCO: $0

Gross Revenue Projection: $0

Break-even User Count: 0 users

Gross Margin Range: 0%

Talk to a White Label VPN Specialist

Disclaimer: These figures are rough estimates only. For a detailed, customized projection, our specialists will provide a tailored quote based on your business details.

Why Cost Visibility Makes or Breaks a White Label VPN?

White label VPNs let you skip the expense of building your own servers, apps, and support stack. You pay for proven infrastructure. But that doesn’t mean you just pay a flat fee and walk away with profit.

Your total cost of ownership (TCO) covers everything — licensing, bandwidth, branding, compliance audits, support load, and payment fees. Ignore even one piece and your profit margin can disappear.

What is TCO in cybersecurity?

In cybersecurity, TCO means the entire cost to run, secure, and maintain a service, including licensing, infrastructure, support, compliance, and hidden operational costs.

The Real Cost Breakdown of a White Label VPN

Here’s the honest look at the costs you’ll actually face when you run a white label VPN. These are the line items that too many resellers overlook — but they always show up.

1. Upfront Setup Fees

Most white label VPN providers charge a one-time onboarding or setup fee. This covers branding your apps, setting up your reseller panel, connecting payment systems, and sometimes your first batch of licenses.

Typical range: $500–$5,000
It depends on how custom you want your panel, client portal, and apps.

2. Licensing Costs

Your licensing fee is usually monthly or annual. Some vendors bill per active user; others do a revenue share model. The more you grow, the bigger this line item gets — so be clear on how your licensing scales.

3. VPN Gateway Pricing

This one trips up new resellers fast. You don’t run VPN servers yourself, but you do pay for the bandwidth your users consume. That’s where VPN gateway pricing comes in.

Some vendors bundle usage up to a limit; others charge based on data volume. Heavy streamers and large corporate clients can spike your bandwidth costs overnight. Always test worst-case usage scenarios.

4. Branding & Custom Development

The whole point of white label is putting your brand up front. That means custom logos, your domain, and sometimes branded desktop or mobile apps. Some providers include basic branding in the setup fee. Others charge extra for deeper integrations. Always add this to your TCO — don’t guess.

5. Customer Support & Operations

Even if your white label partner handles the backend infrastructure, you still handle your end-users: password resets, billing disputes, app bugs — it all lands in your inbox. Whether you hire in-house or outsource, support is a real cost.

Many resellers estimate 10–20% of monthly revenue goes to support operations.

6. Compliance, Security & Insurance

Running a VPN means you’re handling personal data. You’ll need to comply with privacy laws (like GDPR, CCPA), possibly run audits, and maintain cyber insurance. Skip this, and one breach or legal request can wipe out your annual profit.

7. Payment Processing Fees

Simple but often overlooked. Stripe, PayPal, or any payment processor will take their cut — typically 2–4% of every subscription payment, recurring, forever. Build this into your pricing from day one.

8. Marketing & Customer Acquisition

Your white label vendor won’t sell for you — that’s your job. Your cost to acquire a customer (CAC) is a real part of your total cost of ownership. Whether you run paid ads, do SEO, or rely on referrals, every marketing dollar counts.

Hidden Costs Too Many Resellers Ignore

Some costs won’t be in the sales pitch — but they’ll show up in your statement.

• Bandwidth Overages: If you pay per GB, usage spikes eat margin.
  
• Payment Fees: Credit card processors take 2–4% on every subscription.
  
• Rev Share: Some “great deals” cut 20–40% of your sale price back to the vendor.
  
• Your Time: You’re not free. Onboarding, upselling, and retention — they all have value.

Example: MSP Adding White Label VPN

Let’s say you’re an MSP with 100 users. You pay $3–$5/user monthly for licensing, plus usage-based VPN gateway pricing. You package it with remote security tools.

If you sell that bundle at $15–$20/user, your profit covers licensing, support, payment fees, and leaves room for upsell. 

How to Keep Your Costs in Check?

Numbers protect you, but smart processes protect you more.

• Negotiate bandwidth rates. Don’t take the first VPN gateway pricing deal.
• Use automation. Self-serve dashboards reduce tickets.
• Track renewals. Churn is the silent killer of margin.
• Bundle services. Combine your VPN with password management for higher ARPU.

Conclusion

Know every cost before you commit.

Your licensing, VPN gateway pricing, support, and compliance, it all adds up fast.

Run it through a real VPN TCO calculator so you’re clear on what you’ll spend and what you’ll keep.

When you’re ready to launch profitably, PureVPN White Label shows you every number upfront, no guesswork, no surprises.