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WAN Transformation · TCO Calculator

Should you migrate from MPLS to SD-WAN?

Three paths compared over 3 years: stay on MPLS, run hybrid (MPLS at HQ + SD-WAN at branches), or go full SD-WAN over broadband. Includes a sensitivity slider for sites where business broadband isn't available — the question most migration models skip.

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Why MPLS migration is the highest-ROI WAN move: MPLS averages $1,200-3,000/site/month for typical mid-market enterprises. Dual broadband + SD-WAN runs $500-900/site/month with equivalent or better performance for cloud-bound traffic. Across 25 sites, that's $300K-650K saved annually. The catch buyers worry about — broadband not being available at every site — turns out to affect 5-15% of sites for most US enterprises, and there are LTE/Starlink fallbacks that still beat MPLS economics.

Your WAN Footprint

Six inputs. The sensitivity analysis is at the bottom.

Including HQ. Hybrid path keeps HQ on MPLS, moves branches to SD-WAN.
Blended across DIA and MPLS circuit cost. Typical $1,200-3,000.
Business fiber or cable. Per primary circuit, doubled for redundancy in SD-WAN model.
Drives appliance + management subscription costs.
High bandwidth widens the cost gap (broadband scales cheaper than MPLS).
Trades capex for opex. Most mid-market lands on co-managed.
⚠ Broadband availability sensitivity

Not every site can get business-class broadband. Rural locations, industrial parks, and international offices often need LTE/5G fixed wireless or Starlink fallback — which is still cheaper than MPLS, but not by as much. Slide to model what happens at X% of your sites.

Those sites use LTE/Starlink fallback (~$300/mo for primary).
Drives fallback cost at affected sites.
3-Year Total Cost of Ownership
Calculating...
Path A · Status Quo
Stay on MPLS
$0 / 3 yrs
$0 in year 1 · $0 / site / year avg
MPLS circuits$0
Internet backup circuits$0
Annual price increase (5%)$0
Router / equipment refresh$0
Path B · Hybrid
MPLS at HQ + SD-WAN at branches
$0 / 3 yrs
$0 in year 1 · $0 / site / year avg
HQ MPLS (retained)$0
Branch dual broadband$0
SD-WAN appliances + license$0
Mgmt / monitoring$0
Implementation (Y1)$0
— sites on fallback—
Path C · Transform
Full SD-WAN over broadband
$0 / 3 yrs
$0 in year 1 · $0 / site / year avg
Dual broadband (all sites)$0
SD-WAN appliances + license$0
Mgmt / monitoring$0
Implementation (Y1)$0
LTE/Starlink fallback sites$0
MPLS decommission credit$0

Per-Site Monthly Economics

What an average site pays under each path. The structural difference is what drives the 3-year gap.

MPLS only (status quo)
$0 / site / mo
MPLS circuit + small internet backup. Most expensive baseline.
Hybrid branch
$0 / site / mo
Dual broadband + SD-WAN + management. Applied to branches; HQ stays on MPLS.
Full SD-WAN site
$0 / site / mo
Dual broadband + SD-WAN + management. Applies to every site including HQ.
Fallback site (LTE/Starlink)
$0 / site / mo
Used at sites without business broadband. Still beats MPLS at most rates.

3-Year Cumulative Spend

All three paths plotted. The gap widens as MPLS escalates and SD-WAN scales without per-Mbps premiums.

Year-by-Year Spend

Where the money goes each year. Year 1 includes implementation; years 2-3 show steady-state.

Year MPLS Hybrid Full SD-WAN MPLS vs SD-WAN delta
▸ See all assumptions and the cost model

All numbers are vendor-neutral midpoints based on published list pricing, Telarus carrier benchmark data, and recent SD-WAN implementation case studies. Real circuits vary by region — Tier 1 metro is cheaper than rural, and lit-building access changes the math significantly. Treat this as a planning baseline and validate against 2-3 actual carrier quotes.

MPLS path

  • MPLS circuit cost: user input (mid-market typical $1,200-3,000/site/mo).
  • Internet backup: $200/site/mo (broadband secondary).
  • Annual price increase: 5% (typical telco renewal escalator).
  • Router refresh: $2,500/site, one hit in 5-year cycle (modeled as ~1/3 of sites refreshing in the 3-year window).

Hybrid path

  • HQ keeps MPLS at user-input rate; branches move to SD-WAN.
  • Branch dual broadband: 2 × user broadband cost per site (primary + backup for resilience).
  • SD-WAN appliance: $2,500 (entry) / $5,000 (mid) / $9,000 (premium) per site, capex Y1.
  • SD-WAN license: $60/$120/$200/site/mo by tier.
  • Management: $50/$100/$200/site/mo by self/co-managed/managed.
  • Implementation: $800/site one-time Y1.

Full SD-WAN path

  • Every site (including HQ) on dual broadband + SD-WAN.
  • MPLS decommission credit: 3 months × current MPLS cost typically required for early termination, but offset by avoided MPLS spend during transition.
  • Same appliance, license, management, and implementation costs as hybrid path, applied to all sites.

Broadband availability sensitivity

  • Sites without business broadband fall back to LTE/Starlink.
  • LTE/5G fixed wireless: $300/site/mo for unlimited business-class.
  • Starlink Business: $450/site/mo for Stationary or Mobile tier.
  • Mixed: averaged at $375/site/mo.
  • Fallback sites still get SD-WAN appliance + license. Not as cheap as broadband but still beats MPLS.

Bandwidth-need adjustments

  • High bandwidth need: broadband cost × 1.4× per site (faster tier required).
  • Low bandwidth need: broadband cost × 0.8× per site (entry-tier sufficient).
  • MPLS pricing assumed to already reflect the bandwidth requirement (user input is the actual current cost).

📄 Download the cost-model spreadsheet PDF

PDF includes the full 3-year side-by-side, year-by-year breakdown, per-site economics, sensitivity analysis at multiple broadband-unavailable rates, and a 7-item migration risk checklist for the planning conversation.

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