The AWS Network Firewall alternative — same egress control, no per-GB tax.
AWS Network Firewall bills $0.395 per endpoint-hour per Availability Zone and $0.065 per GB — and to filter egress you also run a separate NAT Gateway, a second metered product. Enforza does secure NAT and identity-aware L7 filtering in one appliance, at a flat per-firewall price and $0/GB. 60–80% less than the cloud-native firewall plus data-processing charges.
Securing egress on AWS bills you twice. Enforza bills you once.
To filter outbound traffic on AWS you stack two metered products — a NAT Gateway for connectivity and Network Firewall for inspection. Each bills on two meters at once (a per-hour fee AND a per-GB charge), and each runs once per Availability Zone — so a 2-AZ deployment multiplies the whole stack. That is four meters, doubled across AZs, growing with every byte, forever. Enforza is one appliance at a flat per-firewall price.
- Per hour
- $0.045 / gateway-hr · per AZ
- Per GB
- $0.045 / GB
- Per hour
- $0.395 / endpoint-hr · per AZ (~$288/mo)
- Per GB
- $0.065 / GB
Two products · each billed per hour AND per GB · multiplied by every Availability Zone — a 2-AZ setup doubles the whole stack, forever.
- Per hour
- $0
- Per GB
- $0 / GB
Flat, per-firewall licence — plus the Linux VM you already run.
AWS rates VERIFIED us-east-1, dated 2026-06-14 — directional and subject to
change.
NAT Gateway ($0.045/GB) and Network Firewall ($0.065/GB) are separate
products with separate rates.
Savings of 60–80% are typical at modest egress; run your own numbers.
Wherever AWS Network Firewall is deployed, Enforza deploys too
Enforza fits the same topology you already run. Migration is a route-table change — point the route that sends traffic to your Network Firewall endpoint at the Enforza appliance instead. No re-architecture, no new network design.
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Drop-in by route table
Swap Network Firewall for Enforza by adjusting the route table that steers traffic into inspection. The data path moves to the Enforza NVA; the rest of your network design is untouched.
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Centralized inspection VPC
Run the AWS-recommended pattern: route spoke networks through a central inspection VPC and place Enforza there. The same hub-and-spoke topology you would use for Network Firewall, one flat-priced appliance.
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East-west, not just egress
Inspect egress, ingress and east-west VPC-to-VPC lateral traffic on the same appliance — so movement between your own networks is governed, not only the outbound path to the internet.
Enforza vs AWS Network Firewall — including where AWS wins
Here is the honest, row-by-row breakdown — including where AWS wins. We group it three ways: 7 rows where the two are the same on the core firewall job, 9 where Enforza leads on cost and workflow, and 4 where AWS is genuinely the stronger choice. A comparison that hides the trade-offs is not worth trusting.
- Parity Genuine parity on the job
- Enforza advantage Enforza is the stronger choice
- AWS advantage AWS is the stronger choice
| Capability | Enforza | AWS Network Firewall | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stateful L3–L7 filtering | Stateful inspection across L3/L4 and L7, egress and ingress | Stateful and stateless engines with deep packet inspection | Same |
| Intrusion detection / prevention controls | Threat-hardening and IDS/IPS-style controls on the data path | Managed IDS/IPS with signature-style rules and protocol detection | Same |
| Domain / FQDN allow-listing | SNI and FQDN allow- and deny-lists for outbound control | Domain-list (FQDN) filtering on stateful rule groups | Same |
| Destination NAT | Destination NAT supported on the appliance | Supported alongside VPC routing and gateway endpoints | Same |
| Centralized inspection-VPC deployment | Deploys in the AWS-recommended inspection-VPC pattern — same topology | The reference pattern: route spoke networks through an inspection VPC | Same |
| East-west (VPC-to-VPC) inspection | Inspects egress, ingress and east-west VPC-to-VPC lateral traffic | Supported via a centralized inspection VPC, hub-and-spoke routed | Same |
| AWS deployment footprint | Runs as a VM in your network — wherever NFW deploys, Enforza deploys | Native VPC endpoints across your accounts and Availability Zones | Same |
| Cost model | Flat, per-firewall licence — £179/mo (£149 from your sixth) | Per endpoint-hour, per AZ — no flat option, meter never stops | Enforza |
| Per-GB data-processing tax | $0 / GB — your price never moves with traffic | $0.065 / GB on Network Firewall, forever, uncapped | Enforza |
| Secure NAT included | Secure NAT + egress filtering in one appliance | Separate NAT Gateway required ($0.045/hr + $0.045/GB) | Enforza |
| Identity-aware L7 without TLS decryption | SNI and FQDN filtering with no TLS decryption, no key custody | Encrypted L7 inspection needs TLS decryption (Advanced Inspection) | Enforza |
| Migration effort | Drop-in — adjust the route table to point at Enforza; no re-architecture | Re-architecture into firewall endpoints, policies and rule groups | Enforza |
| Compliance frameworks | 25 framework packs / 210 controls — advise or enforce on publish | PCI-DSS / HIPAA named as a use case; no framework grid, no controls | Enforza |
| Fleet view + logs to your own SIEM | One pane of glass, multi-firewall live logs to your own SIEM | Firewall Manager across AWS accounts; logs to AWS services | Enforza |
| GitOps or console | Policy-as-code via GitHub pipeline, or the Cloud Controller console | Terraform / CloudFormation resources, but no marketed GitOps workflow | Enforza |
| Runs on any cloud | One control plane across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and on-prem VMs | AWS-only — the entire model assumes your workloads live in a VPC | Enforza |
| Native AWS integration | Imports AWS IP ranges as objects; runs as a VM in your network | Deeply AWS-native — VPC routing, Firewall Manager, Organizations | AWS |
| Fully AWS-managed service | You run the VM (self-upgrading); you own the box and the data path | AWS operates and auto-scales the endpoints — no VM for you to run | AWS |
| Curated threat intelligence | Threat-hardening and egress control; no first-party threat feed | AWS-managed rules powered by Amazon threat intelligence | AWS |
| Single-vendor AWS billing & support | A separate Enforza subscription alongside your AWS bill | One AWS invoice and one AWS support relationship for everything | AWS |
Where each one fits
Where Enforza wins
- No per-GB data-processing tax. AWS bills $0.065/GB on Network Firewall on every byte, forever. Enforza is a flat per-firewall licence — savings grow as your egress grows.
- Secure NAT and egress filtering in one. On AWS you stack a NAT Gateway and Network Firewall as two metered products to get filtered egress. Enforza does both in a single appliance.
- Identity-aware L7 without breaking TLS. SNI and FQDN egress filtering with no TLS decryption and no key custody — no Advanced-Inspection hourly line to inspect encrypted traffic.
- North-south and east-west in one. Enforza inspects egress, ingress and east-west VPC-to-VPC lateral traffic — deployable in the AWS-recommended centralized inspection VPC, the same topology you would use for Network Firewall.
- Any cloud, not AWS-locked. The same capability across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and on-prem, under one control plane — not a VPC-only service.
- Compliance and GitOps as first-class. 25 frameworks / 210 controls with advise-or-enforce on every publish, driven from a GitHub pipeline or the console.
When AWS Network Firewall might suit you
- You are all-in on AWS and want AWS itself to operate and auto-scale the firewall, with nothing to run yourself.
- Deep AWS-native integration matters most — VPC routing, AWS Firewall Manager across Organizations, and tight coupling to other AWS services.
- You want AWS-curated threat intelligence and managed rule groups maintained for you as part of the service.
- You prefer a single AWS invoice and one AWS support relationship for everything, with no separate subscription.
AWS Network Firewall alternative — common questions
Where are Enforza and AWS Network Firewall the same?
On the core firewall job they are at parity. Both do stateful L3–L7 filtering, IDS/IPS-style controls, domain/FQDN allow-listing and destination NAT, and both deploy in the AWS-recommended centralized inspection-VPC pattern to inspect egress, ingress and east-west traffic. Wherever AWS Network Firewall can be deployed, Enforza can be deployed. We show that parity openly: the difference is the cost model and the surrounding workflow, not whether the firewall does the job.
Where is AWS Network Firewall genuinely better?
In four places, and we say so plainly. AWS gives you the deepest AWS-native integration (VPC routing, Firewall Manager across Organizations); it is fully AWS-managed and auto-scaled, so there is no VM for you to run; it ships AWS-curated threat intelligence and managed rule groups; and it bills through a single AWS invoice with one AWS support relationship. If those matter most to you, Network Firewall may be the right call.
Is Enforza a drop-in replacement for AWS Network Firewall?
For the common job — filtered, identity-aware egress out of your network — yes. Enforza runs as a single Linux VM in your AWS network and you route egress through it, giving you SNI/FQDN filtering, secure NAT and threat hardening in one appliance. It is not the same product as AWS's managed service: AWS operates the endpoints for you and integrates with AWS-native tooling, whereas you run the Enforza VM and gain a flat price, no per-GB tax, multi-cloud reach and compliance-as-code. Most teams switching are replacing the NAT-Gateway-plus-Network-Firewall egress stack.
What does AWS Network Firewall actually cost?
AWS Network Firewall bills two ways at once: $0.395 per firewall endpoint-hour (about $288/month per Availability Zone, so a 2-AZ HA pair is roughly $576/month before any traffic) plus $0.065 per GB processed — forever and uncapped. To filter egress you also run an AWS NAT Gateway ($0.045/hr + $0.045/GB). Enforza is a flat per-firewall licence with $0/GB. Rates are us-east-1, dated 2026-06-14, directional and subject to change — use the savings calculator for your own numbers.
Do I still need a NAT gateway with Enforza?
No. On AWS, securing egress means stacking two metered products — a NAT Gateway for outbound connectivity and Network Firewall for inspection. Enforza does secure source NAT and identity-aware L7 filtering in a single appliance, so you replace both with one flat-priced NVA at $0/GB.
Can Enforza protect east-west (VPC-to-VPC) traffic, or only egress?
Both. Wherever AWS Network Firewall can be deployed, Enforza can be deployed — including the AWS-recommended centralized inspection VPC, where spoke networks are routed through a central hub for inspection. In that topology Enforza inspects egress, ingress and east-west VPC-to-VPC lateral traffic between your own networks, not just the outbound path. Migration is a route-table change: point the route that currently sends traffic to your Network Firewall endpoint at the Enforza appliance instead, with no re-architecture.
Does Enforza decrypt TLS to filter by hostname?
No. Enforza filters egress by SNI and FQDN without decrypting TLS and without holding your keys. On AWS, inspecting encrypted L7 traffic means enabling TLS inspection (Advanced Inspection), which decrypts the traffic and adds an hourly charge. Enforza gives you identity-aware L7 control with no man-in-the-middle and no key custody.
Can Enforza protect more than AWS?
Yes. AWS Network Firewall is AWS-only — the entire model assumes your workloads sit in a VPC. Enforza runs the same capability on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and on-prem VMs, managed from one control plane, so a multi-cloud estate is one fleet rather than three separate firewall products.
Is there a free way to try it?
Yes. Enforza has a genuine free tier — one firewall with L3/L4 policy and network objects, no card required. A 14-day trial unlocks the full feature set, including L7/FQDN filtering, compliance packs, log export and live logs. The paid plan is £179/month per firewall, dropping to £149 from your sixth, plus the Linux VM you already run. AWS Network Firewall has no free tier — the meter starts on deploy.
Leave the AWS firewall meter behind.
Same identity-aware L7 egress filtering, secure NAT in one appliance, on any cloud — at a flat per-firewall price with no per-GB data-processing charges. Start free, no card.