The Google Cloud NGFW alternative — same control, no per-GiB tax.
Real egress filtering on Google Cloud means the metered tiers: Cloud NGFW bills $0.0193 per GiB inspected (and Enterprise adds $1.75 per endpoint-hour) — and because Cloud NGFW does not do NAT, you also run a separate Cloud NAT, 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.
Cloud NGFW Essentials is free. Real egress filtering is where the meter starts.
To be fair: Cloud NGFW Essentials is genuinely free for L3/L4 rules. The cost wedge is on what comes next. Identity-aware L7 filtering needs the Standard ($0.0193/GiB inspected) or Enterprise ($1.75/endpoint-hr + $0.0193/GiB) tier — and because Cloud NGFW does not do NAT, filtered egress also needs Cloud NAT ($0.044/hr + $0.045/GiB). That means the same egress bytes are taxed per-GiB two-to-three times — Cloud NAT, NGFW inspection, then network egress — forever, and GCP-locked. Enforza is one appliance at a flat per-firewall price.
- Per hour
- $0.044 / gateway-hr
- Per GiB
- $0.045 / GiB
- Per hour
- $1.75 / endpoint-hr (~$1,277/mo)
- Per GiB
- $0.0193 / GiB
Two products · each billed per hour AND per GiB · the same egress bytes metered two-to-three times (Cloud NAT, NGFW inspection, network egress) — growing with every byte, forever.
- Per hour
- $0
- Per GB
- $0 / GB
Flat, per-firewall licence — plus the Linux VM you already run.
Google Cloud rates VERIFIED, dated 2026-06-14 — directional and subject to
change. GiB is not GB.
Cloud NGFW Essentials (L3/L4) is free; the metered rates above apply to
Standard / Enterprise L7 inspection and to Cloud NAT.
Cloud NAT ($0.045/GiB) and Cloud NGFW ($0.0193/GiB) are separate products
with separate rates.
Savings of 60–80% are typical at modest traffic; run your own numbers.
Deploys in your Google Cloud network — egress, ingress and east-west
Enforza runs as a single Linux VM in your Google Cloud network. Migration is a route change — point the route that currently sends traffic to Cloud NAT and Cloud NGFW at the Enforza appliance instead. No re-architecture, no new network design.
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Drop-in by route
Replace the Cloud-NAT-plus-Cloud-NGFW egress stack by routing traffic through the Enforza NVA. The data path moves to one flat-priced appliance; the rest of your network design is untouched.
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East-west, not just egress
Inspect egress, ingress and east-west network-to-network lateral traffic on the same appliance — so movement between your own networks is governed, without the per-GiB east-west meter Enterprise applies.
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GitOps or console
Drive policy as code from a GitHub pipeline with PR-gated compliance checks, or from the Cloud Controller console — the policy-as-code workflow Google has in Terraform but never markets.
Enforza vs Google Cloud NGFW — including where Google Cloud wins
Here is the honest, row-by-row breakdown — including where Google Cloud 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 5 where Google Cloud is genuinely the stronger choice — including its genuinely free Essentials tier. A comparison that hides the trade-offs is not worth trusting.
- Parity Genuine parity on the job
- Enforza advantage Enforza is the stronger choice
- Google Cloud advantage Google Cloud is the stronger choice
| Capability | Enforza | Google Cloud NGFW | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stateful L3–L7 filtering | Stateful inspection across L3/L4 and L7, egress and ingress | Stateful inspection engine, Essentials L3/L4 up to Enterprise L7 | Same |
| Intrusion detection / prevention controls | Threat-hardening and IDS/IPS-style controls on the data path | L7 IDPS in the Enterprise tier (Palo Alto-powered) | Same |
| Domain / FQDN allow-listing | SNI and FQDN allow- and deny-lists for outbound control | FQDN objects on Standard and Enterprise tiers | Same |
| Destination NAT | Destination NAT supported on the appliance | Supported via Cloud NAT / forwarding rules alongside VPC routing | Same |
| Micro-segmentation / east-west control | Inspects egress, ingress and east-west network-to-network traffic | Host-based micro-segmentation; east-west inspection on Enterprise | Same |
| Geo / IP-range based rules | Network objects with AWS IP-range and Azure Service-Tag imports | Geo-location matching and threat-intelligence address feeds | Same |
| GCP deployment footprint | Runs as a VM in your network — deploys where your workloads live | Distributed, enforced natively at each workload across your project | Same |
| Cost model | Flat, per-firewall licence — £179/mo (£149 from your sixth) | Per-GiB inspected + $1.75/hr Enterprise endpoint — meter never stops | Enforza |
| Per-GiB inspection tax | $0 / GB — your price never moves with traffic | $0.0193 / GiB inspected on Standard / Enterprise, forever, uncapped | Enforza |
| Secure NAT included | Secure NAT + egress filtering in one appliance | Separate Cloud NAT required ($0.044/hr + $0.045/GiB + ~$0.005/hr/IP) | Enforza |
| East-west billing | Segment and inspect all internal traffic — price never moves | Enterprise meters east-west internal traffic per-GiB, the more you secure | Enforza |
| Identity-aware L7 without TLS decryption | SNI and FQDN filtering with no TLS decryption, no key custody | L7 IDPS lives only in the paid endpoint-hour Enterprise tier | Enforza |
| Compliance frameworks | 25 framework packs / 210 controls — advise or enforce on publish | Compliance carried at the platform level; no firewall framework grid | Enforza |
| Fleet view + logs to your own SIEM | One pane of glass, multi-firewall live logs to your own SIEM | Hierarchical policy within one org; logs to Google Cloud services | Enforza |
| GitOps or console | Policy-as-code via GitHub pipeline, or the Cloud Controller console | Full Terraform surface, but no marketed GitOps / policy-as-code workflow | Enforza |
| Runs on any cloud | One control plane across Google Cloud, AWS, Azure and on-prem VMs | Google-Cloud-only — the entire model assumes you live in Google Cloud | Enforza |
| Free L3/L4 tier | Free tier is one firewall, L3/L4 policy and network objects | Essentials is genuinely free for L3/L4 IP/port/protocol rules, at any scale | Google Cloud |
| Distributed host-based enforcement | Inline NVA in the data path — no per-workload host agent | Enforced at every workload natively, no appliance or choke point to route | Google Cloud |
| Curated threat intelligence | Threat-hardening and egress control; no first-party threat feed | Enterprise IDPS powered by Palo Alto Networks threat-prevention tech | Google Cloud |
| Fully Google-managed service | You run the VM (self-upgrading); you own the box and the data path | Google operates and scales the firewall — no VM for you to run | Google Cloud |
| Native Google Cloud integration & billing | Imports GCP-resident objects; runs as a VM in your network | Deeply GCP-native — VPC, hierarchical org policy, one Google Cloud invoice | Google Cloud |
Where each one fits
Where Enforza wins
- No per-GiB inspection tax. Cloud NGFW Standard and Enterprise bill $0.0193/GiB on inspected traffic, forever. Enforza is a flat per-firewall licence — savings grow as your traffic grows.
- Secure NAT and egress filtering in one. Cloud NGFW does not do NAT, so filtered egress on Google Cloud means stacking Cloud NAT ($0.044/hr + $0.045/GiB) underneath it — two metered products. Enforza does both in a single appliance.
- Identity-aware L7 without the Enterprise endpoint. SNI and FQDN egress filtering with no TLS decryption and no key custody — not gated behind the $1.75/hr Enterprise endpoint-hour tier.
- East-west without the meter. Cloud NGFW Enterprise charges per-GiB on internal traffic too, so micro-segmenting busy services costs more the more you secure. Enforza is flat — segment as much as you like.
- Any cloud, not GCP-locked. The same capability across Google Cloud, AWS, Azure and on-prem, under one control plane — not a Google-Cloud-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 — the policy-as-code story Google leaves buried in docs.
When Google Cloud NGFW might suit you
- You only need L3/L4 IP/port/protocol rules — Cloud NGFW Essentials is genuinely free, and at that scope it is hard to beat.
- You are all-in on Google Cloud and want Google itself to operate and scale the firewall, enforced at every workload with nothing to run yourself.
- Deep GCP-native integration matters most — VPC, hierarchical org-wide firewall policy, and tight coupling to other Google Cloud services.
- You want Palo-Alto-Networks-powered IDPS and curated threat intelligence delivered as a managed Enterprise-tier service, on a single Google Cloud invoice.
Google Cloud NGFW alternative — common questions
Where are Enforza and Google Cloud NGFW 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, geo/IP-range matching, destination NAT and east-west micro-segmentation. Both deploy where your workloads live. We show that parity openly: the difference is the cost model and the surrounding workflow, not whether the firewall does the job.
Is Google Cloud NGFW expensive?
Not flatly, and we will not claim it is. Cloud NGFW Essentials is genuinely free for L3/L4 IP, port and protocol rules at any scale — if that is all you need, it is hard to beat. The cost wedge is specific: real egress filtering needs the Standard tier ($0.0193/GiB inspected) or the Enterprise tier ($1.75/hr per endpoint, about $1,277/month, plus $0.0193/GiB), and filtered egress also needs Cloud NAT ($0.044/hr + $0.045/GiB). That is where the per-GiB meter lands — and where Enforza's flat per-firewall price wins. Rates dated 2026-06-14, directional and subject to change.
Where is Google Cloud NGFW genuinely better?
In several places, and we say so plainly. Essentials is free for L3/L4; enforcement is distributed natively at every workload with no appliance to route through; the Enterprise IDPS is powered by Palo Alto Networks threat-prevention technology; it is fully Google-managed and scaled; and it is deeply GCP-native with one Google Cloud invoice. If those matter most to you, Cloud NGFW may be the right call.
Is Enforza a drop-in replacement for Google Cloud NGFW?
For the common job — filtered, identity-aware egress out of your network — yes. Enforza runs as a single Linux VM in your Google Cloud 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 Google's distributed managed service: Google enforces at every workload and integrates with GCP-native tooling, whereas you run the Enforza VM and gain a flat price, no per-GiB tax, multi-cloud reach and compliance-as-code. Most teams switching are replacing the Cloud-NAT-plus-Cloud-NGFW egress stack.
Do I still need Cloud NAT with Enforza?
No. Cloud NGFW does not do NAT, so securing egress on Google Cloud means stacking two metered products — Cloud NAT ($0.044/hr + $0.045/GiB + about $0.005/hr per IP) for outbound connectivity and Cloud NGFW 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.
What does Google Cloud NGFW actually cost?
It depends on the tier. Essentials (L3/L4) is free. Standard adds FQDN, geo and threat-intel feeds at $0.0193 per GiB evaluated. Enterprise adds Palo-Alto-powered L7 IDPS at $1.75 per endpoint-hour (about $1,277/month per endpoint) plus $0.0193 per GiB inspected — and on Enterprise that per-GiB charge applies to east-west internal traffic too. To filter egress you also run Cloud NAT ($0.044/hr + $0.045/GiB + about $0.005/hr per IP). Enforza is a flat per-firewall licence with $0/GB. Rates dated 2026-06-14, directional and subject to change; note GiB is not GB.
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 Google Cloud, identity-aware L7 inspection (IDPS, URL filtering) lives in the paid Enterprise tier on a per-endpoint-hour meter. Enforza gives you identity-aware L7 control on the flat-fee appliance, with no man-in-the-middle and no key custody.
Can Enforza protect more than Google Cloud?
Yes. Cloud NGFW is Google-Cloud-only — the entire model assumes your workloads sit in Google Cloud. Enforza runs the same capability on Google Cloud, AWS, Azure and on-prem VMs, managed from one control plane, so a multi-cloud estate is one fleet rather than three separate firewall products. Google has a full Terraform surface but markets no GitOps workflow; Enforza's GitHub Pipeline Integration is a first-class, PR-gated, compliance-checked mode.
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. Google's free Essentials tier is L3/L4 only — L7 filtering moves you onto the metered Standard or Enterprise tiers.
Leave the Google Cloud 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-GiB inspection charges and no separate Cloud NAT. Start free, no card.