The Enterprise Pricing Problem
Privacy is a fundamental right. Data protection regulations apply to organizations of all sizes. Yet most PII protection tools price themselves exclusively for enterprise budgets.
A solo consultant handling sensitive client data faces the same GDPR requirements as a Fortune 500 company. But when tools start at $50,000/year, they are effectively unavailable to:
- Small law firms handling personal injury cases
- Independent healthcare practitioners
- HR consultants processing employee data
- Startups building with AI
- Researchers with grant-funded budgets
Typical Enterprise Pricing
| Tool Category | Typical Annual Cost |
|---|---|
| Enterprise e-Discovery platforms | $50,000 - $500,000 |
| Enterprise DLP solutions | $100,000+ |
| Specialized PII tools (enterprise) | $50,000+ |
| Cloud NER services (volume) | $10,000+ at scale |
The Alternative: Token-Based Pricing
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Tokens | Cost per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | EUR 0 | 10,000 | Free |
| Starter | EUR 3 | 50,000 | EUR 0.06 |
| Professional | EUR 15 | 300,000 | EUR 0.05 |
| Business | EUR 29 | 750,000 | EUR 0.039 |
What You Get at Each Tier
Free Tier (10,000 tokens/month)
- All 317 pattern recognizers
- All 48 languages
- All 5 anonymization methods
- Web application access
- Chrome Extension
Professional (EUR 15/month)
- 300,000 tokens
- Everything in Free + Starter
- MCP Server access
- Office Add-in
- API access
Cost Comparison: 500 Documents/Month
| Solution | Annual Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise platform | $50,000+ | Often minimum contract |
| Cloud NER + custom build | $10,000+ | Plus development time |
| cloak.business Professional | EUR 180/year | Full feature access |
Cost difference: 277x less expensive
The Implementation Reality
| Factor | Enterprise Tool | cloak.business |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | Weeks to months | Minutes |
| IT involvement | Required | Optional |
| Training | Multi-day sessions | Self-explanatory UI |
| Customization | Professional services | Self-service |
| Contract length | Annual minimum | Monthly, cancel anytime |
Key Takeaways
- Enterprise pricing excludes most organizations - $50K minimums are not accessible to SMBs
- Token-based pricing aligns cost with usage - Pay for what you process
- Free tier enables compliance for individuals - 10,000 tokens covers light use
- Implementation overhead adds hidden costs - Weeks of setup vs. minutes
- Full features at every tier - No artificial capability restrictions