Check Point is launching Firewall-as-a-Subscription. Under this subscription model, organisations get Force Firewalls, the AI Network Firewall from R82.20, threat prevention and cloud management for a fixed monthly or annual fee. The hardware does not have to be purchased upfront. After three years, customers can switch to new hardware.
According to Check Point, the subscription is aimed at organisations of all sizes. Customers pay a fixed amount per month or per year instead of investing upfront in firewall hardware. The company is positioning the programme as a follow-up to R82.20, the software release with which it introduced the AI Network Firewall in July 2026.
What the subscription includes
The package is built around Check Point Force Firewalls. According to the company, these are sized and priced to match the threat prevention throughput an organisation requires. The firewalls run the AI Network Firewall features from R82.20. Check Point says these features inspect AI traffic, protect AI applications and support the management of AI agents at network level.
AI-driven threat prevention is also included in the subscription, including SandBlast. Check Point claims a block rate of 99.9 per cent against zero-day attacks for SandBlast. According to the vendor, security updates are applied immediately via Live Updates, without restarts or downtime.
For management, customers receive the Smart-1 Agentic Management package. This is a cloud-based management environment that requires no additional on-premises infrastructure. The subscription also includes premium support available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with customers choosing between direct or collaborative support. Finally, customers receive Check Point Global Services Flex Credits. These can be used to migrate management from another vendor’s firewall or for other Check Point services.
Term and scaling up
The subscription runs for three years. During that period, customers can increase throughput capacity at any time. After 36 months, they can switch to new hardware. Check Point expects this to allow security to keep pace with an organisation’s AI usage and growth. The company does not mention pricing in the announcement.
Budget figures and analyst view
Check Point backs up the launch with figures from the 2026 Security Budget Benchmark by IANS Research and Artico Search. According to that research, the median security budget has not increased this year. For 55 per cent of CISOs, the budget stayed the same or fell. Of those surveyed, 64 per cent asked for an increase and 45 per cent were granted one. Check Point says that when budgets are tight, organisations often postpone firewall refreshes, while AI is increasing the volume of traffic that needs to be inspected.
Pete Finalle, Research Manager Security and Trust at IDC, says investment cycles often force organisations to delay replacing firewalls or to buy more capacity than they need. According to Finalle, consumption models that turn on-premises security hardware into a predictable operating expense can ease that problem. He expects demand for this flexibility to grow as AI increases data traffic and risk on networks.
Avi Rembaum, President of Global Technical Sales at Check Point, says every organisation uses AI and therefore deserves the same level of protection, regardless of size or budget. Rembaum says that is why Check Point is bringing its AI security, threat prevention and agent management together in a single subscription.
This article was originally published in Dutch on MSP Business. Read the original →
