Cyber Essentials Basic costs between £320 and £600 ex VAT, depending on the size of your organisation. Cyber Essentials Plus, the audited version, runs from £1,200 to £2,100 ex VAT and needs a valid Basic certificate behind it. A small business taking both levels with a pre-assessment pays £1,990 ex VAT in its first year.
Two things decide the number on a Cyber Essentials quote. The first is the level you certify to, and the second is how many people work in your organisation. Basic is a verified self-assessment, so it sits at the lower end of the range. Plus adds a hands-on technical audit of a sample of your devices, which is why it costs more than answering a questionnaire.
Net Sec Group prices Basic from £320 ex VAT for a micro organisation up to £600 ex VAT for a large one. Plus as a one-off runs from £1,200 ex VAT to £2,100 ex VAT across the same size bands. The bands, micro through to large, are set by headcount, and the smallest band sits at the bottom of the scale. The service is delivered remotely worldwide, so where you are based does not change what you pay.
The certificate is only part of what you are buying. Plenty of organisations certify because a customer or a government framework asks for it, and a 12-month certificate is the deliverable they need. The government's Cyber Security Breaches Survey put the 2025 breach rate at 43% of UK businesses, so demand for proof of basic hygiene keeps climbing.
Self-assessment certified by an IASME Certification Body. 12-hour Fast Track or 48-hour standard turnaround.
| Organisation size | Price (ex VAT) |
|---|---|
| Micro (0–9 employees) | £320 |
| Small (10–49 employees) | £440 |
| Medium (50–249 employees) | £500 |
| Large (250+ employees) | £600 |
| Fast Track premium (12-hour) | +£400 |
Assessor-led technical sample on a subset of your devices. Typically 3 to 5 working days from scoping call to certificate.
| Organisation size | Price (ex VAT) |
|---|---|
| Micro (0–9 employees) | £1,200 |
| Small (10–49 employees) | £1,350 |
| Medium (50–249 employees) | £1,700 |
| Large (250+ employees) | £2,100 |
Both certificates landed in one engagement at a combined price. Useful when the firm needs both levels for different procurement contexts.
| Organisation size | Bundle price (ex VAT) |
|---|---|
| Micro (0–9 employees) | £1,400 |
| Small (10–49 employees) | £1,550 |
| Medium (50–249 employees) | £1,950 |
| Large (250+ employees) | £2,450 |
Continuous vulnerability scanning plus managed patching, all year. Holds the CE controls in shape between assessment days.
Per the Danzell scheme update from April 2026, year-round scanning and patching is now the Cyber Essentials baseline, not the upgrade. The scoping call confirms the exact monthly figure against your device count and EDR decision.
CE Basic + CE Plus + Cyber 365 bundled into one monthly subscription. Annual certification handled on a rolling basis.
Actual price scales with device count and organisation size. Open the cost calculator for a tailored figure.
IASME £25,000 cyber insurance free with every Cyber Essentials certificate for qualifying UK SMEs under £20 million turnover. It is between the certified organisation and IASME. NetSec does not bundle, broker, or upsell it.
All assessor work performed by Net Sec Group as an IASME Certification Body. One operator, one engagement, one continuous loop.
Certificate listed on the IASME registry. NHS, central government, and corporate procurement teams check the registry directly.
All prices ex VAT. UK VAT at the standard rate applies. No hidden fees.
Tell us your organisation size, device count, and any procurement deadline. We come back inside 4 hours with a written quote covering the engagement and timeline.
Or open the cost calculator for a back-of-envelope figure first.