CDW vs Firstbase: A Price per Order, or a $27,500 Yearly Contract for 100 Users

The cdw vs firstbase comparison matters most to an IT lead who already buys from CDW and has started hiring people who never visit an office. CDW can ship them a laptop. The harder part comes later, when the person leaves. In a 2022 Capterra survey, 71% of 287 HR workers said at least one leaver had kept company equipment.

So the choice is less about price per laptop and more about the kind of supplier you need. Below, the two meet on six questions (price, ease of use, support, integrations, returns, countries), followed by a third route for teams neither one fits.

All competitor ratings were read on 30 September 2026. CDW's G2 page is its profile for managed accounts, and the newest of its reviews on our card is from December 2021. On its public review sites CDW sits at roughly 1.2 to 2.1 stars; the Trustpilot score reflects smaller, transactional orders.

Who Is CDW Best For?

CDW reported $22.424 billion in sales for 2025, up 6.8%, in its own full-year results. Founded in 1984 and based in Vernon Hills, Illinois, it lists more than 100,000 products from over 1,000 brands. Three kinds of buyer get the most from it.

• Organisations that want one purchase order for everything: laptops, Microsoft licences, switches, servers and managed services can all come from one account team.
• Office-based teams in the US, UK and Canada: CDW runs two US distribution centres and a UK logistics centre, and its regional companies are strongest there.
• Public sector and large institutions: contract vehicles, financing and large onsite rollouts, such as 14,000 Chromebooks placed in classrooms in Texas, suit its model.

The fit weakens for a smaller company. An IT manager at a firm of 51 to 200 people gave CDW 3 out of 10 and wrote: "Small organizations are treated as second-class citizens" (a March 2019 TrustRadius review, marked as incentivized). The same pattern, high marks from large managed accounts and low ones from small buyers, runs through our CDW reviews roundup.

For Whom Is Firstbase Useful?

Firstbase holds 4.7 out of 5 from 51 G2 reviews, read on 30 September 2026. It was founded in 2019, raised $65 million, and has belonged to AppDirect since December 2024. Its own support documentation splits the world into two tiers, so three buyers fit it best.

• Companies whose staff sit mostly in the US, UK, EU and Canada: Firstbase runs its own warehouses there, accepts customer-owned devices and offers custom imaging.
• Finance teams that want to lease: devices can be bought outright, leased on 24 to 36 month terms, or supplied by you for Firstbase to manage.
• Companies that already buy software through AppDirect: US marketplace customers can buy Firstbase-fulfilled hardware as standalone AppDirect Marketplace products.

Outside those regions the picture changes: a long-standing customer told us some countries cost too much to serve and others were not covered at all. Coverage gaps are the most consistent complaint in Firstbase reviews after price.

Tequipy: An Alternative

If you need neither a full IT catalogue nor a yearly contract, look at a supplier built for laptops in many countries. Tequipy orders each device from an authorized partner where the new hire lives, then manages delivery, returns and resale on one platform.

• The listed price is the price you pay: recommended retail price with delivery included, so an $1,800 MacBook costs $1,800.
• Local partners in 180+ countries: 600+ resellers sell inside each market, which keeps customs and import duty out of the order.
• Every service works on laptops bought elsewhere: offboarding, storage, redeployment and sellback run on devices from CDW or anyone else.
• No seat block and no committed pool of actions: one laptop is a complete first order.

CDW figures come from its published terms and buyer reports, and Firstbase figures from its AWS Marketplace listing, both checked in September 2026. Every standard Tequipy rate is on the Tequipy pricing page.

For a 100-person team, a year costs $27,500 at Firstbase, no platform or seat fee at CDW, and $2,856 at Tequipy, all before hardware: $24,644 less than Firstbase. CDW lists no service rates, so weigh seven laptops at its quote against $14,000 on Tequipy, delivery included, and ask CDW to price that model. Firstbase's homepage describes one subscription per active seat, so its bill grows with every hire. No platform charge applies on Tequipy for up to 100 devices; beyond that, $99 monthly, flat at any fleet size, and HRIS sync adds $199 a month. Try your own numbers.

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Price

The two vendors charge for different things. CDW charges for each item you order, as Tequipy does; Firstbase charges for a year of service before the first laptop ships.

CDW Pricing

• Item prices, then quotes: a transactional buyer sees list prices online; a managed account or a big order goes through the rep for a quote. Using the ordering portal costs nothing.
• Setup is extra: CDW's configuration centres image, enrol, tag and kit devices for a fee per unit, and the full fee list is not public.
• The price can move after you order: a CDW Canada buyer saw a confirmed order re-priced from $588 to $922 and called it "textbook bait-and-switch on an order that was already confirmed" (a November 2025 BBB review).
• Buyers shop it against other resellers: one sysadmin writes that CDW "pricing usually comes in higher for us" (a 2026 Reddit comment).

Firstbase Pricing

• One public price: Firstbase lists a Starter Edition on AWS Marketplace: 100 users and a committed block of actions for $27,500 over 12 months, then $1 for each action beyond it. The listing states that "All payments are non-refundable".
• Seats, not items: its homepage describes a single subscription for each active seat, without a figure for the seat.
• Two layers of cost: a current customer told us the bill comes in two parts, a platform fee first and a charge for each action after it.
• A third-party median: Vendr puts the median buyer at $62,500 a year, from 51 purchases. That is an estimate, not a Firstbase price.
• A free US edition: US companies on the AppDirect marketplace (AppDirect has owned Firstbase since December 2024) can use a free edition for up to 50 employees; returns and other services are not part of it.

Verdict on Price

Neither is cheaper in every case. CDW costs nothing until you order, which suits irregular buying. Firstbase costs a full year before the first order, which suits a company that hires steadily inside its core regions. Full detail sits in our Firstbase pricing and CDW pricing breakdowns.

Pro tip: get each vendor's price promise in writing before you compare. Ask CDW whether the quoted price is held until the order ships, or only until the order is placed. Ask Firstbase how many actions the Starter Edition includes, and which tasks count as one action: a delivery, a return, a repair. With those two answers you can price your last twelve months of hires and leavers on both sides.

Ease of Use

Both offer a portal. What differs is how much still goes through a person.

CDW Ease of Use

• A portal for orders and tracking: the Account Center shows orders, tracking and compliance documents, and imaging happens at CDW's configuration centres before shipping.
• Quotes still go through a person: one Reddit user wrote, "I moved a $400k sale over to another partner simply because they couldn't get a quote processed in time" (a June 2026 Reddit comment).
• Orders can go missing from view: "The order does not show up in my CDW account," one buyer wrote about a confirmed order (an August 2026 Trustpilot review).

Firstbase Ease of Use

• Quick to set up: one reviewer wrote, "We were able to get them onboarded and serving our employees in under 1 month" (a February 2024 G2 review).
• Records could go deeper: a public safety reviewer asked for more: "We would love to see more audit logging capabilities built in!" (a June 2025 G2 review). Firstbase released an Action Center and inventory-level views in 2026, so check what has changed.

Verdict on Ease of Use

Firstbase is easier for an IT team that onboards people every week. CDW is easier for a buyer who already knows the exact part number and wants it on one invoice with everything else.

Customer Support

Both vendors put people in front of the customer. The difference is who decides how good those people are.

CDW Support

• One account team for everything: a G2 reviewer described CDW as a "Complete, 1-stop shop for technology" (a February 2013 G2 review), with a named rep who can bring in engineers for larger deals.
• The rep can disappear: "I was completely ghosted by my account manager while my order sat unshipped for weeks," one buyer wrote (a September 2026 BBB review).
• Phone queues can be long: "On a subsequent phone call, I spent three hours on hold before the line went dead," a buyer wrote about a single software licence (a September 2026 Trustpilot review).

Firstbase Support

• Its most praised theme: responsive account contacts who follow up appear in more of Firstbase's G2 reviews than any other topic.
• Help is tied to the four core regions: expedited shipping, custom imaging and a full returns service run in the US, UK, EU and Canada, according to its support documentation. Elsewhere, partners handle a smaller list of tasks.

Verdict on Support

Firstbase wins on its support record. CDW's support depends on which rep you draw and how much you spend. Tequipy has no support tiers: each customer talks to the team in its own Slack channel and gets same-day replies. Gigs, which hires across about 20 countries, says "Delivery times, pricing, and service quality remain reliable no matter where we're hiring" in the Gigs case study.

Integrations

An HR connector is what turns a start date into a laptop order without anyone typing it in. These two take different routes.

CDW Integrations

• Asset data into your own tools: CDW's Hardware Asset Management Service writes asset fields and links to ServiceNow, Snipe-IT and Oomnitza.
• Enrolment through Apple and Microsoft: CDW registers devices in Apple Business Manager and in Windows Autopilot through what it calls Tenant Registration.
• Enrolment errors happen: one Intune admin titled a post "CDW Sent us laptops destined for another tenant" (a Reddit post).

Firstbase Integrations

• A long connector list: over 20 pre-built links, from Workday and HiBob to Okta and Jamf, sit next to a public API and webhooks. The 2026 releases added an MCP server and a native MDM integration.
• Not yet a full asset system: "It would be great if the Firstbase platform was a fully fledged ITAM platform that could integrate with our SaaS apps like Okta, Jamf, Jira, etc," wrote a financial services reviewer (a February 2024 G2 review).

Verdict on Integrations

Firstbase wins: it reads hires and leavers from your HR system, while CDW connects at the asset-record level. On Tequipy, a $199 monthly HRIS sync pulls joiners and leavers from Workday, HiBob or BambooHR, and a REST API covers other systems. The reseller's laptop is linked to your company's Apple or Microsoft enrolment account first, and zero-touch deployment does the rest when the employee switches it on, with Jamf, Intune or another MDM.

Returns and Configured Laptops

A laptop's second half is where these two differ most: what you can send back, and what happens when an employee leaves.

CDW Returns

• A 30-day window: CDW's Global Returns Policy allows returns within 30 calendar days of the invoice, and CDW may charge a restocking fee of up to 15% of the amount billed.
• Configured devices stay with you: the same policy rules out returns for anything specially ordered, staged or configured to the customer's specifications. A laptop imaged for a new hire who never starts is yours to keep.
• Disposal through partners: CDW's IT asset disposition runs through Procurri and AnythingIT, and the value comes back as credit on your CDW account rather than cash. We found no evidence of a home pickup service for individual remote leavers.

Firstbase Returns

• Return kits for leavers: Firstbase sends a box and labels to the departing employee and reports a 97%+ retrieval rate, a self-reported figure with no published method.
• Fewer services outside four regions: in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East, partners accept returned laptops and docks but no monitors or phones, and they refuse hardware you send in yourself.
• Works with CDW purchases: the Firstbase homepage says customers can keep buying through SHI or CDW and route those devices through Firstbase.

Verdict on Returns

Firstbase wins for leavers, at least inside its core regions. Tequipy collects laptops from the employee's home for $70 to $150 per device, box and courier included, then wipes and stores the device in that country. Wipes use Blancco software when you need a certificate, every device keeps a chain of custody, and Tequipy is ISO 27001 certified. A laptop you will not reuse can be sold back for cash. Our laptop retrieval service works on devices from any supplier.

Countries and Delivery Times

Both vendors claim near-global reach. Their own documents describe something narrower.

CDW Coverage

• Over 170 countries claimed: CDW UK says it supplies over 170 countries, through separate regional companies in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland and the Middle East, each with its own setup.
• Europe looks different from the US: a team using CDW in Europe told us it had "no automation capabilities" and could see only device serial numbers in its account.
• Paying for faster shipping did not help: a buyer who paid for expedited shipping on a $2,458.42 ThinkPad wrote, "13 days later my order has never shipped, and I have received no tracking number" (a July 2026 BBB complaint).

Firstbase Coverage

• Three different numbers: 150+ countries on its website, "40+ countries" on its AWS listing, and 50+ in a September 2026 LinkedIn post.
• Expedited shipping in four regions only: its support documentation says only the US, UK, EU and Canada offer it.
• Slower than expected in places: "Shipping times sometimes takes longer than expected," wrote a health and wellness reviewer (a December 2025 G2 review).

Verdict on Coverage

Firstbase is stronger across its four core regions; CDW is strongest in the US. Neither publishes a per-country delivery time. With global laptop procurement, Tequipy sources in 180+ countries, with an average of three business days per delivery and a ceiling of ten. Booksy began with Latin America, its hardest region, and its case study records 99% of laptops arriving before the start date.

How to Choose a Device Supplier

A feature grid hides the real question with this pair. These three checks bring it out.

Decide Whether You Need a Catalogue or a Service

If your next purchase order holds a firewall, a SAN and forty Microsoft licences, you need a reseller, and CDW's breadth is a real advantage. If it holds laptops for people in six countries, you need someone to buy, enrol, deliver and later collect each one. Tequipy covers that second job and leaves the rest of your IT buying where it is.

Check Who Answers When Your Account Is Small

CDW's service rises with your spend, and Firstbase's price rises with your headcount. Ask both: what does a company of our size get, and who picks up the phone? Tequipy gives every customer the same Slack channel, whether it orders one laptop a month or fifty.

Find Out What You Can Undo

CDW will not take back a configured laptop, and Firstbase will not refund a contract payment. Both terms are common in their markets, and both start to matter when hiring slows or a renewal nears. Ask each vendor what happens to an unused device and to unused committed actions. Tequipy has no contract to undo, and a stored laptop can be redeployed or sold back for cash.

Alternative to Both: Tequipy

Revolut had two offices and 100 staff when Tequipy's co-founder took charge of its IT; when he left that role it had 17 offices and 5,000 staff, and no laptop had gone missing. Tequipy offers that process to any employer hiring abroad.

Key Features

Three features answer the gaps this comparison found.

The Listed Price Is the Invoiced Price

Each device costs its recommended retail price in that country, with delivery and Apple Business Manager or Autopilot enrolment included. The price shown on the platform is the most you pay. Its income comes mainly from hardware and second from services, because volume buying through 600+ authorized resellers lands below the retail price you pay. Repairs, certified wipes and any manual setup get their own quote.

Bought Where the Employee Lives

A laptop for a new hire in Colombia comes from a reseller in Colombia, so customs never sees it and import duty never lands on the invoice. Deliveries average three business days with a ten-day limit, and a laptop that arrives later than that is discounted. Coverage includes the Philippines, Brazil, India, Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan.

Every Step of a Laptop's Life, Whoever Sold It

You can upload the laptops you already own in a CSV file, including ones bought from CDW or managed by Firstbase. Offboarding, storage, redeployment and sellback then run on them like any other device. Start with one country's leavers while CDW or Firstbase carries on elsewhere, and compare the invoices after a quarter.

Tequipy Pricing

Where Tequipy Shines

• One price ceiling: what the platform shows for a laptop already covers its delivery and enrolment.
• Hard countries on the same terms: Armenia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, the Philippines and Colombia get the same delivery terms as London.
• Nothing to commit before the first order: Firstbase starts with a 12-month contract, while one laptop is a full order on Tequipy, as on CDW's web store. The standard service rates sit on the public pricing page.

Where Tequipy Falls Short

• No leasing or financing: every device is sold outright. Payment can wait seven days after delivery on a $5,000 credit line, and that is all. For hardware kept off the balance sheet, Firstbase suits that need better.
• No full IT catalogue: Tequipy supplies laptops, monitors, phones and accessories for employees. Servers, networking gear and software licences are outside its focus.
• SOC 2 is still in progress: the audit is under way. ISO 27001 certification and penetration test reports are available now, and the SOC 2 date is worth asking about on a demo call.

Tequipy Customer Reviews

Four reviewers on G2 give Tequipy an average of 4.9 out of 5 (October 2026), too few to treat as a verdict. One enterprise reviewer writes that "it really stands out that I don't need to have a local IT department in every country we operate in" (a July 2026 G2 review). TapTap Send consolidated three separate purchasing processes into Tequipy and saves 40+ hours a month, as the TapTap Send case study describes.

Who Tequipy Is Best For

• Globally distributed teams: three countries, fifteen or more, with the same prices and delivery times in each.
• Companies hiring their first employee abroad: with no local entity and no local shop account, the usual way of buying a laptop has nothing to work with.
• Teams shipping laptops across borders today: a buyer described the old routine to us: "We FedEx laptops across borders paying customs and taxes on top." Buying inside the country removes that step.

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Can Firstbase Manage Laptops Bought From CDW?

Yes. The Firstbase homepage says customers can keep buying through SHI or CDW and route those devices through Firstbase. Outside the US, UK, EU and Canada, its partner warehouses do not accept customer-supplied devices.

Who Keeps a Laptop Imaged for a Hire Who Never Starts?

At CDW, you do. Its Global Returns Policy rules out returns or credit for anything configured to customer specifications. Firstbase offers hold policies of 30, 60 or 90 days, but only where it runs its own warehouses: the US, UK, EU and Canada. Partner sites in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East offer no hold.

Can CDW or Firstbase Keep Laptops Off Your Balance Sheet?

Yes, both do. Firstbase leases on 24 to 36 month terms, and CDW offers financing and leasing through its financial services, with terms not published. Tequipy does not lease or finance hardware; customers buy each device outright.

How Many Users Does Firstbase's $27,500 Contract Cover?

One hundred. The Starter Edition on AWS Marketplace covers 100 users and a committed pool of actions for 12 months, with extra actions at $1 each. The listing does not say how many actions are included, so ask before you sign.

Who Can Equip a Hire in a Country Where Neither Has a Warehouse?

Tequipy can. It buys from authorized resellers inside 180+ countries, so the laptop never crosses a border, and its global IT procurement works the same way in each one.