Large orgs with procurement teams K-12 schools chasing E-Rate and grants Government buyers needing contract vehicles Enterprises wanting one IT reseller

Individuals buying one laptop or printer Small teams without procurement complexity Price-sensitive shoppers comparing retail prices Distributed teams needing transparent list pricing

Cdw Review

Depends

Should I use Cdw?

Skip to Main Content - cdw.com

Analyzed October 13, 2026 · 1 week ago

Large orgs, schools, and government buyers get real value from CDW's catalog, contract vehicles, and account managers. Individuals and small teams pay markups and find better service at retail.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 12+ public sources across reviews, pricing, security, and company pages; some snippets arrive truncated.

Ratings

Value for money
Ease of useNo usable evidence in sources.
Feature depth
Support quality
Security posture

Pricing

List prices on cdw.com

Retail catalog

ModelNot disclosed

Monthly feesNot disclosed

HardwareNot disclosed

Business accountNegotiated per account

Best for

Large orgs with procurement teams
K-12 schools chasing E-Rate and grants
Government buyers needing contract vehicles
Enterprises wanting one IT reseller

Not for

Individuals buying one laptop or printer
Small teams without procurement complexity
Price-sensitive shoppers comparing retail prices
Distributed teams needing transparent list pricing

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Prices are negotiated per account; buyers report markups and price changes

high

Consumer service quality is poor per a 1.2/5 Trustpilot score

medium

LockBit leaked CDW data in 2023; assess vendor risk before sharing

medium

Experience depends on your assigned account manager

Pros

Full-stack IT expertise beyond hardware resale
Strong reps earn high praise from business customers
Dedicated government arm with state contract vehicles
K-12 E-Rate and education grant support
Broad catalog across hardware, software, electronics, and security

Cons

Consumer Trustpilot rating sits at 1.2/5
G2 sample is small: 4.2 from 27 reviews
Buyers report markups and price changes
Employee recommendation rate sits at 59%
Service quality varies by account manager

Sources & method

Analyzed October 13, 2026 - 12 sources - CDW sells security services, but LockBit leaked its data in 2023 with an $80M ransom demand.

official x4review x5security x2news x1

LockBit ransomware data leak (2023), Ransomware gang demanded $80M and leaked CDW data, per InformationWeek.

Key stats

Value for money: 2/5
Rating
List prices on cdw.com
Starting price
12
Sources
October 13, 2026
Analyzed

Value for money: 2/5. Users report markups and price changes.
Ease of use. No usable evidence in sources.
Feature depth: 4/5. Huge catalog plus managed and security services.
Support quality: 2/5. Trustpilot 1.2/5; rep quality varies.
Security posture: 2/5. LockBit leaked CDW data in 2023.

4.2/5 G2 rating 27 reviews
1.2/5 Trustpilot rating Consumer reviews, per 2026 comparison
1982 Founded Per CDW history article
$22.4B Revenue Per CDW About page

Pricing

Retail catalog

List prices on cdw.com

Consumer and small purchases
Standard checkout

Business account

Negotiated per account

Account manager
Volume licensing
Contract pricing

Security

CDW sells security services, but LockBit leaked its data in 2023 with an $80M ransom demand.

LockBit ransomware data leak (2023)Ransomware gang demanded $80M and leaked CDW data, per InformationWeek.^⁷

What users say

Business buyers praise strong account reps while consumer reviews sit at 1.2/5 on Trustpilot.

“Is CDW a legit site?”

Reddit, r/buildapc

“What the hell is wrong with CDW?”

Reddit, r/sysadmin

“CDW... yeah... alternatives? What do you use?”

Reddit, r/sysadmin

Alternatives

Compare Cdw with each alternative.

PCMall
Reseller some sysadmins rate better on price and service.
Cdw vs PCMall
Specialized IT procurement platforms
2026 roundups list six options built for distributed teams.
Cdw vs Specialized IT procurement platforms
Guess: direct vendor stores
Buy direct from Dell or HP for single-brand orders.
Cdw vs Guess: direct vendor stores

Companies that use it

Houston Texans
Stonegate

Full analysis

Based on 12+ public sources across reviews, pricing, security, and company pages; some snippets arrive truncated.

CDW: legit IT reseller for big orgs and schools. Individuals and small teams pay markups; retail beats it for one-off buys.

Methodology

Based on 12+ public sources across reviews, pricing, security, and company pages; some snippets arrive truncated.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

G2 shows CDW at 4.2 from 27 reviews, and Trustpilot at 1.2linkedin.com
review
CDW Reviews | Trustpilottrustpilot.com
review
What the hell is wrong with CDW? (r/sysadmin)reddit.com
review
CDW Reviews from Real Users | TrustRadiustrustradius.com
review
CDW Employee Review | Glassdoorglassdoor.com
review
CDW Pricing 2026: Markup, Fees and Price Changestequipy.com
news
Ransomware Gang Demands $80M, Leaks CDW Datainformationweek.com
security
CDW Trust Centertrust.cdw.com
security
CDWcdw.com
official
CDW Education Fundingfunding.cdw.com
official
CDW-G, LLC | Texas DIR Contract Vendordir.texas.gov
official
About CDWcdw.com
official

Add this review to your site

This check for Cdw says Depends.

Put the badge on your site.

Visitors see the independent review.

The link points here, and search engines follow it.

This is the badge visitors see on your site.

Depends Cdw Independent review on Should I Use It

Badge code

<!-- Should I Use It badge. Keep this link. -->
<a href="https://shouldiuse.io/r/cdw-2" target="_blank" style="display:inline-flex;flex-direction:column;align-items:flex-start;gap:8px;max-width:420px;box-sizing:border-box;padding:14px 16px;border:1px solid #d5dde4;border-radius:14px;background:#ffffff;color:#111111;font-family:Segoe UI,system-ui,sans-serif;line-height:1.25;text-decoration:none;box-shadow:0 8px 20px rgba(17,17,17,0.08);">
  <span style="display:flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;min-width:0;">
    <span style="display:inline-flex;align-items:center;flex:0 0 auto;border-radius:999px;padding:4px 10px;font-size:11px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0.06em;text-transform:uppercase;line-height:1.3;background:#fef7e0;color:#7a5510;">Depends</span>
    <span style="font-size:15px;font-weight:700;color:#111111;overflow-wrap:anywhere;">Cdw</span>
  </span>
  <span style="font-size:12px;font-weight:500;color:#516271;">Independent review on Should I Use It</span>
</a>

Text link

<a href="https://shouldiuse.io/r/cdw-2">Cdw review on Should I Use It: Depends</a>

Paste one snippet. Keep the link as it is. A nofollow tag stops search engines from following it.

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Comments

One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.

No comments yet.

Categories

Cdw Review

Confidence

Ratings

Pricing