Use of new anti-seismic techniques is certainly suitable for buildings of strategic importance and, in general, in the case of very high risk. For ordinary buildings, instead, the cost of base isolation system should be balanced by an equivalent saving in the structure. The comparison criteria have been first defined, then a large numerical investigation has been carried out to analyze the effectiveness and the economic suitability of seismic isolation in concrete buildings. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.