Per-seat vs flat-fee: what staying costs over 3 years.
Enter your users, what you pay per seat and what your renewals add each year. See the 3-year cost of staying, the same 3 years on a flat monthly fee, and the month the flat fee pays for itself. Runs in your browser; nothing is saved.
Over 3 years
- Staying on per-seat
- $141,863 $3,750/month today, 25 seats
- Flat-fee build
- $162,000 $4,500/month, not per seat
- Per-seat is cheaper by
- $20,138 Break-even: Not within 3 years
| Per-seat cost | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seats + add-ons | $45,000 | $47,250 | $49,613 |
| Flat fee | $54,000 | $54,000 | $54,000 |
An estimate from the numbers you entered, not a quote. Excludes taxes, implementation and migration on either side. The flat fee is held level for 3 years; check that against any quote you get.
Get a fixed quote for your flat-fee replacement
Questions
How do I compare per-seat software with a flat-fee platform?
Multiply your users by the per-seat price, add the monthly add-ons, and apply the price increase you expect at each renewal. Add that up over 36 months and compare it with the flat monthly fee (plus any setup) over the same 36 months. The month where the per-seat total passes the flat-fee total is the break-even month.
Where do the preset per-seat prices come from?
Each preset uses the figure stated in one of our own cost guides on the blog, which is linked under the price field. Those are reported or typical list prices, not your contract. Replace the number with what you actually pay. Presets for membership and field service platforms leave the price for you to enter.
Why does the flat fee start at $4,500 a month?
That is the published monthly price of the AI Forge Scale plan. It is a starting point for the comparison, not a quote: a flat-fee replacement is quoted on scope after a call, so set the range you want to test.
When is per-seat software cheaper?
With few users, a low seat price and little growth, per-seat software usually costs less than a flat fee, and the calculator will show it. A flat fee tends to win as the number of users, the seat price or the yearly increases go up.