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Cost calculator: subscription or one-off purchase

Pick a product and one of its plans — the tool fills in the checked list price — then see the total after 1, 2, 3 and 5 years. If the plan is sold both as a subscription and outright you also get the break-even point; if it is sold one way, only that option is shown. With no product picked, enter your own prices.

Both options take their price from the same product: comparing the cost of two different pieces of software gives an answer you cannot use.

Leave empty for a single one.

Paid as a subscription

What you pay each period for ONE user or device.

Bought outright

What you pay once for ONE user or device (perpetual licence).

Annual upgrade or support fee on the perpetual licence, counted from year two. Leave empty if there is none.

How the numbers are worked out

  • Picking a product and plan fills the price field with that plan's checked list price (only figures that trace back to a source; promotional prices are not used). You can edit it, and the note under the field then says the figure is yours.
  • Prices come from the same plan of the same product. A subscription-only plan has no one-off field, and vice versa — the tool never borrows another product's price to compare against. To compare against another option, choose “Enter prices myself” and type both figures.
  • Subscriptions are paid up front each period: choose “per year” and the whole first year is paid in month one.
  • The one-off purchase is paid once, at the start.
  • Maintenance is counted from year two — the first year is usually included in the purchase. If your vendor charges differently, add it to the purchase price instead.
  • Products sold per company: each payment = plan price + (users beyond those included × price per extra user) + (extra branches × price per extra branch); maintenance is for the whole plan. When you enter your own prices the tool costs per user — to cost a bundle, set users to 1 and enter the bundle price.
  • Extra branches and optional services (training, setup) only appear when the vendor lists a price. Extra branches are charged like extra users; a one-time service is added up front, a recurring one every period, equally in both columns.
  • No inflation, interest or tax is included, and no rollout or training beyond the optional services you tick. The numbers you type are the numbers used.

The tool never converts currencies, never adds or removes VAT, and never divides an annual price into monthly instalments — those figures exist in no source. How the site handles sourced prices is described on the methodology page.