The short answer
Per-seat pricing charges you more precisely as you succeed. That is fine while the tool does everything you need. It stops being fine when you are paying for forty seats to use a third of a product.
Audit it properly
Pull twelve months of statements and list every recurring software charge. Not from memory: from the statements. Most businesses find two or three they had forgotten and at least one nobody has opened in a year.
| Tool | Monthly | Seats | Annual | What % of it do you use? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ |
| ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ |
| ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ | ___ |
The last column is the one that matters. A tool you use 90% of is good value at almost any price. A tool you use 20% of is where the money is going.
The three cheap fixes first
- Cancel what nobody usesThere is always something. This step alone often pays for the audit.
- Downgrade tiersPlenty of businesses are on a plan bought for a feature they no longer need.
- Consolidate overlapsTwo tools doing the same job is common after a few years of ad-hoc buying.
Do all three before considering building anything.
When building starts to win
| Signal | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Seat count rising fast | Per-seat pricing works against you every year |
| Using a small fraction of the product | You are funding features for someone else |
| Paying for two tools to cover one job | Neither fits |
| Building workarounds around the tool | The tool no longer fits the process |
| Vendor raising prices or removing features | You have no control and no exit |
The honest caveat
Common questions
How do I audit our software spend?
Pull twelve months of card and bank statements and list every recurring software charge. Most businesses find two or three they had forgotten and at least one nobody uses.
When does building become cheaper than subscribing?
When per-seat costs are rising with headcount and the tool only does part of what you need. Compare over three years including growth, not against one month's subscription.
Should I replace all of it?
No. Replace the one where you are paying most and using least of what you pay for. Keep the tools that are genuinely good at solved problems: accounting, email, CRM.