Cmms software cost is usually quoted per user per month, sometimes per site, occasionally per asset, and the quote hides what actually moves it: how many people need a login, which modules are switched on, and whether setup is a fee. This page explains how cmms pricing is built, what a small team pays for and what it does not need, and how to weigh a licence against the only thing that justifies it, the reactive hours the schedule removes. No vendor prices are quoted here; the arithmetic is from this site's own worked example and your figures replace it.
How the price is built
Per-user pricing counts technicians and supervisors who log in; operators who only raise requests are often free. Tiers gate features: meters, inventory, multi-site reporting, integrations and single sign-on sit in the higher tiers. Setup and data import may be a one-off fee or included. Annual billing is discounted against monthly. The quote a small team should ask for is the tier that holds the four core records, for the people who close work orders, on monthly billing until the team has proven it uses the system.
What a small team pays for that it does not need
Inventory and purchasing modules, on a site with a shelf of spares and no stores clerk. Sensor and IoT integrations, on assets with no sensors. Multi-site reporting, on one site. Single sign-on, for a team of six. Each is real value to a larger plant and each is a tier boundary a small team can stay under. The register, the schedule, the mobile work order and the history are the product; everything else is priced for someone bigger.
The arithmetic the licence is weighed against
This site's worked example is 240 work orders a month, 35% reactive, 84 breakdowns at 3.4 hours against 1.1 planned, $48 an hour loaded, which is $9,273.60 a month of avoidable reactive time. A CMMS does not remove all of it; it removes the share that a schedule which actually runs prevents, and it costs the preventive hours to run it, 60 jobs and 66 hours in the example, $3,168. Put your own reactive share and rate in, subtract the preventive cost, and the licence has a number to be smaller than.
Total cost is more than the licence
The register has to be built, which is someone's time walking the site. Technicians have to be shown the phone app, which is a morning. The schedule has to be written, which is the manual and the FMEA. None of that appears on the quote and all of it is real. A team that has run the free worksheets on this site has already spent most of it, which is the argument for starting there.
Questions people ask about cmms software cost
Is there a free CMMS?
Free tiers exist and hold the four core records for a small team, usually capped on users or assets. They are a real place to start, not a trial.
Should I pay per user or per site?
Per site suits a team where many people close work orders; per user suits a small team with a few technicians. Ask for both and do the arithmetic on your headcount.
Is setup worth paying for?
If the register exists in a spreadsheet, no; import it. If it does not exist, the setup fee is paying someone to walk your site, which you can do yourself with the maintenance log worksheet on this site.
What does a CMMS cost a small team in total?
The licence for the people who close work orders, plus the time to build the register and write the schedule. The second is usually larger than the first in the first year.