The benefits of investing in project management software are undeniable, of course. From increased productivity to lowered project costs, this type of solution is an addition to your business you can’t miss out on.
However, business owners or startup founders often wonder: can I afford it? How much does project management software cost?
If that’s the answer you seek, you’re in the right place.
We’ve examined the pricing of the 45 most popular project management platforms and we’ve got the numbers you’re looking for.
Our research has shown that the average monthly cost of project management software is $15.15 per user. Most platforms charge between $1 and $10 in monthly fees.
Now, as is often the case with average values, there’s a bit of data behind this conclusion.
If you’re curious how we’ve reached it, read on!
Cost of Project Management Software: Overview
To give you an estimate on how much project management software costs, we’ve analyzed the pricing of the 45 most popular platforms we’ve found. We’ve taken a look at the lowest monthly fee per user in the cheapest plan available.
Then, we’ve rounded up the data in the table below.
Based on this data, we can conclude that an average cost of project management equals $15.15 per user, per month.
There is, of course, a “but”.
As you can read from the table, the prices of project management apps vary from as low as $0 to $99 – and seeing as they are viable, available options, they had to be included in our price study.
From a certain perspective, this could make the average a little bit of a stretch. That is why it is important you take a look at the number of platforms within each of the pricing categories.
The categories we’ve come up with include (counting per user/month):
- Free project management software ($0 per user)
- Project management software between $1 – $10
- Project management software between $10 – $20
- Project management software between $20 – $30
- Project management software between $30 – 40
- Project management software between $40 – $50
- Project management software for more than 50$
Taking a closer look at the table will give us a little more insight into how much project management software actually costs.
21 solutions, which is almost half of all analyzed apps, fall into the second pricing category. It means that from all platforms we’ve looked at, 47.7% cost between $10 and $20.
The second largest category includes 12 platforms that price their monthly user subscriptions between $10 and $20, which makes up 27.3% of all analyzed apps.
On top of all of this, you need to remember one thing: the data in our study, to simplify the answer, bring down the cost to a monthly fee per user.
Does it mean you will pay exactly as our table shows?
Not really. Let us explain below.
Pricing Conditions In Project Management Software
The vast majority of project management software providers streamline and simplify their pricing. More often than not, it’s simple subscription management: a fee per user, charged either month by month, or on an annual basis (such annual subscriptions often come with a discount, too).
It’s a good solution for customers – easy plans, easy pricing, simple subscription management.
Usually, you can choose from more than one plan. However, there are platforms such as Basecamp that charge a single fee regardless of the number of users. In their case, it’s $99 regardless if you pay for a user or a team of a hundred. Obviously, in such cases, solutions like this are more cost-friendly in larger teams.
The next thing you need to keep in mind is packaged pricing. Certain apps, such as Bitrix24, charge a stable price per number of users. In their case, a fee per user comes off as really low, below $3. However, this is the price of a team of 24 people using their platforms. This means that whether you’re working in a group of 10 or 24, your monthly fee will equal $69.
Lastly, certain platforms are only available for a minimum of users. For example, Accello charges $39 per user. However, the minimum you can sign up for is 3 users – as such the real, final cost of using their platform is tripled.
It is mandatory that before you sign up for a platform’s paid plan, you carefully analyze their pricing page. There are different factors that affect pricing – and to keep this study simple, not all of them could be taken into consideration.
Freemium Plans in Project Management Software
Another detail worthy of your attention is that nearly half of project management software providers offer a freemium plan.
Why is it important?
For small businesses and startups, the cost of project management software may be more than they handle at their current growth stage. The fact that the freemium model exists, allows them to benefit from the implementation of a PM solution without putting additional load on their budget.
Here, it is important to mark the existence of completely free project management solutions – in our study, Quire and Redmine. These apps are free of cost, completely so, while offering a full range of functionalities they have to offer.
Meanwhile, the paid platforms which offer free plans do so with certain limitations – either in a number of users or in features you’ll get access to.
Is It Expensive?
With all this data in mind, you may still wonder if you can afford this type of software for your business.
According to SmallBizTrends, “the average number of employees in a small business is about 10”. Let’s multiply this by our raw average of PM software cost that is roughly $15.15. It means that, on average, a small team will pay about $151.5 a month for their software.
Is it a lot?
While the answer is obviously “well, it depends”, keep in mind that besides the possible tax deduction, software-related expenses are not a fee, but an investment. While you may spend on the monthly subscription, you will save elsewhere – for example, on time spent chasing your employees about crucial tasks or on losing a client someone has forgotten to follow up with.
Final Thoughts
Our study shows that the cost of project management software doesn’t have to be high. With all the freemium options available and a broad range of prices, you can easily start off with minimum fees.
Hopefully, with this information and cost comparison, you’ll be more eager to give project management a try – even if in the trial mode.
Good luck!
