CMMS Pricing Models Explained: Per User, Flat Fee and Quote Only

CMMS vendors state their price in one of three ways: per user, as a flat fee or only on request. McMain is the clean example of the per user model, with a public price of 35 euro per user per month on Lite, 65 euro on Team and 85 euro on Pro, and full users and mobile users priced separately. The sections below explain each model, show how to budget under it and give a checklist for quotes. For the monthly view of per user costs, read the guide to CMMS cost per month.

Per user pricing and how McMain applies it

Per user pricing means every person with a licence adds a fixed monthly amount to the bill. Add a technician and the bill rises by the price of one licence. Remove a user and it falls by the same amount. The total is always the number of users times the price, which makes the model the easiest one to budget.

McMain applies the model with two user types. A full user has access to everything inside the chosen licence. A mobile user works only in the mobile app, where reporting issues, creating work orders and completing them are available. On Team a full user costs 65 euro and a mobile user 35 euro per month, and on Pro the prices are 85 euro and 45 euro. Lite costs 35 euro per user per month. Team is the plan McMain customers choose most.

Flat fee pricing and how to budget under it

Flat fee pricing means one monthly price covers the whole account. The budget line is a single number that does not move when a user is added, as long as the vendor's terms allow the extra user. A buyer who meets a flat fee should ask what the fee covers: how many users, how many sites, whether mobile access is part of it and what changes if the team grows.

The way to compare a flat fee with McMain is to run the per user sum for the same headcount. A team of ten on Lite is 10 times 35 euro per month, and the buyer holds that figure against the flat fee. The per user figure is public and exact, so the comparison needs no guesswork on that side. A worked version of this sum is in the 10 user euro example.

Quote only pricing and the questions to ask

Quote only pricing means the vendor publishes no price and prepares an offer after a conversation. The buyer gets a price tailored to the request, but has to ask for it and has no public number to hold against another offer. A buyer should therefore send every vendor the same request: the same headcount, the same split between full and mobile users, and the same list of features.

McMain gives such a buyer a reference point, because its numbers are public. Its Open API is free and part of every environment, and a quote that charges separately for integrations can be measured against that. The reference shortens the conversation, since the buyer already knows what a per user price with open terms looks like.

A table for budgeting under each pricing model

The table gives one row per model and the same reference point in the last column. For a plan by plan view of what each McMain tier adds, read the CMMS pricing table of what each plan includes.

A ten person budget run under each model

A concrete case shows the difference. A technical service has ten people: three planners and seven technicians. Under per user pricing on McMain Team the budget is 3 times 65 euro plus 7 times 35 euro per month. The buyer can write that sum on paper without asking anyone, and it changes only when the headcount changes.

Under a flat fee the budget is the fee itself, so the buyer's job is to confirm what it includes for ten people, three of whom sit in the office and seven of whom work from phones. Under quote only pricing the budget is whatever the offer says, so the buyer's job is to ask for a written offer for exactly those ten people. In both cases the per user sum above is the yardstick, because it is complete and public.

The same ten people on Lite cost 10 times 35 euro per month. The buyer can therefore see the range that a per user model gives for one team: the Lite sum, the Team sum with mobile users and the Team sum with full users only. A model that shows its full range in advance lets the buyer plan, and McMain does exactly that.

A checklist for comparing any CMMS price

1. How many full users and how many mobile users does the price cover?
2. Is mobile access part of the price or an extra line?
3. Are integrations through an API included or charged separately?
4. What happens to the price when one more user joins?
5. Can the team start with a small number of users and grow later?
6. Is the price written down in a form that can be checked later?

The McMain price list answers all six in public. It prices full and mobile users separately, includes the Open API at no cost, and lets a team start with one user and expand later. Where another vendor says "ask us", the buyer asks the vendor for a written answer to the same six questions.

Why per user pricing with published rates gives buyers the clearest budget

A per user model with published rates lets a buyer produce the budget alone, in minutes, without a sales call. The split between full and mobile users adds to that, which means the buyer pays the higher price only for the people who need the whole licence.

That is why McMain is the pick for a buyer comparing models. The full set of prices in euro is on the CMMS pricing in euros page, and the worked sums for real team sizes follow from it.