AppexTECHNOLOGY
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SaaS vs self-hosted cost calculator

See what your per-seat software will cost as your team grows, and compare it with owning the software instead — including setup, hosting, and maintenance. Presets use vendor list prices from our SaaS Pricing Index; every number is editable.

1. Your per-seat tools
2. Growth
3. Owning it instead

Example figures — replace them with a real quote. Owned software doesn’t charge per seat, but it isn’t free: it needs setup, hosting, and someone to maintain it.

Over 3 years

Per-seat SaaS
$75,600
Owned
$61,400

Owning saves about $14,200 over 3 years, breaking even around month 25.

Cumulative cost by year: per-seat SaaS versus owned software$0k$38k$76kStartYr 1Yr 2Yr 3
Per-seat SaaSOwned
Cost by year
YearSaaSOwned
Year 1$21,600$33,800
Year 2$24,840$13,800
Year 3$29,160$13,800

Direct software costs only. Excludes taxes, discounts, SaaS onboarding fees and add-ons, and migration.

Get a real estimate
How it works

The math, plainly

  • SaaS cost each year = price per seat × 12 × seats, summed across your tools.
  • Seats grow by your growth rate at the start of each year after the first, rounded up.
  • Owned cost = one-time setup in year one, plus hosting and maintenance every month. It doesn’t grow with headcount.
  • Break-even is the first month when cumulative SaaS spend passes cumulative owned cost.
Be skeptical of it

When the answer is “keep the SaaS”

For small teams on cheap plans, the calculator will usually say SaaS wins — and it’s right. Owning pays off when per-seat spend is large, headcount is growing, or the tool doesn’t fit your process. Compare specific options in our software comparisons.

FAQ

Calculator — common questions

How do I compare SaaS costs with owning the software?+
Add up what you pay per seat across every tool, project it forward with your expected hiring, and compare it with the one-time cost of building or deploying an owned system plus its ongoing hosting and maintenance. This calculator does exactly that, year by year.
When does owning software become cheaper than SaaS?+
Usually when per-seat spend on a tool is in the thousands of dollars a month and your headcount is growing. Below that, the one-time setup and ongoing maintenance often cost more than the subscription — and the calculator will show that too.
Where do the preset prices come from?+
From the vendors’ own pricing pages, billed annually, as of September 2026 — the same data as our Per-Seat SaaS Pricing Index. You can overwrite any price.
What does the calculator leave out?+
Taxes, negotiated discounts, SaaS add-ons and onboarding fees, migration effort, and the value of features or time saved. It compares direct software costs only — treat it as a starting point for a real quote.

Want real numbers, not example ones?

Tell us which tools you pay for and how your team works. We'll scope the owned alternative and send a fixed estimate — or tell you to stay where you are.

Start a projectinfo@appextechnology.com