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Per-seat pricing vs self-hosting: which is cheaper?
A way to compare, with labelled estimates and no invented vendor prices.
The short answer
Per-seat pricing grows with every person you add. Self-hosting has a roughly fixed cost, a server, plus your time. For small teams it is often cheaper; for very large ones the time can outweigh the saving. Use your own prices to check.
Compare in four steps
Add up what you pay per person
Include every tool.
Add your hidden costs
Time spent on admin and migration.
Price a server
A small cloud server is roughly $20 a month (an estimate).
Compare yearly totals
Then decide.
Be honest about your time
Self-hosting costs hours: updates, backups, an occasional problem. If nobody on the team wants that job, Managed hosting is the alternative.
Questions
Is self-hosting always cheaper?
No. Compute it with your numbers.
What about Managed hosting?
Contact us for a quote.