The True Cost of Per-User Pricing for Field Service Teams

The Sticker Price

Per-user plans are easy to compare at a glance: a number, followed by "per user, per month." The trouble is that the number is quoted for one person, and nobody runs a septic company alone.

Every technician who needs to see their schedule, check in at a job, or take a photo needs a seat. So does everyone in the office, and so does the owner. Many plans also put features you will want, like route optimization or automatic reminders, behind a higher tier with a higher per-user price.

Doing the Math

Take a plan advertised at $29 per user per month, and a typical growing septic company: 8 technicians, 2 office staff and the owner. That is 11 seats.

The figures above assume the cheapest tier. If the features you need sit one tier up at, say, $49 per user, the 11-person team pays $539 a month, or $6,468 a year. The price of the software grows every time the business does.

The Costs That Do Not Show Up on the Invoice

The bigger cost of per-user pricing is how it changes the way you run the company.

• Shared logins. To save a seat, two techs share one account. Now you cannot tell who checked in where, whose photos are whose, or who completed a job.
• Paper comes back. The newest hire or the seasonal helper does not get a seat, so they go back to paper forms that someone in the office has to type in later.
• The office stays in the dark. A part-time bookkeeper or a family member who answers the phone on Saturdays never gets access, so questions wait until Monday.
• Hiring gets a tax. Every new technician adds a software bill before they have pumped a single tank.

None of those costs appear on the software invoice, but you pay all of them in time, mistakes and missed records.

Questions to Ask Any Vendor

Whatever you choose, get clear answers to these before you sign:

• What will I pay with my whole team on it today, and with twice the team?
• Do technicians and office staff cost the same, or are there cheaper field-only seats?
• Which features are in my tier, and which need an upgrade or an add-on?
• Are there setup, onboarding or data import fees?
• What does it cost per truck, per text message, or per payment?
• Is there a contract term, and what happens to my data if I leave?

Why We Chose Flat Pricing

SepticCycle is $149 a month per company, with unlimited users, unlimited trucks and unlimited customers, and every feature included. There are no tiers and no per-user fees. Add your whole crew, your office, and the person who covers the phones on Saturday.

We chose flat pricing because the companies that need software most are the ones growing, and their software bill should not grow with every hire. There is no contract, and the 90-day free trial needs no credit card.

To see how flat pricing compares with specific platforms, read SepticCycle vs Jobber or SepticCycle vs FieldPulse, or try the savings calculator on our home page.