Original research · Published 2026-07-20
2026 Business Software Pricing Study
We pulled the advertised entry pricing of 72 business software tools across 13 categories — CRM, field service, invoicing, dispatch, POS, and more — to answer one question: what does it actually cost to run your business on modern software in 2026?
Journalists, bloggers, and analysts: full data + citation guide →
Key findings
Median starting price
$49/mo
Average: $88/mo
Offer a free plan
25%
14 of 72 tools
Offer a free trial
74%
Across all categories
Entry price under $50/mo
54%
12% start at $200+/mo
TL;DR
- • The median entry-level SaaS plan for a service business costs $49/month — but category variance is huge.
- • 25% of tools offer a genuinely free plan, and 74% offer at least a free trial. Only 12% of tools require a $200+/mo commitment to start.
- • Field service and enterprise dispatch platforms are the outliers — they push category medians into the triple digits.
Median starting price by category
Median of the advertised entry-tier monthly price, excluding tools with only a free plan.
5 cheapest paid entry plans
- #1ClickUpProject Management$7/mo
- #2monday.comProject Management$9/mo
- #3ServiceM8All-in-one$9/mo
- #4GorgiasSupport$10/mo
- #5TeamworkProject Management$11/mo
5 priciest entry plans
- #1BuildertrendProject Management$499/mo
- #2TekmetricAll-in-one$299/mo
- #3BoulevardBooking$235/mo
- #4WorkizAll-in-one$225/mo
- #5JobNimbusCRM$200/mo
Full data by category
| Category | Tools | Median | Average | Range | Free trial % | Cheapest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-in-one | 17 | $49 | $89 | $9–$299 | 94% | Yardbook |
| Booking | 8 | $94 | $108 | $30–$235 | 88% | Square Appointments |
| CRM | 7 | $69 | $81 | $14–$200 | 100% | HubSpot CRM |
| Project Management | 5 | $11 | $115 | $7–$499 | 100% | ClickUp |
| POS | 4 | $90 | $90 | $89–$90 | 75% | Toast POS |
| Invoicing | 3 | $20 | $23 | $19–$30 | 100% | FreshBooks |
| Scheduling | 3 | $0 | $0 | $0–$0 | 100% | 7shifts |
| Estimating | 2 | $149 | $149 | $149–$149 | 100% | Joist |
| Marketing | 2 | $0 | $0 | $0–$0 | 100% | Klaviyo |
| Dispatch | 1 | $165 | $165 | $165–$165 | 0% | Service Fusion |
| Transactions | 1 | $32 | $32 | $32–$32 | 100% | Dotloop |
| Ecommerce | 1 | $39 | $39 | $39–$39 | 100% | Shopify |
| Support | 1 | $10 | $10 | $10–$10 | 100% | Gorgias |
Methodology
Prices were collected from each vendor's public pricing page between May and July 2026. We recorded the advertised entry-tier monthly price for a single user or seat, converted annual-only plans to a monthly equivalent, and treated tools with no paid entry tier as "free." Enterprise / custom-quote pricing was excluded from median and average calculations to prevent skew. Category assignments are ours and reflect the tool's primary buyer use case.
Sample size: 72 tools across 13 categories. Full per-tool data is available on each product's page.
Cite this study
Journalists, bloggers, and analysts are welcome to cite these findings with attribution to Search Business Software and a link to this page.
Search Business Software (2026). "2026 Business Software Pricing Study." Retrieved from https://searchforbusinesssoftware.com/research/pricing-study-2026