How Managed IT Is Priced
Providers use six main models. The most common is a mix of per-user and per-device pricing: 26% of providers in Kaseya's survey use it, ahead of per-user pricing alone at 21%. The model matters less than what the price covers, but it tells you how your bill will change as you grow.
| Model | How it works | Good for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per user | One monthly price for each person who uses technology at work, covering all of their devices. | Simple to budget. Adding a laptop or phone for an existing person costs nothing extra. | Part-time staff or shared workstations can make it look pricier than it is. Ask how they count users. |
| Per device | A monthly price for each computer, server, and sometimes each phone or network device. | Fair when a few people share many machines, like a shop floor or a front desk. | Costs climb as people add phones and tablets. Check which devices are counted. |
| Hybrid: per user + per device | A per-user price for each person’s support, security and accounts, plus a per-device price for each desktop, laptop and server. | The fairest fit for most offices. A 10-person office with one server isn’t charged like one with five, and a shared PC is billed as a computer, not as another person. | Ask for it in writing: who counts as a user, which devices are counted, and how phones and tablets are handled. |
| Flat monthly fee | One fixed price for an agreed scope, regardless of exact user or device counts. | Fully predictable. | The scope document matters more than the price. Read what happens when you grow. |
| Tiered bundles | Good / better / best packages, often named Bronze, Silver and Gold. | Easy to compare at a glance. | Security and backup are often only in the top tier. Compare what each tier leaves out. |
| Hourly or block hours | You pay for time used, or prepay a block of hours each month. | Cheap in a quiet month. | This is break-fix with a contract. Nobody is paid to prevent problems, so expect surprise bills. |
Southwest Networks uses the hybrid model: a price per user, plus a price per desktop, laptop and server. Phones and tablets are priced separately, depending on what each one needs. We think it's the fairest way to price: you pay for the people and computers you actually have, nothing more. For rough budgeting, it works out to around $100 per user per month on Uptime and $200 on Peace of Mind.
What Managed IT Providers Charge
Kaseya, which makes software used by thousands of managed IT providers, surveys them about what they charge. For ongoing support per user per month, the most common answer was $50–$100, and very few charge more than $200.
Guides from larger providers run higher. VC3's 2026 guide puts most small and midsize business plans at $150–$175 per user, with fully hosted or cloud setups at $250–$400.
Treat these numbers as a rough guide. The surveys don't say what kind of plan each price buys. A plan with no labor and a plan with every support hour included are both called “managed IT”, and so is a plan that leaves out the security tools that stop ransomware. Compare what is covered before you compare prices.
What providers charge per user, per month
| Price per user | Share of providers |
|---|---|
| Less than $50 | 16% |
| $50 – $100 | 22% |
| $101 – $150 | 17% |
| $151 – $200 | 11% |
| $201 – $250 | 4% |
| More than $250 | 1% |
| No per-user pricing | 28% |
Source: Kaseya, MSP pricing survey. Ranges from VC3, 2026 Managed IT Services Cost & Pricing Guide.
What Moves Your Price
Number of users, computers and locations
The biggest factor. Each person and each desktop, laptop or server adds to the work. A second office adds network equipment, and on-site visits to more places.
Phones and tablets
Managing mobile devices ranges from simple email setup to locking down devices that hold patient or client data. That’s why we price them separately, by what each one needs.
How much security is included
Basic antivirus is cheap. Endpoint detection and response, email security, vulnerability scanning and security awareness training cost more, and they are what actually stop ransomware.
Age and state of your equipment
Old servers, unsupported Windows versions and a tangle of consumer-grade gear take more work to keep running. Some providers charge more until it is replaced.
On-site vs remote support
Most issues are fixed remotely. If you need someone at your desk regularly, distance and response-time promises affect the price.
Specialised software
Practice-management, EHR, imaging, accounting and estimating software all need vendor coordination and updates. More line-of-business systems means more work.
Other Things That Change Your Price
The per-user and per-device price covers supporting and securing your people and computers. These change the total: some are added when your business needs them, others are included but grow with the size of your setup. These are the most common; a short call covers the rest.
Compliance needs
A medical or dental practice under HIPAA, a CPA firm under the FTC Safeguards Rule, or anyone taking card payments under PCI needs extra monitoring, documentation and audit-ready reporting. Compliance management, including vulnerability management, is added to the plan when your requirements call for it.
Servers and backup storage
Each server is priced as a device. Backup to a local appliance and the cloud is part of every plan, but its price grows with how much data you need protected. An office with a few laptops and cloud email backs up far less than one with file servers and years of patient or project records.
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 licences are not included and are billed per licence. The licence level you need depends on your security and compliance requirements. Securing your Microsoft 365 email and files is part of the plan.
Managed wireless and networking
Switches and Wi-Fi access points are provided and managed when your office needs them, and they add to the monthly price. How much depends on the size of your office and how many locations you have.
VoIP phone systems
Business phones are a separate service, priced by the number of lines and features.
What the Monthly Price Covers
Southwest Networks has two managed IT plans, Uptime and Peace of Mind. Both include the same monitoring, security and backup. The difference is labor: whether the time spent helping your staff and fixing problems is in the monthly price or billed as it's used.
Uptime
Labor is not included. When someone needs help or something needs fixing, the time is billed as it’s used. Technology business reviews twice a year.
Good fit: Offices with a light support load, or with someone in-house who handles day-to-day questions.
Peace of Mind
Helpdesk support and the work to fix problems, remote or on-site, are included in the monthly price. Technology business reviews every quarter.
Good fit: Offices that want one predictable bill and no hourly invoices.
Included in both plans
- 24/7 monitoring of your computers, servers and network
- Proactive patching and updates
- Endpoint detection and response
- Security for your Microsoft 365 email, files and accounts (the licences are billed separately)
- A business firewall
- Backup to a local appliance and the cloud, with restores tested daily
- Security awareness training for your staff
Usually billed separately
- Projects: office moves, server or cloud migrations, new office build-outs
- Buying new hardware: computers, firewalls, switches, phones
- Software licences: Microsoft 365 (not included in our plans) and line-of-business software
- Onboarding: the one-time work of documenting, securing and taking over your setup
- After-hours work that is planned, not an emergency
Whoever you talk to, ask for these in writing next to the monthly price. They are where quotes that looked cheap end up costing more.
Red Flags in a Cheap Quote
Before you compare two prices, make sure they buy the same thing. These are the gaps that make a low quote look better than it is. For more on what to ask, see managed IT vs break-fix.
Security is an add-on
If endpoint protection, email security and backup are not in the base price, the cheap quote is not comparable. Add them back in before you compare.
Backups nobody tests
Ask how often they test a restore. "We back up nightly" means nothing if no one has ever restored from it.
Limited support hours or ticket caps
Some plans cap tickets or bill support beyond a set number of hours. Ask what happens in a busy month.
No written response times
You want response times in the contract, not in the sales pitch.
Hard to leave
Long terms, early-exit fees, or no promise to hand over your passwords and documentation if you go. Ask about the exit before you sign.
What Businesses Ask About Managed IT Cost
At Southwest Networks, our Uptime plan is around $100 per user per month and does not include labor. Our Peace of Mind plan, which includes helpdesk and repair labor, is around $200 per user per month. Compliance needs, servers, backup storage and networking can add to either. Industry surveys put most providers between $50 and $200 per user, but they don’t say what those plans include, so compare what is covered, not just the price.
It depends on the plan. Southwest Networks has two. Both include monitoring, patching, security, a business firewall and tested backups. Uptime, at around $100 per user per month, does not include labor: help and repair time is billed as it’s used. Peace of Mind, at around $200 per user per month, includes that labor, so there are no hourly invoices.
Because two offices with the same headcount can need very different work. A 10-person medical practice under HIPAA needs more monitoring, documentation and security than a 10-person office with no regulated data. A price list would either overcharge the simple office or leave the practice under-protected. A short call gets you a real number.
Month to month, hourly support can look cheaper. Over a year it usually is not, because a single ransomware incident, extended outage or failed compliance audit can cost more than a year of managed IT. CompTIA research found businesses on managed IT reduced total IT spend by up to 49% compared with break-fix support.
More than a general office of the same size, because HIPAA requires risk assessments, access controls, audit logging, encrypted backups and documentation that has to hold up in an audit. Industry guides put compliance-heavy plans at the upper end of the ranges above. We price it after looking at your systems, because the software your practice runs matters as much as headcount.
Most providers charge a one-time onboarding fee to document your systems, install monitoring and security tools, set up backups and fix anything urgent they find. Ask for it in writing alongside the monthly price so you can compare quotes fairly.
A little. Remote support costs the same anywhere. What changes is on-site work: distance and response-time promises. We provide on-site service across the Coachella Valley and the Inland Empire, including Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Riverside, San Bernardino, Temecula and Rancho Cucamonga.
Tell Us Your Office Size. We'll Give You a Real Number.
A 15-minute call is enough to price most offices: how many people, what software you run, and any compliance requirements. No obligation.
Or take the free IT security assessment first — see exactly where you stand in minutes.