Flat Rate vs Per-Employee Pricing: Which Costs Less?

Software pricing models are designed to extract the maximum amount of money from you as you grow.

The most common model is Per User Pricing.

The Math of Per-User Pricing

Let's say you use a tool that costs $3 per user.

* 10 Employees: $30/month. (Not bad).
* 20 Employees: $60/month.
* 30 Employees: $90/month.

As you succeed and hire more people, you get "punished" with a higher bill.

## The Math of Flat Rate Pricing (ShiftReply)

ShiftReply costs $10 per month for up to 30 employees.

* 10 Employees: $10/month.
* 20 Employees: $10/month.
* 30 Employees: $10/month.

## Why don't more companies do Flat Rate?

Because they make less money! It's better for *them* to charge you per user.

But we built ShiftReply for small businesses. We know that adding a new staff member is already expensive (wages, taxes, training). Your software bill shouldn't jump up just because you hired a new barista.

## The Break-Even Point

If a tool costs $3/user, and ShiftReply is $10 flat...

* At 4 employees, ShiftReply is already cheaper ($10 vs $12).

Unless you have a tiny team of 1-3 people, flat rate is almost always the better financial choice.