Pricing
There are five common MSP pricing models: per user per month, per device per month, tiered packages, flat-fee all-inclusive, and hourly break-fix.
Reviewed 2026-08-24 by the Machina IT engineering team.
There are five common MSP pricing models: per user per month, per device per month, tiered packages, flat-fee all-inclusive, and hourly break-fix. Per-user is the mainstream choice because it tracks the source of support demand and stays predictable as device counts change. What matters more than the model is the scope document behind it — the same model can describe wildly different levels of coverage.
One price covers a person and the devices they use. Predictable, easy to budget, and it does not penalize a user for having a laptop, a phone and a tablet.
Best fit: knowledge-worker organizations and mixed office environments. This is how Machina IT prices, up to $225 per user per month depending on included services.
Priced per endpoint, server or network device. Clear when devices vastly outnumber people, such as shared plant terminals or shift workstations.
Weakness: it drifts as users accumulate devices, and it can create arguments about what counts as a managed device.
Bronze/silver/gold structures bundle coverage levels. Easy to sell, but the important detail is which tier includes monitored endpoint response, tested restores and after-hours coverage.
Risk: buyers optimize on tier name rather than on what happens at 2am during a ransomware event.
One monthly number covering support and most project work. Maximum budget certainty; the provider absorbs variance.
Only works when the environment is standardized first, which is why it usually follows a remediation period rather than starting on day one.
Pay when something breaks. Lowest commitment, worst incentive structure: the provider earns more when the environment is fragile, and nobody is accountable for prevention.
Defensible only for very small environments with genuinely low downtime cost — and for non-contract project work, which is legitimately quoted per engagement.
Common mistakes
Common questions
Per user per month for most businesses, because support demand follows people. Per device is better where devices heavily outnumber users, such as shared plant terminals.
Rarely without exclusions. Read the exclusion list — hardware, licensing, major projects and circuits are almost always separate, and that is reasonable as long as it is stated.
Per user per month, up to $225, set by the services included. Project and non-contract work is quoted per engagement after assessment.
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