Most business software is now sold as a subscription. The pitch is simple: no large upfront cost, start small, pay as you go. In year one, that is usually true. The question worth asking is different: at the end of year five, what have you paid, and what do you own?
The subscription arithmetic
Take an illustrative example. A company of 60 people pays $50 per user per month for its core business platform. That is $3,000 a month, or $36,000 a year. Over five years it comes to $180,000, before any price increases, extra modules, storage tiers or premium support.
Two things are easy to miss in that number. First, it grows with you: every new hire adds to the bill, every month, permanently. Second, at the end of the five years you own nothing. The day you stop paying, access stops, and your own records sit on someone else's servers under someone else's terms.
The figures above are an example to show the method, not a quote. Run the same sum with your own user count and prices.
What ownership changes
- One payment, not a meter. You pay once for the system. Adding staff does not add licence fees.
- An asset, not an expense line. A system you own can usually be treated as an asset on your books. Your accountant will confirm the treatment for your company.
- Your data, your servers. The system runs on your own infrastructure or a cloud host you choose, which matters for finance, compliance and anyone handling sensitive records.
- No dependency on the vendor. If the vendor changes its pricing, its strategy or its ownership, your system keeps running.
What ownership does not remove
Owning software is not free after the first payment, and anyone who says otherwise is selling something. Budget honestly for:
- Hosting: your own servers, or a cloud account.
- Support and maintenance: security updates, fixes and help when something breaks. This is usually an optional annual agreement.
- Change: new workflows and features as your organization evolves.
- An internal owner: someone in your team who is responsible for the system.
Even with these costs, ownership often comes out well ahead over five years for a core system used by many people every day. The bigger the team and the longer the horizon, the wider the gap.
When renting is the right call
Subscriptions are sometimes the better choice. Rent when the horizon is short, the team is small, the tool is a commodity (email, video calls, office documents), or you are still testing whether you need the capability at all.
How to compare fairly
Before signing either way, put these questions to every option:
- What is the total cost over five years, including likely price increases?
- What does each additional user cost?
- What does leaving cost: data export, migration and the time it takes?
- Where does the data live, and under which country's rules?
- Who owns the customizations you pay for?
- Can you test it on your own operation before you commit?
How we approach it. Every Moving Point platform is delivered through Trial · Tailor · Transfer: we set up a working system on your operation, tailor it while you use it, and you pay once only if it fits. Then it is yours, on your servers or the cloud host you choose. See how it works ›
