BuildStackFlow Data Report · 2026
The state of small-business software pricing
What does it actually cost to run a small business on modern software? We analyzed the published pricing of 682 tools across 30 categories: free plans, entry prices, and the tools that make you ask for a quote.
- Tools analyzed
- 682
- across 30 categories
- Median entry price
- $15.50
- per month, lowest paid plan
- Offer a free plan
- 40%
- a genuinely free tier
- Quote-only pricing
- 5%
- no public price
Key findings
- The median small-business tool starts at $15.50/month on its lowest paid plan. Entry prices range from $0.68 to $999 per month, with an average of $37.85.
- 40% of tools offer a genuinely free plan, so a lean starter stack is achievable in most categories without paying anything up front.
- 5% of tools publish no price at all: you have to talk to sales. This is most common in categories aimed at larger or regulated teams.
- Across every tool we track, the average user rating is 4.47 / 5: the category is mature, and "which tool is best-reviewed" rarely narrows the field on its own.
Pricing by category
Sorted by number of tools tracked. Median entry = the middle tool's lowest paid monthly price; "free" counts genuinely free plans; "quote-only" counts tools with no public price.
Methodology
Figures are computed from BuildStackFlow's curated catalog of 682 small-business software tools across 30 categories. For each tool we take its entry price: the lowest publicly listed paid monthly plan. Tools with a genuinely free tier count as "free"; tools with no public price ("contact sales") count as "quote-only" and are excluded from price averages. Prices reflect published list pricing and can change; where vendors bill annually we use the equivalent monthly figure. Last updated 2026-08-09.
Free to cite with attribution to BuildStackFlow. Questions or a methodology note? Get in touch.
Build a stack that fits your budget
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