Costs · 14 JUL 2026 · 9 min read
What an AI tool actually costs an Australian small business
Sticker price versus what five seats and the add-ons come to after
twelve months.
twelve months.
The sticker price is the smallest number
Every vendor quotes a monthly per-seat figure. Almost none of them quote the figure you will
actually pay twelve months in, once a second workspace, an add-on model tier and the annual
price rise have landed.
actually pay twelve months in, once a second workspace, an add-on model tier and the annual
price rise have landed.
Across the forty-one subscriptions we tracked for a year, the median business paid 2.3 times the
advertised entry price per seat.
advertised entry price per seat.
The sticker price is the smallest number
Three things account for most of the gap: usage-metered features priced separately from the seat,
admin and security controls locked behind a higher tier, and seats bought for occasional users who
never churn off the plan.
admin and security controls locked behind a higher tier, and seats bought for occasional users who
never churn off the plan.
The last one is the easiest to fix and the most commonly ignored. Audit seat usage quarterly and
the overspend largely disappears.
the overspend largely disappears.
A budgeting rule that held up
Budget the advertised price, add the cost of the tier above it, and assume you will be on that tier by
month nine. In our tracking that estimate came within fifteen per cent for most teams.