What SaaS Actually Costs a Small Business

A small business software stack is rarely one decision. It is fifteen, made in different months, each one individually defensible and collectively absurd. Nobody sets out to spend 400 dollars a month on tools for four people. It happens one 19 dollar seat at a time, and the renewal does not itemise the regret.

The useful question is not "which tool is cheapest" but "which of these does the business actually depend on". Time tracking, invoicing, and a place for client records survive every budget cut. A second project manager does not. Once you separate those two lists, the savings are usually in the second one.

The numbers on this site are read from each vendor's own pricing page and carry the date they were checked, because software pricing moves faster than review sites update. The full dated table lives at /prices and is licensed for reuse. Everything in this cluster is the reasoning that sits on top of those numbers.