# CMMS Seat Cost Calculator — how many people does your quote actually bill?

> A free browser-based tool at https://3dogs.ai/tools/cmms-seat-cost/ . No signup, nothing stored or transmitted.

## The problem it answers

Every CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) quote is priced per user. Two vendors quoting an identical per-user rate can land an order of magnitude apart on the same organisation, because **the rate is not the variable — the definition of "user" is.**

## The four populations in a maintenance system

1. **Technicians** — perform maintenance. Licensed by every vendor.
2. **Requesters** — staff, tenants, students, clients who report faults. Usually the largest group. Do no maintenance.
3. **Contractors / vendors** — external trades who perform a large share of the work in facilities, housing and property management.
4. **Managers / viewers** — directors, owners, finance, boards. Want dashboards. Never open a work order.

## The three licensing models the calculator compares

- **Charge everyone.** Every login is a paid seat. Billable seats = technicians + requesters + contractors + managers.
- **Free requesters, view-only.** Requesters are free but cannot act on work and typically cannot see other users' requests. Contractors and managers still need paid seats. Billable = technicians + contractors + managers.
- **Licence only the doers.** Only people performing maintenance are licensed; requesters, contractors and report-only managers are free. Billable = technicians. This model exists but is not the norm.

Annual cost = billable seats × quoted monthly rate × 12.

## The seven questions to send every CMMS vendor in writing

1. Which categories of user require a paid licence? Not the rate — which users.
2. Can someone submit a work request without a paid seat? If so, what can they do and not do?
3. Can a manager see reports and dashboards without a paid seat?
4. Can an external contractor receive a job, record their work and invoice without a paid seat?
5. At what tier does API access begin? And custom fields?
6. What is the total for our actual headcount split — technicians, requesters, contractors, viewers?
7. What happens at renewal if headcount grows?

Question four separates vendors and is rarely asked. Question six produces a real quote instead of a headline rate.

## Method and honesty notes

This tool names no vendor and quotes no competitor's price list. It applies **the rate the buyer supplies** to three definitions of "billable user". Any total is only as good as the definition the vendor confirms in writing.

**Disclosure:** published by 3Dogs Nexus. Our founder does sales for a CMMS vendor and holds stock options in it — which is exactly why this tool names nobody and uses only the buyer's own number.

Related: https://alanworktrek.com/2026/08/07/which-users-does-your-cmms-charge-for/