Free tool · Software license cost calculator
What does each software user really cost?
The price per seat isn't what a tool costs you. What it costs is the bill divided by the people who actually use it. Add your tools to see the real cost per user and what unused licenses cost a year.
Software seats to cut
Your software bill
Worked out from the numbers you entered. Nothing leaves your browser. How it's calculated
Prepared with the free software license cost calculator at usefewer.com/tools/software-license-cost-calculator
Want this for every tool you pay for?
In the 14-day trial, Fewer connects to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace and to Xero, QuickBooks or Ramp, and prices every seat and subscription by what it costs and who actually uses it. Then it ends what you approve, with a snapshot first so anything can come back.
The 14-day trial opens in early November. We'll email you the day it does.
How it's calculated
Every number comes from you. There are no benchmarks in this calculator.
| Figure | How it's worked out | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Yearly spend | Seats × price per seat, × 12 if billed monthly | 80 × US$15 × 12 = US$14,400 |
| Cost per active user | Yearly spend ÷ active users, shown per month | US$14,400 ÷ 12 ÷ 12 = US$100 a month |
| Multiple of the seat price | Seats ÷ active users | 80 ÷ 12 = 6.7× |
| Utilization rate | Active users ÷ seats | 12 ÷ 80 = 15% |
| Unused seats | Seats − active users | 80 − 12 = 68 |
| Cost of unused seats | Unused seats × yearly price of one seat | 68 × US$180 = US$12,240 a year |
| Reading the rate | 90% or more is tight, 70% to 90% has some slack, under 70% means seats to reclaim | Fewer guidance |
An active user is someone who signed in or used the tool in the last 90 days, long enough that monthly and quarterly users aren't counted as unused. If nobody is active, the cost per user isn't meaningful, so the calculator shows the whole spend as unused instead.
Questions
How do you calculate software license cost per user?
Divide what you pay for all seats by the number of people who actually use the tool. 80 seats at US$15 a month cost US$1,200 a month; with 12 active users, each real user costs US$100 a month, almost seven times the seat price.
How much do unused software licenses cost?
Multiply the unused seats by the yearly price of one seat. 68 unused seats at US$15 a month cost US$12,240 a year.
What is a good license utilization rate?
There is no published standard. Fewer's working guidance: 90% or more of seats used is tight, 70% to 90% has some slack, and under 70% means there are seats to reclaim.
What counts as an active user?
Someone who signed in to or used the tool in the last 90 days. Fewer uses 90 days so that monthly and quarterly users are not counted as unused.
What is shelfware?
Software a company pays for but nobody uses: unused seats, idle subscriptions, and tools bought twice.
How do I find unused Microsoft 365 licenses?
In the Microsoft 365 admin center, compare assigned licenses under Billing with each person's last activity in the usage reports, then remove licenses from people with no activity in 90 days. Fewer does this across every tool you pay for, not just Microsoft 365.
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