Guide
UK IT support pricing models compared: per user, per device, block hours
Updated
The pricing model decides how your bill behaves when the business changes. Choosing the wrong one is more expensive than paying slightly over the odds for the right one.
The five models you will be offered
- Per user per month
- A flat monthly fee for each supported person, covering all their devices. The UK default. Suits businesses where people have a laptop and a phone, and headcount is the thing that changes.
- Per device per month
- A fee per endpoint, server or network device. Suits estates with many shared or unattended devices, such as shop floor terminals, kiosks or a small team running a large server estate.
- Block hours
- Hours bought in advance at a discount and drawn down against tickets. Predictable to buy, unpredictable to consume, and blocks often expire. Read the expiry clause before the rate.
- Ad hoc or break-fix
- No contract; hourly billing when something breaks. Cheapest until it is not, and carries no response commitment. See hourly rates.
- Fully managed with security
- Per user per month, with security monitoring, incident response and often compliance support bundled in. The highest per-user tier, and the one where you should check exactly which security functions are included rather than assuming.
How each model behaves when the business changes
| Model | You hire ten people | You add a server | A quiet quarter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per user per month | Bill rises in step with headcount | Usually a separate device charge | Bill unchanged |
| Per device per month | Bill rises with devices, not people | Bill rises by one device charge | Bill unchanged |
| Block hours | Block depletes faster | Block depletes faster | Unused hours may expire |
| Ad hoc | Bill rises with incidents | Bill rises with incidents | Bill falls to zero |
| Fully managed with security | Bill rises with headcount | Usually a separate device charge | Bill unchanged |
The traps worth naming
- User counting. Agree in writing whether a shared account, a contractor, a part-time worker or a departed leaver still on the system counts as a supported user. This is the most common source of invoice disputes.
- Automatic uplift. Many contracts contain an annual price increase clause. Ask what it is indexed to and whether it is capped.
- Minimum term and notice period. A three-year term with a six-month notice period is a much bigger commitment than the monthly figure suggests.
- Licence margin. Where the provider resells Microsoft 365 or security licences, ask whether you are paying list price and whether you can hold the subscriptions yourself.
- Exit. Confirm now, in writing, that administrator credentials, documentation and configuration are yours and are handed over on exit without a separate charge.
Security is a separate decision from support
A fully managed tier bundles security functions into the per-user rate, which is convenient but makes it harder to see what you are buying. If you want an independent baseline of what good looks like, the National Cyber Security Centre publishes the Cyber Essentials scheme, and asking a prospective provider how they would get you to that baseline is a more useful question than asking what their security tier includes.
Model each quote in the calculator using its own rates and structure. The comparable number is the effective cost per user per month in year one, not the headline rate.