MSP
Concurrent vs. per-seat pricing: what MSPs actually pay
A breakdown of how concurrent-technician billing compares to legacy per-seat models — with real numbers from a 12-person help desk.
Marcus Lee
May 28, 2026 · 6 min read
Per-seat pricing punishes you for growing your team. Concurrent pricing charges for the sessions you actually run at once. For most help desks, the gap between the two models is larger than expected.
A worked example
Take a 12-technician help desk. At any given moment, perhaps four technicians are in an active session. Per-seat tools bill all twelve; concurrent tools bill the peak of four.
- Per-seat: 12 licenses billed every month, used or not.
- Concurrent: pay for peak simultaneous sessions, typically 30–40% of headcount.
- New hires and seasonal staff cost nothing extra until they push the peak.
We onboarded six contractors for a migration project and our remote-support bill did not move.
— A 12-person MSP help desk
Concurrent pricing aligns cost with value: you pay for the work being done, not the size of your roster.
