B2B Software Pricing Index 2026: Free Plans and Entry Prices

We review 69 B2B software tools across 6 categories. This report summarises what their published pricing looks like, using the entry price, free plan and free trial recorded in each of our reviews.

Key findings

• 59% of the tools we review (41 of 69) offer a permanent free plan, and 46% offer a free trial.
• The median published entry price is $25 per month, across the 51 tools that publish one.
• 18 tools do not publish a paid entry price: they are free, open source or quoted on request.
• Uptime Monitoring has the lowest median entry price of the 4 categories with published prices ($17/mo); AI SEO Tools has the highest ($89/mo).
• Status Page Tools is the category most likely to include a free plan (10 of 10 tools); Proposal Software the least likely (2 of 12).

By category

• Uptime Monitoring: 13 tools, 8 with a free plan, 6 with a free trial; entry prices from $5 to $49/mo, median $17; average score 8.5/10.
• AI Meeting Tools: 13 tools, 11 with a free plan, 0 with a free trial; entry prices from $12 to $100/mo, median $19; average score 8.6/10.
• AI SEO Tools: 13 tools, 3 with a free plan, 7 with a free trial; entry prices from $29 to $189/mo, median $89; average score 8.5/10.
• Proposal Software: 12 tools, 2 with a free plan, 11 with a free trial; entry prices from $19 to $49/mo, median $32; average score 8.2/10.
• Incident Management: 8 tools, 7 with a free plan, 8 with a free trial; average score 8.5/10.
• Status Page Tools: 10 tools, 10 with a free plan, 0 with a free trial; average score 8.4/10.

What this means for buyers

A free plan is common enough in most of these categories that paying from day one is rarely necessary to evaluate a tool. Free plans usually cap seats, monitors, minutes or projects, so the real comparison is what the first paid tier unlocks for your team size.

Entry prices are a floor, not a budget. Per-seat pricing, usage limits and add-ons decide what a team actually pays, so compare what the first paid tier includes at your team size, not just the headline price.

Methodology

Figures come from the 69 tool records in ToolCompared's review dataset. Entry price is the lowest published monthly price for a paid plan as recorded in each review; tools without a published paid price are excluded from price statistics but counted everywhere else. Vendors change pricing often: confirm current prices on the vendor's site before buying.