Add implementation to the recurring licence and support charges over the life of the contract, and compare vendors on the term cost rather than the headline quote.
Vendors compete hardest on the number that appears first in the proposal, which is rarely the number you will actually pay. Enter the annual licence cost, one-off implementation cost, annual support cost and contract length to see the cost of the full term.
Last reviewed 3 July 2026 · Free and ungated
The total on screen is only the costs you thought to enter. Operators who have implemented and exited these contracts can tell you, in confidence and before you commit, which lines your comparison is missing.
Pressure-test your shortlistTotal cost = implementation + years × (annual licence + annual support). How our tools work
A procurement comparison built on the annual licence fee rewards the vendor that shifted cost into implementation, support tiers and year-two price rises. The only honest comparison is the total a vendor will invoice across the life of the contract. Even that, as set out below, is a floor rather than a ceiling.
Take a platform quoted at €80,000 a year. Implementation is €150,000 and support runs at €20,000 a year, on a five-year term. The term cost is €150,000 + 5 × (€80,000 + €20,000) = €650,000, more than eight times the figure on the first page of the proposal. A rival quoting €95,000 a year but €40,000 to implement and €10,000 support costs €565,000 over the same five years, and wins despite the higher headline.
| Line | Vendor A | Vendor B |
|---|---|---|
| Annual licence | €80,000 | €95,000 |
| Implementation (one-off) | €150,000 | €40,000 |
| Annual support | €20,000 | €10,000 |
| Five-year total | €650,000 | €565,000 |
Term cost is a better yardstick than the headline, but it is not total cost of ownership. Before the comparison goes into a recommendation, pressure-test what is missing.
The calculator assumes flat annual charges and a single implementation payment, which no real contract honours exactly. Treat the output as the minimum credible cost of each option, then ask each vendor in writing which of the excluded items above will appear on an invoice.
For a like-for-like vendor comparison, keep the inputs to what vendors will invoice, then assess internal effort separately. It often differs sharply between options and deserves its own line in the recommendation.
Use the period you realistically expect to run the system, not the initial term. A three-year contract for a platform you will operate for eight years understates the incumbency the decision creates.
Normalise before you calculate: decide what support level the business actually needs, and price every vendor at that level. Comparing bronze support against platinum is the oldest trick in the pricing deck.