§ Pricing Buyer's guide
How inspection software is priced.
Five pricing models cover almost every product. The same estate can cost very different amounts under each, so this explains how each one grows, what to watch for, and how to cost your own estate before you compare.
We sell one of the products in this category, so read this as an informed argument rather than a neutral survey. It names no other vendor and quotes no prices we cannot source; our own are at the end.
Per user (per seat)
You pay for each person who signs in. Assets, inspections and reports are usually not metered, though plans often cap them.
Grows with: With headcount, not with the size of the estate.
Ask: Whether people who only scan a tag, report a fault or check a report need a paid seat, and whether contractors do.
Per asset
You pay for each tagged item: each extinguisher, sling, door or riser.
Grows with: Directly with the estate. Five hundred extinguishers cost five times one hundred.
Ask: How an asset is counted (is a sling assembly one asset or three?), and whether retired assets still count.
Per inspection or per report
You pay each time an inspection is submitted or a report is produced.
Grows with: With activity. A monthly check on every unit multiplies quickly.
Ask: Whether the monthly visual checks count, and what happens to the price when an AHJ or insurer asks for more frequent checks.
Flat site or company licence
One fee for a site or the whole company, regardless of users or assets.
Grows with: In steps, when you add a site or cross a size band.
Ask: The band boundaries, and what counts as a site.
Tiered bundle
Plans at fixed prices with features and limits rising by tier, often combined with one of the models above.
Grows with: When you need a feature that sits in a higher tier, or hit a cap.
Ask: Which tier holds the audit log, the API and single sign-on, since those are commonly held back for the top plan.
Cost your own estate before comparing
Write down four numbers: the people who will sign in, the assets you will tag, how often each asset is inspected, and the sites they sit across. Then price each candidate against all four.
- Per user: users × monthly rate × 12.
- Per asset: assets × rate per asset × 12, plus growth.
- Per inspection: assets × inspections per asset per year × rate per inspection.
- Flat licence: sites × site fee, checking the band your estate falls in.
A worked shape, without prices: three technicians running monthly checks on four hundred extinguishers carry 4,800 inspections a year. Per user, that is three seats. Per asset, it is four hundred units. Per inspection, it is 4,800 charges. The same work, three very different bills.
Frequently asked questions
- How is inspection software usually priced?
- Five shapes cover almost every product: per user, per asset, per inspection or report, a flat site or company licence, and tiered bundles that combine one of those with feature limits. The same estate can cost very different amounts under each, so the useful comparison is the total for your own users, assets and inspection frequency rather than the headline monthly figure.
- Which pricing model is cheapest?
- It depends on the ratio of people to assets. A small team running a large estate, such as three technicians and five hundred extinguishers, usually pays least per user. A large workforce with few assets, such as many site staff and a handful of cranes, usually pays least per asset. Work out your own numbers before comparing.
- What hidden costs should I ask about?
- Setup and onboarding fees, template or form-building charges, storage limits on photos and documents, per-report or export fees, charges for users who only view or verify records, single sign-on or API access held for a higher tier, and what you can export, in what format, if you leave.
- How is Hovermarks priced?
- Per user: $19 per user per month on Starter and $49 on Professional ($15 and $39 billed annually), with no per-asset, per-inspection or per-report fees and unlimited storage. Plans cap assets and sites: Starter up to 100 assets across 5 sites, Professional up to 500 across 20, Enterprise custom. People who scan a tag, report a fault or verify a report never need a seat. There is a 30-day free trial on Starter features with no card required.
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