What we checked
We read the pricing pages of 198 marketing tools sold to small and local businesses on October 6, 2026, using each vendor's own site. Where a vendor has no pricing page, we used another page on its own site. No figure comes from a review site or a roundup.
156 of the 198 tools publish a price or a pricing model. The other 42 publish nothing because their pricing is sales led. Every figure below is based on the 156 that publish.
What an entry plan costs
We recorded the lowest monthly figure each vendor states for its cheapest paid plan. 136 tools have a usable US dollar figure. The median is $30 a month. Half of them start between $16.99 and $79, and 66.9% start at $50 a month or less.
| Entry price a month | Tools | Share |
|---|---|---|
| $25 or less | 51 | 37.5% |
| $25.01 to $50 | 40 | 29.4% |
| $50.01 to $100 | 27 | 19.9% |
| $100.01 to $300 | 12 | 8.8% |
| Over $300 | 6 | 4.4% |
Lowest stated monthly figure for the cheapest paid plan. Where only an annual or quarterly total is stated, we divided it by 12 or 3.
The range runs from $4 (Publer, per social account) to $4,250 (FirmPilot, a managed legal marketing service). Without the four agency and managed services in the set, the median for 132 software tools is $29.99. Read agency vs software vs managed software for how those compare.
How tools bill
| Billing unit | Tools | Share | Median entry price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat plan | 81 | 51.9% | $39.99 (79 with a usable price) |
| Per seat (user, staff or agent) | 22 | 14.1% | $32.88 (22 with a usable price) |
| Contact count or send volume | 16 | 10.3% | $33 (13 with a usable price) |
| Per brand, channel or profile | 12 | 7.7% | $10 (9 with a usable price) |
| Usage (per order, photo, minute or task) | 10 | 6.4% | $12 (5 with a usable price) |
| Per location, property or device | 7 | 4.5% | $25.52 (5 with a usable price) |
| Commission or transaction fee | 6 | 3.8% | Too few to compare (2) |
| Not stated | 2 | 1.3% | Too few to compare (1) |
Share of the 156 tools that publish pricing. Median entry price uses only tools with a usable US dollar figure; see the methods note in the pricing report.
Flat plans dominate, but the unit you are billed on matters more than the headline. Per-seat, per-location and per-brand pricing multiply with your team, your locations and your profiles. Worked examples for each model are in marketing software pricing models, and multi-location costs are in marketing software for multi-location businesses.
Credits, trials and terms
| Practice | Tools | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Meter the core work in credits | 18 | 11.5% |
| Offer a free plan | 38 | 24.4% |
| Offer a free trial | 54 | 34.6% |
| State no contract or month to month | 17 | 10.9% |
| State a setup, licensing or network fee | 5 | 3.2% |
| State a minimum term, annual contract or cancellation fee | 3 | 1.9% |
Share of the 156 tools that publish pricing. A practice counts only when the vendor states it; most vendors do not state their terms at all.
Only 17 tools state that there is no contract. That does not mean the others lock you in, but you have to ask. The terms we found, with links to the vendor pages, are in marketing contract red flags.
18 tools state an annual discount as a percentage. The median is 20%, with a range of 15 to 33%.
Which industries hide prices
| Industry | Publish a price | Publish nothing | Share that publish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home Improvement | 1 | 3 | 25% |
| Medical and Dental | 3 | 5 | 38% |
| Food and Beverage | 4 | 4 | 50% |
| Nonprofits and Community | 5 | 3 | 62% |
| Home Services | 7 | 4 | 64% |
| Education and Instruction | 10 | 4 | 71% |
| Beauty, Fitness and Personal Care | 11 | 4 | 73% |
| Automotive | 12 | 4 | 75% |
| Travel and Hospitality | 6 | 2 | 75% |
| Retail and E-commerce | 8 | 2 | 80% |
| Events and Creative Services | 9 | 2 | 82% |
| Professional Services | 5 | 1 | 83% |
| Real Estate | 12 | 2 | 86% |
| General | 60 | 3 | 95% |
| SaaS and Startups | 8 | 0 | 100% |
A tool listed in two industries counts in both. Industries follow MoFlo's market taxonomy.
Medical and Dental is the only industry where most tools publish no price: 5 of 8 publish nothing. General tools publish most often, 60 of 63.
Where these figures are used
This report is the cited source for MoFlo's buyer guides and ranked lists. Guides: how to choose AI marketing software, pricing models, contract red flags, agency vs software and multi-location software. Lists: best AI marketing tools and the lists for real estate, beauty, fitness and personal care, automotive and events and creative services. Every side-by-side is on the comparisons page.
Methods note
- Source: MoFlo's competitor research. Every price, billing model and term was read on the vendor's own site. No figure comes from a review site.
- Date of checks: every tool in this report was checked on October 6, 2026. When a price changes, this page is updated in place and the date above changes.
- Tools: 198 in the research. 156 publish a price or pricing model and 42 publish nothing. A tool listed under two industries is counted once.
- Billing unit: the unit that sets the base price, read from the pricing page. Shares are out of the 156 tools that publish pricing.
- Entry price: the lowest monthly figure the vendor states for its cheapest paid plan, often the annual-billing rate. Where only an annual or quarterly total is stated, it is divided by 12 or 3. Free plans are not entry prices.
- Medians and quartiles use the 136 tools with a usable US dollar monthly figure. The other 20 publish prices in other currencies, per use or per transaction, or show no paid figure.
- Quartiles use the inclusive method. Shares are rounded to one decimal place. Practices such as free trials and contracts count only when the vendor states them.
- Software-only median: the same figure without the four agency and managed services with a price (NetWebMedia, MCNM Marketing, Superpractice, FirmPilot).
- Annual discount: from the 18 tools that state a percentage. Discounts we would have to calculate ourselves are not included.
