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A SaaS price increase: negotiate, switch or build
Short answer
When a SaaS vendor raises the price, first establish what you pay for after renewal. Often one feature, such as an integration, forces the dearer plan. If the increase is €230 a month, your own connection for €3,000 net on a €5.49 server pays back in 13 months. Build a whole app when the scope you need is stable and clearly differs from ready products.
How we workDetails ↓
- 01Call30 minutes with an engineer, free
- 02PrototypeA working system on your process and data, free
- 03ImplementationTarget and fixed price in the contract; 50% at signing
- 04Acceptance50% once the agreed target is met
- net per application, fixed price before contract
- from €3,000
- from signing the contract to acceptance
- 4–10 weeks
- free prototype on your documents
- €0
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Author: Syntalith · 3 min read
Statistics
Software costs in companies: statistics 2026
13 mo.
payback of your own €3,000 connection when it lets you stay on the cheaper plan and saves a €230 monthly increase. Scenario.
50%
According to the European Commission (2026), half of EU SMEs and mid-caps name high investment costs as a barrier to AI.
Source: European Commission, Flash Eurobarometer on AI (2026) ↗
52.7%
According to Eurostat (2025), 52.7% of EU companies used paid cloud computing services.
20.0%
According to Eurostat (2025), 20.0% of EU companies with at least 10 employees used AI.
Figures checked: 22 October 2026
Two decisions on different dates
A company uses a customer service suite. The new offer covers a wider plan, because the team needs one integration feature. The director wants to replace the suite with an app of the company's own, but open cases, the correspondence history and the connections must keep working during the move.
The renewal date sets the first decision: a shorter period, a different scope or other terms, if the vendor offers them. Choosing the target system is the second decision, which you can assess in parallel. Do not assume a new app will be ready before the date in the offer.
You need one feature from the dearer plan
your own connection on the cheaper plan
from €3,000
The current product fits, the price is too high
negotiating the period and the scope
purchasing time
Another product covers the scope
switching vendor with a migration
licences and the move
The scope is stable and differs from products
your own app
from €3,000 plus upkeep
What each route costs
- Increase after renewal
- €230 a month
- Your own connection that lets you stay on the current plan
- €3,000 once
- Hetzner CX23 server
- €5.49 a month
- Saving
- €225 a month
Payback
13 months
The size of the increase is the scenario's assumption. Add the upkeep of the connection after changes to the vendor's API to the budget, priced separately. Server from Hetzner's price list valid from 15 June 2026.
The count changes when the increase applies to every seat. Then check who really works in the system and who only receives the output. HubSpot distinguishes managing seat assignments from reducing the number of seats purchased, so switching off an account need not reduce the commitment at once. Before negotiating, count who logged in during the last 90 days. Such a report is described in the article on licence utilisation reporting, and its result is the strongest argument in the talk with the vendor.
Compare the work after the change
| Item | Stay and negotiate | Another product | Your own app |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start-up cost | purchasing time | migration and rollout | build from €3,000 |
| Fixed cost | the new price | the new product's licences | hosting and upkeep |
| The move | none | data, history, connections | data, history, connections |
| The team | no change | learning a new tool | learning and support |
| Risk | another increase | gaps in features | responsibility for failures |
A ready suite may have features used rarely, but needed at an important moment. People from customer service, administration and IT will help you name them before you decide the scope of your own app is complete.
Renewal and exit need a shared plan
- The format and scope of the data export
- Access to the data after the service ends
- What happens to integrations connected to the current system
- The period in which both tools run side by side
- Who is responsible for failures and updates of the new solution
- Access to the code, data and documentation if you change contractor
Talk to us about the features the team really has to keep. Bring the renewal offer and a description of one task that today needs a separate spreadsheet or an extra app. In the free process review we work out whether a connection is enough, or whether the scope justifies an app of your own.
