How Much Do Managed IT Services Cost? 2026 Pricing Guide

Managed IT services usually cost $75 to $150 per user per month for a small business. That’s our range at MedTech Consulting, and it’s in line with what other local providers quote around Gwinnett, Barrow and Walton counties. For a 15-person office, that works out to roughly $1,100 to $2,250 a month.

Where you land in that range depends on what’s included, how much security you need, and how much on-site help your business uses. Here’s what you get at each level, what’s usually billed separately, and how to compare quotes without getting burned.

The Quick Answer

What you need	Typical monthly cost	Usually includes
Basic managed IT	$75–$100 per user	Monitoring, patching, antivirus, remote help desk
Full managed IT	$100–$150 per user	Everything above, plus email security, backups, multi-factor login, on-site visits, vendor management
Security-heavy or regulated	$150+ per user	Everything above, plus advanced threat detection, compliance documentation, more frequent reviews
Break-fix (no contract)	$100–$150 per hour	Whatever you call about, after it breaks

National pricing guides tend to quote higher. Dataprise, for example, puts midsize companies at $100 to $200 per user. Big-metro providers and firms built for regulated industries usually start there. Local providers serving smaller offices are often lower.

What’s Included in Managed IT Pricing?

A managed IT plan typically includes help desk support, 24/7 monitoring, patching, endpoint protection, email security, backups, Microsoft 365 administration, vendor management and on-site visits. The cheaper plans usually drop the last few.

A good managed IT plan covers the day-to-day work of keeping your technology running and secure:

Help desk support for password resets, software problems, printer issues and “this isn’t working” calls
24/7 monitoring of computers, servers, the network and backups, with alerts when something looks wrong
Patching and updates for Windows, Mac and common applications
Endpoint protection on every computer, ideally endpoint detection and response (EDR) rather than old-style antivirus
Email security that filters phishing and impersonation attempts
Backups of servers, Microsoft 365 and important files, tested so you know they restore
Microsoft 365 administration: adding and removing users, mailboxes, shared files, licenses
Vendor management: calling your internet provider, copier company or software vendor so you don’t have to
On-site visits when hands are needed on equipment
Regular reviews of what’s aging out, what’s at risk and what to budget for next year

The difference between a $75 plan and a $150 plan is usually in the last few bullets, plus the security tools underneath.

What Makes Managed IT Cost More (or Less)?

Security requirements, on-site needs, how much cleanup your setup needs, the number of locations and servers, and headcount all move the price.

Security requirements. If you need advanced threat detection, a security operations service watching alerts, or compliance documentation for HIPAA, cyber insurance or a big customer, expect the upper end of the range.

On-site needs. A remote-only plan costs less. If you want someone to show up when the network goes down, that has to be priced in. Ask whether on-site visits are included or billed hourly.

How messy things are today. A business with a ten-year-old server, shared passwords and no backups needs cleanup before it can be supported at a flat rate. Good providers price that as a one-time project instead of hiding it in the monthly fee.

Number of locations. Each office has its own network, internet line and equipment. Two locations cost more to support than one, even with the same headcount.

Servers and specialty systems. Many providers charge separately for each server. Manufacturing PCs, cameras and other specialty equipment can add to the bill too.

Business size. Per-user prices usually drop a little as headcount grows, because the fixed work of managing your network and vendors is spread across more people.

What Isn’t Included in Managed IT Pricing?

Hardware, software licenses like Microsoft 365, one-time projects, onboarding and sometimes after-hours work are usually billed separately.

This is where quotes get confusing. These items are commonly billed separately:

Hardware: new laptops, firewalls, switches, Wi-Fi access points
Software licenses: Microsoft 365 and your line-of-business software are usually billed per license, separately from support
Projects: office moves, server replacements, Microsoft 365 migrations, network rebuilds
Onboarding: the first month or two of documenting and cleaning up your environment
After-hours work: some plans include it, many don’t

None of these are red flags. A provider who won’t tell you what’s excluded is.

A Worked Example: 15-Person Office

This is an illustrative example, not a quote.

A 15-person professional office in Lawrenceville has one location, laptops for everyone, Microsoft 365, and no server. They want help desk support, monitoring, security, backups and on-site visits when needed.

Managed IT at $110 per user: $1,650 per month
Microsoft 365 licenses: billed separately, by license type
One-time onboarding project: priced after an assessment

That’s about $19,800 a year for support, monitoring, security tools and a team that knows the setup. Compare that with the next two options.

Is Managed IT Cheaper Than Hiring an IT Person?

For most businesses under about 50 people, yes: managed IT costs less than a full-time hire and covers more, because you get a team and its tools instead of one person.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay for computer support specialists at about $63,000 a year (May 2025). That’s before benefits, payroll taxes, training, and the monitoring, backup and security tools they’ll need to do the job.

And you get one person. When they’re sick, on vacation or out of their depth on a security problem, you’re on your own.

For businesses under about 50 people, managed IT almost always costs less and covers more. Bigger companies often have both: an internal IT person for the day-to-day, plus a managed provider for security, monitoring and backup coverage.

Is Managed IT Better Than Break-Fix?

For a business that stops working when its computers stop, usually yes. Break-fix is cheaper in a quiet month, but one bad week can cost more than a year of managed IT.

Break-fix means you pay by the hour when something breaks. Local rates commonly run $100 to $150 an hour.

It looks cheaper in a quiet month. The trouble is the incentives: nobody’s patching, watching backups or checking security until you call, and the provider earns more when things break. One bad week, like a failed server, a ransomware cleanup or a lost laptop with no backup, can cost more than a year of managed IT.

Break-fix can make sense for a very small office with simple needs. For a business that stops working when the computers stop, the predictable monthly cost is usually the better deal.

How Do You Compare Managed IT Quotes?

Line the quotes up and ask each provider the same eight questions, especially what’s excluded, whether on-site visits are included and how backups are tested.

Put every quote side by side and ask the same questions:

Is pricing per user or per device? And how are shared computers and servers counted?
What’s included, and what’s billed separately? Get the exclusions in writing.
Are on-site visits included? If not, what’s the hourly rate?
What security tools are included? EDR, email filtering, multi-factor login, backups.
How are backups tested? “We back up” isn’t the same as “we test restores.”
What are the help desk hours, and what happens after hours? Be wary of “24/7 support” without details. We wrote about the difference between 24/7 monitoring and 24/7 support.
How fast do they respond? See our guide on why IT response time matters.
How long is the contract, and what happens when you leave? You should get your passwords, documentation and data back without a fight.

Watch for two warning signs: a very low per-user price with a long list of add-ons, and a quote produced without anyone looking at your setup.

What We Charge

MedTech Consulting’s managed IT runs $75 to $150 per user per month, depending on the services and support level. We give a fixed quote after we see your setup, so there are no surprise hourly bills. Managed IT clients can also add our business phone system for $25 per user.

We’re a local team serving Gwinnett, Barrow and Walton counties. Our help desk runs Monday through Friday, 8 to 5. Monitoring runs around the clock, and for urgent problems we can typically be on-site the same day.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do managed IT services cost per user?

Most small businesses pay between $75 and $150 per user per month for managed IT. The lower end usually covers monitoring, patching and help desk support. The higher end adds stronger security tools, backups, on-site visits and compliance work. National pricing guides often cite $100 to $200 per user, with larger metro areas and security-heavy plans running higher.

Is managed IT cheaper than hiring an IT person?

For most businesses under about 50 people, yes. A full-time IT employee costs a salary plus benefits, needs tools and training, and is one person with one skill set who takes vacations. A 20-person business paying $100 per user spends about $24,000 a year on managed IT and gets a team, monitoring tools and backup coverage.

What is not included in a managed IT contract?

Usually not included: new hardware, software licenses such as Microsoft 365, one-time projects like an office move or server replacement, and onboarding. Some providers also bill on-site visits or after-hours work separately. Ask for the exclusions in writing.

Is managed IT worth it for a small business?

If your business stops when computers, email or the network stop, usually yes. Managed IT replaces unpredictable repair bills with a fixed monthly cost, catches problems before they cause downtime, and handles the security controls insurers and larger customers now ask about.

What's the difference between per-user and per-device pricing?

Per-user pricing charges for each person and covers all their devices. Per-device pricing charges for each computer, server or network device. Per-user is simpler for offices where each person has a laptop and a phone. Per-device can work better for plants and shops with many shared computers.

How Much Do Managed IT Services Cost? (2026 Pricing Guide)