Cost
What IT support actually costs a UK small business
Published prices, published exclusions, and the ranges other providers charge. This page is written to be accurate rather than persuasive — including where paying far more than we charge is the right decision.
The three pricing models
| Model | Typical price | Minimum | Covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-only support (AlwaysOnIT) | £4 / user / month | £12 per company per month | Microsoft 365 and SaaS accounts, passwords, mailboxes, permissions, device settings guidance |
| Fully managed MSP | £45–£120 / user / month | Often 10–25 user floor, 12–36 month term | Helpdesk, on-site visits, infrastructure, monitoring, backup, procurement, projects |
| Hourly / break-fix | £75–£150 / hour | Usually one-hour minimum per call-out | Whatever you ask for, when someone is available |
MSP and hourly figures are typical UK market ranges for small businesses, not quotes. Always ask a provider for their own written scope and price.
How our pricing works
You pay £4 per user per month, billed monthly, with a £12 minimum per company. A user is a person with an account that can raise requests — not a device, not a mailbox, not a licence. Ten staff cost £40 a month. Three staff cost £12 a month. Two staff also cost £12, because of the minimum.
There is no ticket allowance and no per-incident charge within scope. There is no out-of-hours premium, because there are no humans whose evenings need paying for. There is no onboarding fee, no minimum term and no exit fee; cancel and billing stops at the end of the month.
What is included
- Microsoft 365 account, mailbox, licence-assignment and permission support
- Password resets and MFA re-registration, after identity verification
- Shared mailbox, distribution list and Teams membership changes
- Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive troubleshooting
- Guided device and application configuration for the person using the device
- Phishing triage and first-response containment guidance
- Unlimited requests, any hour of any day, with a written record of every action
What is excluded, and why
These exclusions are structural, not commercial. They are not features held back for a higher tier — they are things an AI-only service genuinely cannot do, and we would rather you knew before buying than after.
- Physical work — hardware repair or replacement, cabling, deliveries, on-site attendance
- Backup operation, monitoring and restore accountability
- 24/7 security monitoring, threat hunting, forensic investigation, penetration testing
- Server, network and firewall infrastructure management
- Migrations, rollouts and other project delivery
- Bespoke line-of-business applications we have no documentation for
- Microsoft 365 licences themselves, which you buy from Microsoft or a reseller
Working out your real total
Our fee is one line in an IT budget, and comparing it directly with an MSP retainer is misleading. A fair comparison adds what you will still need: Microsoft 365 licences, hardware refresh, third-party backup if you decide you need it, and an arrangement for physical and project work — either a scoped retainer with a local provider or ad hoc hourly engineers.
For an all-cloud business of five to fifty people with no servers, that total usually still lands well below a full managed contract, because the expensive part of an MSP price is the first-line helpdesk you have stopped using. For a business with on-premise infrastructure or regular on-site needs, it may not, and you should buy the managed contract.
When our price is the wrong thing to optimise
If a day of downtime costs you more than a year of managed support, buying the cheapest support available is a false economy. If nobody in your business will own backup, patching or supplier decisions, you need a provider who is contractually accountable for them, and that provider will not cost £4 a user. Price is the right deciding factor only once two options genuinely cover what you need.
Frequently asked questions
IT support cost questions
How much does IT support cost per user in the UK?
Fully managed MSP support typically costs £45-£120 per user per month depending on scope and whether hardware and on-site visits are included. Break-fix hourly support runs at roughly £75-£150 an hour, usually with a one-hour minimum. AlwaysOnIT charges £4 per user per month with a £12 monthly minimum per company, because it covers software and account support only, with no human engineers and no on-site work.
Why is AlwaysOnIT so much cheaper than an MSP?
Because it does less, not because it is more efficient at the same job. An MSP price includes people, on-site attendance, hardware procurement, infrastructure management, project delivery and contractual accountability. Our price covers AI-delivered first-line support for Microsoft 365 and common SaaS tools. If you need the things an MSP includes, the MSP price is the honest price for them.
Is there a per-ticket charge?
No. Within our published scope you can raise as many requests as you like at no extra cost — there is no ticket allowance, no fair-use throttle and no out-of-hours surcharge. The marginal cost of an AI answering a routine question is close to zero, which is the whole reason the pricing model works.
What is the minimum contract?
Billing is monthly and you can cancel at any time, effective at the end of the current month. There is no minimum term, no onboarding fee and no exit fee. The only floor is the £12 monthly minimum per company, which applies to organisations with fewer than three users.
What is not included in the price?
Anything physical — hardware repair, cabling, deliveries, on-site visits. Also excluded: backup operation, 24/7 security monitoring, network and server infrastructure management, bespoke line-of-business applications, project delivery and migrations, and professional accountability for outcomes. Your Microsoft 365 licences are paid separately to Microsoft or your licensing reseller.
Will the price increase as we grow?
It scales linearly with headcount at £4 per user per month, so twenty staff cost £80 a month. We do not operate tiered plans where features are withheld at lower prices, and we do not price differently by sector or company size.
Do we still need an IT budget beyond this?
Almost certainly. Budget separately for Microsoft 365 licences, hardware replacement, third-party Microsoft 365 backup if you need it, and either a retained provider or ad hoc engineers for physical and project work. Our fee replaces first-line helpdesk cost, not the whole IT budget.
Get started
Open a chat. The AI picks up before the second ring — every time.
No onboarding calls. No sales process. Connect your devices and start raising tickets in under ten minutes.