Method
How the lifecycle cost estimator calculates
Every formula, default, and threshold behind the free estimator, so a number you take from it can be checked rather than trusted.
- Model version
- v1.0.0
- Published
- 2026-09-03
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-13
- Next review due
- 2026-12-13
The version changes only when a figure changes. Adding a reading derived from arithmetic that already existed is not a version bump, and the changelog says which is which.
There is no vendor data in this model
The estimator ships with no prices, no product list, and no benchmark. Every figure it returns is arithmetic on numbers you typed. That is the reason it can be vendor-neutral: there is nothing in it to be biased with. This is a planning calculation built from your own inputs, not a measured migration. Replace every assumption with an invoice, a quote, or a timed export test before you rely on it. Software Sausage does not take vendor payment for placement.
What you supply
Buy it
The subscription and the one-time work before the tool earns anything.
| Input | Unit | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Seats | people | Everyone who needs a login, including part-time and admin accounts. |
| Monthly price per seatper-seat pricing only | $ / seat / month | The list or quoted price at the plan you would actually buy. |
| Flat monthly priceflat pricing only | $ / month | Use this when the plan is priced per workspace rather than per person. |
| Contract term | months | How long you are committed at signing. Annual plans are 12. |
| Setup and configuration hours | hours | Accounts, permissions, fields, templates, and settings before anyone can work. |
| Integrations to connect | count | Each system this tool must exchange data with. |
| Hours per integration | hours each | Connect, map fields, test one failure, and document it. |
| Data migration hours | hours | Export from the old tool, clean, import, and reconcile totals. |
| Training hours per seat | hours / seat | Time each person spends learning instead of working. |
| Internal hourly cost | $ / hour | Fully loaded cost of your own people's time. Salaried time is not free. |
| External hourly rate | $ / hour | Integrator or consultant rate, if you will use one. |
| External hours | hours | Leave at 0 if the implementation is entirely internal. |
Run it
What it costs to keep the tool working each year.
| Input | Unit | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Administrator hours per month | hours / month | User changes, permissions, vendor escalation, renewals, and small fixes. |
| Expected annual price increase | % | Applied once at the first renewal, then held flat for planning. |
| Ownership horizon | years (1–5) | How many years the total cost of ownership covers. |
Leave it
What it costs to get off the tool and onto something else.
| Input | Unit | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Re-implementation hours on the replacement | hours | Setup, integrations, and configuration on whatever replaces this tool. |
| Parallel-run months | months | Months you pay for both tools while the replacement is proven. |
| Retraining hours per seat | hours / seat | Time each person spends learning the replacement. |
| Data reconstruction hours | hours | Hours to rebuild the working state from what the export actually gives you, before the fidelity multiplier. |
| Contract months remaining at exit | months | Months you must still pay after deciding to leave. |
| Replacement monthly price | $ / month | Optional. If 0, the parallel run assumes the replacement costs the same as this tool. |
The only numbers you did not type
One assumption, with three settings. It multiplies your data reconstruction hours according to how good the export really is, and it is editable in the estimator.
| Export fidelity | Default | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Full export with a working migration path | 1× | 1× — you rebuild only what the import misses. |
| Archive only (data leaves, working state does not) | 2× | 2× — records exist but relationships, history, and settings are re-keyed by hand. |
| No usable export | 4× | 4× — the working state is reconstructed from screenshots, reports, and memory. |
These three multipliers are judgement, not measurement. They are round numbers chosen so the gap between a clean export and no export is visible in the total; nothing in the model claims they are observed rates. Replace them with your own once you have run the exit test on a representative workspace.
Every formula
| Monthly subscription | Per seat: seats × monthly price per seat. Flat: the flat monthly price. |
|---|---|
| Committed at signing | Monthly subscription × contract term in months. |
| Implementation | (setup hours + data migration hours) × internal hourly cost, plus integrations × hours per integration × internal hourly cost, plus training hours per seat × seats × internal hourly cost, plus external hours × external hourly rate. |
| Run, year one | Monthly subscription × 12, plus admin hours per month × 12 × internal hourly cost. |
| Run, following years | The year-one subscription increased once by the annual increase, then held flat, plus the same administration cost. |
| Exit and replacement | Contract still owed, plus parallel-run months × (current + replacement monthly price), plus re-implementation hours × internal hourly cost, plus retraining hours per seat × seats × internal hourly cost, plus data reconstruction hours × the re-entry multiplier for your export fidelity × internal hourly cost. |
| Switching ratio | Exit and replacement total ÷ year-one run cost. |
| Exit in months of run cost | The switching ratio × 12. A restatement, not a new assumption. |
| Switch payback | Exit and replacement total ÷ (current monthly subscription − replacement monthly price). Shown only when a replacement price was entered and is lower; an assumed-equal replacement can never pay back. |
Where the thresholds come from
The switching ratio is banded at 0.5 and 1.5. Both are round numbers chosen so a team can say the reading out loud in a budget meeting — half a year of run cost, and a year and a half of run cost. They are a planning heuristic and not a benchmark, and no dataset sits behind them. If your own finance calendar suggests different bands, the underlying ratio is on the page and you can band it yourself.
What the model deliberately does not do
- It does not discount future cash flows. Over a one-to-five-year horizon at small-team sums, a present-value calculation would add precision the inputs do not support.
- It applies your price increase once, at the first renewal, then holds it flat. Compounding an estimated increase across five years turns one guess into a large number.
- It counts cost only, never value. A tool that costs more to leave can still be the right decision.
- It adds contract months remaining and parallel-run months separately. If they overlap in your case, reduce one — the model cannot tell.
- It never sends your inputs anywhere. The shareable link carries them after the
#, which browsers do not transmit to a server, so a shared estimate cannot produce a social preview showing the figures. That is the trade we chose.
Changelog
| 2026-09-13 | Reviewed. No change to any figure. Added two derived readings over the existing arithmetic — the exit expressed in months of run cost, and a switch payback shown only when a cheaper replacement price was actually entered — plus a CSV worksheet, a citation block, and this page. |
|---|---|
| 2026-09-03 | Model v1.0.0 published: implementation, annual run, exit and replacement, ownership over one to five years, and the switching ratio. |
Read this page beside the site methodology, which covers evidence labelling, corrections, and the rule that no payment affects placement.