Managed IT support for a small business usually costs about $100 to $200 per user a month. That range comes from the published guides of managed service providers (MSPs). The low end buys help desk and monitoring. The high end adds stronger security, compliance work and around-the-clock cover. Software licenses, projects and hardware are often extra. Prices are as of October 2026, in US dollars.
The numbers
MSPs rarely publish a fixed rate card. Some publish guides with ranges and their own starting prices. Read these as vendor figures, not a market survey.
- Dataprise, an MSP, wrote in July 2026 that midsize companies average $100 to $200 per user a month. Its own tiers start at $102, $158 and $210 per user a month, from basic support up to compliance and disaster recovery.
- Integris, another MSP, puts small and midsize businesses at about $100 to $149 per user a month, including service, licenses and monitoring. It puts fuller packages with 24/7 support and advanced security at $150 to $400 a month, and project work at $75 to $200 an hour.
For a team of 10 at $125 per user, that is $1,250 a month, or $15,000 a year.
The in-house comparison
The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts US median pay at $61,860 a year for computer user support specialists and $76,220 for network support specialists, in May 2025. Add taxes, benefits and tools. One person also cannot cover security monitoring, holidays and nights alone. At $125 per user, managed support for 40 people costs about $60,000 a year, close to one specialist's median pay before benefits. Below that size, outsourcing usually costs less.
Pricing models
- Per user per month. The most common. Covers each person and all their devices.
- Per device per month. Suits shared machines, such as a shop or clinic.
- Tiered bundles. Bronze, silver, gold style packages with more services at each level.
- Block hours. You prepay a set of hours each month or quarter.
- Break-fix, or hourly. You call when something breaks. Cheap until it is not, and nobody watches the systems in between.
What is usually included
A typical fixed-fee plan covers:
- A help desk for your staff by phone, email or chat.
- Monitoring and patching of laptops, servers and network gear.
- Endpoint security, such as antivirus and threat detection.
- Backup of key data.
- Managing your email and cloud accounts.
- Onboarding and offboarding users.
- A regular review of your setup.
What is often extra
- Software licenses. Microsoft's July 2026 price update lists Microsoft 365 Business Basic at $7, Business Standard at $14 and Business Premium at $22 per user a month. Ask whether the quote includes them.
- Projects. Office moves, new systems, migrations.
- Hardware. Laptops, firewalls, Wi-Fi.
- On-site visits. Some plans are remote only.
- Compliance work. Extra controls for health, finance or legal data.
- After-hours support, if your plan covers business hours only.
What drives the price
- Number of users and devices.
- Security level. Stronger tools and 24/7 monitoring cost more.
- Compliance needs in regulated industries.
- Response time promises. A one-hour response costs more than next business day.
- Offices and remote staff. Each site adds network gear to manage.
- Old systems. Legacy servers and software take more care.
Questions to ask an MSP
The US cybersecurity agency CISA has guidance for MSP customers. Its points turn into good questions.
- What is the per-user price, and what exactly is included? Please list it.
- Are Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace licenses included or separate?
- What is your response time, in hours, for urgent and normal tickets? Is it in the contract?
- Do you use multifactor login on every account that touches our systems?
- Do you give each technician their own account, with only the access they need?
- How do you back up our data, where is it stored, and when did you last test a restore?
- How and how fast will you tell us about a security incident?
- Do you use subcontractors who could see our data?
- Who owns our accounts and passwords? Will you hand over everything if we leave?
- What is the contract length, and what does it cost to leave?
Red flags
- No written list of what the monthly fee covers
- The provider holds the only admin password to your email or domain
- Backups that have never been tested
- A long contract with automatic renewal and a big exit fee
- Shared admin accounts used across many clients
CISA also advises disabling MSP accounts when a contract ends. Put that step in your offboarding plan before you sign.
The first 30 days with a new MSP
A good provider runs a clear start. Expect and ask for these steps:
- An inventory of every user, device, account and software license.
- A list of who holds admin rights, with shared logins removed.
- Multifactor login turned on for every account.
- A first backup, and a test restore of a real file.
- A written list of risks found, with a price for fixing each one.
- A named contact and the way to raise an urgent ticket.
Keep a copy of the inventory and the admin list yourself. They are what you need if you ever change providers.
Related reading
If you are still choosing an office suite, read Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 for small business. To budget the cost, use the small business budget template. To hand the work over cleanly, see how to delegate tasks and the SOP template.