How much does IT support cost a UK small business?
Short answer: UK managed IT providers publish a median of £49 per user per month (n=169 published tiers, IQR £35–£66). For 10 users that is about £490 a month, and about £350 to £660 across the middle half of published prices.
n = number of published tiers or rows. IQR = interquartile range, the middle half of published prices. All prices are in GBP, per month unless stated.
Typical price per user per month
Most managed IT support in the UK is sold per user per month. We collected 169 published per-user tiers from 80 UK providers (public rate cards and two G-Cloud listings, fetched 21 Oct 2026). The median tier is £49, and half of all tiers sit between £35–£66.
| Measure | Per user / month |
|---|---|
| Lowest published tier | £5.99 |
| Lower quartile (25% of tiers are cheaper) | £35 |
| Median | £49 |
| Upper quartile (25% of tiers cost more) | £66 |
| Highest published tier | £155 |
How the 169 tiers spread
The highlighted band contains the median. These are published rate-card prices, and many are “from” prices, so medians lean low. Every tier is its own row, so a provider with three tiers counts three times.
Prices by provider region
These are per-user medians for MSPs based in each UK region (rate cards only, regions with at least 5 tiers), in £ per user per month. n is the number of tiers.
| Provider region | Median | n | IQR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | £20 | 5 thin | £15–£31.25 |
| East of England | £39 | 10 | £22.50–£85 |
| London | £40.75 | 12 | £24.75–£65 |
| Scotland | £45 | 15 | £29–£68 |
| Wales | £45 | 11 | £30–£65 |
| Yorkshire | £46.95 | 18 | £31.75–£68.43 |
| Midlands | £47 | 25 | £35–£64.50 |
| South West | £49 | 9 thin | £37.50–£62.50 |
| North East | £49.50 | 12 | £39–£65 |
| North West | £55 | 7 thin | £50–£75 |
| South East | £65 | 27 | £45–£83.50 |
Region means where the provider is based, not where its customers are, so this is not “what a London business pays”. Samples under 10 tiers are marked thin. The UK median for comparison is £49. London-based MSPs publish a median below the UK figure, the opposite of a “London premium”, but with n=12 treat that as a pointer, not a conclusion.
What 10, 25 and 50 users cost
Multiply the per-user figures by your headcount for a rough monthly budget. “Low” uses the lower quartile (£35 per user), “median” the median (£49) and “high” the upper quartile (£66), so low to high covers the middle half of published prices. Figures are £ per month.
| Team size | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 users | £350 | £490 | £660 |
| 25 users | £875 | £1,225 | £1,650 |
| 50 users | £1,750 | £2,450 | £3,300 |
Illustrative arithmetic on the published medians, per month, not a quote. Real quotes depend on what is included, and 13 of the 169 tier descriptions mention a minimum number of users or a minimum monthly fee, which matters most for the smallest teams.
What is included, and what costs extra
Tiers usually step up in scope as the price rises. In one UK rate card in the dataset the three tiers cost £20 · £40 · £60 per user: the first covers monitoring, antivirus and patching but no helpdesk, the second adds an unlimited remote helpdesk and an account manager, and the third adds onsite support, a priority SLA and IT planning. Compare scope as well as price.
| What the 169 tier descriptions say | Tiers |
|---|---|
| Say Microsoft 365 licences are extra or separate | 8 |
| Say a Microsoft 365 licence is included | 8 |
| Mention a minimum number of users or a minimum monthly fee | 13 |
| Mention projects, hardware, onsite visits, tickets or onboarding charged on top | 6 |
Counted from the free-text “Tier / included” column. Wording varies and silence does not mean a service is included or excluded, so treat these as minimum counts, not market shares. The categories overlap.
Services that publish their own separate price in the dataset:
- Managed security (MDR / EDR / SOC): median £8.79 per endpoint per month (n=21, IQR £6–£20.37). Security priced per user has a median of £14.50 (n=15, IQR £8–£42), a mix of add-ons and stand-alone security tiers.
- Microsoft 365 management: median £12 per user per month (n=11, IQR £5–£35). Providers differ on Microsoft 365 licences: in the tier descriptions we read, about as many include them as charge them separately, so always ask.
- Break-fix and project time: median £80 an hour (n=11).
Hourly vs per-user pricing
Of the 316 UK price points, 215 are priced per user per month, 28 per device per month, 14 as a flat monthly fee and 14 by the hour (all stacks).
| Model | UK median | n | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per user | £49 / user / month | 169 | General managed IT, rate cards and G-Cloud |
| Per device | £25 / device / month | 13 | General managed IT; thin sample, indicative |
| Hourly (break-fix) | £80 / hour | 11 | IQR £60–£90, range £45–£100; thin sample |
How to compare MSP quotes
- Convert everything to one unit. Turn per-device, flat-fee and hourly quotes into a monthly figure per user, so you can set them against the £49 median.
- Compare against the middle half, not just the median. Published tiers run £35–£66 per user. If a quote is below £35, check what is missing; if it is above £66, check what has been added, such as 24/7 cover, onsite visits, security tooling or bundled licences.
- List what is included and what is extra. Ask about helpdesk hours, onsite visits, Microsoft 365 administration and licences, security tools, backup, projects and hardware.
- Check minimums and terms. 13 of the 169 tier descriptions mention a minimum number of users or monthly fee. Our data barely covers contract length or notice periods, so ask for both in writing.
- Confirm the VAT basis. Only 49 of the 169 per-user tiers say the price is ex VAT; the other 120 do not say. Business prices are normally quoted ex VAT, but check.
- Get at least three quotes. Only 13.5% of UK MSPs checked publish any price (n=141), so most prices only come through asking.
How reliable are these figures?
- Published prices only. The data covers only providers that publish prices. Only about 1 in 7 UK MSPs publish any price, so this is not the whole market.
- “From” prices. Many published prices are starting prices, so medians lean low.
- Region is the provider’s location, not the customer’s. There is no city-level data, and several regions have small samples.
- Tiers, not providers. The 169 tiers come from 80 providers, and providers with more tiers weigh more.
- Small samples are flagged. Hourly (n=11), per-device (n=13) and Microsoft 365 (n=11) figures are indicative.
- A snapshot. Prices were fetched on 21 Oct 2026 and may have changed. This guide is not a quote or advice. Read the full methodology and limitations.
Frequently asked questions
How much does IT support cost per user per month in the UK?
UK managed IT providers publish a median of £49 per user per month (n=169 published tiers, interquartile range £35–£66, range £5.99–£155). Data fetched 21 Oct 2026. Many are “from” prices, so the median leans low.
How much does IT support cost for 10, 25 or 50 users?
At the UK median of £49 per user per month, 10 users comes to about £490 a month, 25 users about £1,225 and 50 users about £2,450. Across the middle half of published prices (£35–£66 per user) that is £350 to £660 for 10 users. This is simple multiplication, not a quote, and some providers set a minimum number of users or a minimum monthly fee.
How much do IT support companies charge per hour in the UK?
Published break-fix and hourly rates have a median of £80 an hour (n=11, interquartile range £60–£90, range £45–£100). The sample is small, so treat it as indicative.
Is per-user or hourly IT support cheaper?
It depends on how much support you use. At the medians, a £49 monthly per-user fee equals about 37 minutes of break-fix time at £80 an hour. Per-user plans usually bundle monitoring and patching as well as support, so the two are not like for like.
How much does Microsoft 365 management cost?
UK MSP rate cards publish a median of £12 per user per month to manage Microsoft 365 (n=11, interquartile range £5–£35). That is a thin sample. Providers differ on Microsoft 365 licences: in the tier descriptions we read, about as many include them as charge them separately, so always ask.
Is IT support more expensive in London?
Not in our data. MSPs based in London publish a median of £40.75 per user per month (n=12), below the UK median of £49, while South East providers publish £65 (n=27). Region means where the provider is based, not where its customers are, and London’s sample is small.
Do these prices include VAT?
Of the 169 per-user tiers, 49 say the price is ex VAT. The other 120 do not state a VAT basis, and we have not assumed one. Business prices are normally quoted ex VAT, so ask each provider to confirm.
Are UK managed IT prices higher than in the EU?
Yes, on the published figures: the UK per-user median is £49 (n=169) against £42.01 in the EU (n=73). The comparison is not exact: EU rows use rate cards only, pool several units and are converted from local currencies at ECB rates dated 20 Oct 2026.
How many IT support companies publish their prices?
About 1 in 7: 13.5% of 141 UK managed IT providers checked publish any price on their website (95% confidence interval 8.8–20.1%), and only about 1 in 16 publish a full rate card. That is why getting several quotes matters.
Can I reuse these figures?
Yes. The headline statistics are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Credit “PriceMarketplace” and link to pricemarketplace.com. The licence covers the published statistics only, not the row-level data.
See the prices behind this guide
Every figure above comes from the directory: 572 sourced price points, each linked to the page it came from. Filter by region, stack and pricing model and watch the median update. The directory view also includes other source types, so its row count can be higher than the n=169 used in this guide, which counts rate cards and G-Cloud listings only.
Attribution (CC BY 4.0): headline statistics from PriceMarketplace UK MSP Pricing Benchmark, pricemarketplace.com, data fetched 21 Oct 2026. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. The licence covers the published headline statistics only, not the row-level data. CC BY 4.0 licence.