Research
Original studies built from the prices we check on vendor sites. Cite them, download the CSV, or link the page. Every number comes from a public pricing page recorded in our index — we do not invent list prices.
What this research covers
RevOps and sales teams pick tools from shortlists, then discover that paying month to month costs more than the annual price on the same plan. We measured that gap across the public prices in RevOps Agent Index: 133 listings in the index, of which 29 tools publish both a monthly and an annual price for the same named tier (63 plans total).
The headline result: the median monthly markup is 26.7% (mean 31.4%), ranging from 7.2% to 111.1%. At the median, you break even after about 9.5 months of monthly billing compared with paying for a year up front. On 16 of 23 multi-plan tools, the cheapest plan carries the biggest markup.
We also track entry prices. Across 74 publicly priced tools with a clear per-month entry price, the median entry is about 35/mo (mixed $ and €, no FX conversion). 39 tools in the index publish a free plan; 31 quote through sales only.
How we count a plan
A plan is included only when the vendor publishes both a monthly price and an annual price (or annual-equivalent per month) for the same named tier. Percent-only discounts, annual-only plans, and quote-only pricing are excluded.
Monthly markup % = (monthly_price − annual_per_month) / annual_per_month × 100. annual_per_month is the effective monthly rate when paying annually.
Months of monthly billing whose total equals 12 × annual_per_month at the median markup: 12 / (1 + median_markup). After that many months, annual would have been cheaper.
Prices stay in the vendor's published currency ($ or €). Markups are ratios, so mixed currencies do not affect the percentage stats. Entry-price medians mix $ and € without FX conversion and are labelled as such.
Source: Vendor pricing pages, as recorded in RevOps Agent Index (data/agents.json). Prices in this study were checked between 2026-10-18 and 2026-10-29.
Category snapshot
Markup is not the same in every RevOps category. The study page breaks it down; a quick view of the categories with the most dual-priced plans:
- Deal Desk / CPQ: median markup 40% across 2 plans (2 tools).
- Meeting Notes: median markup 34.5% across 9 plans (5 tools).
- Lead Routing & Enrichment: median markup 33.5% across 12 plans (6 tools).
- Copilots & CRMs: median markup 25.8% across 12 plans (4 tools).
- CRM Hygiene: median markup 25.4% across 2 plans (1 tools).
- Outbound: median markup 23.5% across 26 plans (11 tools).
How to use and cite the data
Open the monthly vs annual study for the full table, histogram and FAQ. Download the CSV (CC BY 4.0) from that page if you want the plan-level rows in a spreadsheet. When you cite us, link the study URL and mention the check dates above so readers can see the snapshot. Journalists and newsletter writers are welcome to quote the median markup and break-even figures with attribution.
These pages sit next to our directory of RevOps AI tools, best-of guides and alternatives pages. If you are comparing CRMs that live in Gmail, start with Best CRM for Gmail; for agency stacks see Best CRM for agencies.
What we will add next
More studies will land here as we keep re-checking vendor pricing pages. Candidates include free-plan limits across CRM hygiene tools, and how often “from $X/mo” entry prices hide seat minimums. Each study will keep the same rule: only numbers that appear on the vendor’s own pricing page, recorded in our index, with a public CSV when the dataset is useful to cite.