Learning technology providers can choose from a number of licensing, purchasing and subscription models. However, most use either a subscription or licensing model. The most common learning technology pricing models include:
Pay-Per-User Model
A pay-per-user subscription model sets a fixed price for certain number of registered users per month. With this model, as the number of users increases, the rate decreases.
For example, a company might start off giving 100 employees access to its learning management system (LMS) for $150 ($1.50 per user) per month. If the company wants to give 500 employees access to its LMS, it might pay $1.25 per user per month, for a total of $625 per month.
Pay-Per-Active-User Model
A pay-per-active-user subscription model charges companies for the number of users who log into a platform during each billing cycle.
For example, if a company has 500 employees who plan on using the LMS at different times throughout the year, but only 100 users are active on the LMS each billing cycle, a pay-per-active-user model would charge the company only for 100 users during that billing cycle. Under this model, the rate per user decreases as the number of active users increases.
License Fee Model
Under a license fee model, a type of licensing model, a company pays a one-time fee to access a platform for a certain period of time (usually one year). Learning technology providers typically offer a few different pricing options based on access to different features.
For example, a company could choose to purchase a “basic plan” for $5,000 per year for an unlimited number of users to access a standard set of features, or it could purchase an upgraded plan for $20,000 a year for an unlimited number of users, storage, support and a more advanced set of features.
After selecting their preferred purchasing model, users move into the purchase phase of the learning technology lifecycle.
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