Per-seat billing: what does the next team member really cost?
- Per-seat billing ties your cost to headcount, not usage.
- A base that includes seats changes the scale: the next seat costs $3–7 instead of $19–40.
- The per-team model gets clearly cheaper from 3-4 people onward.
Partly. A monthly base already includes several people, instead of adding a full subscription per head. Beyond the included seats you still pay per seat — at Relay, $3 to $7 depending on plan, against $19 to $40 in per-seat apps. So the real question is not whether you pay per seat: it is how much the next seat costs.
The difference shows most as you grow. Hiring someone shouldn't add $25 to your phone bill each time. Yet that's exactly what most business apps do.
Why does per-seat punish growth?
Because the price is indexed on headcount, regardless of usage. A new hire making three calls a week costs as much as a full-time rep. The bigger the team, the wider the gap between what you pay and what you use.
Per-seat billing charges every user the same rate, whether they make three calls or three hundred. For a support team or agency where many members watch a number without using it heavily, the per-team model often costs 2 to 4 times less at equal features.
How does per-team pricing work?
A monthly base already includes a number of seats (say 3, 8 or 15 depending on the plan). As long as your team fits, you add nothing. Beyond that, each extra seat costs a small amount — which drops as you move up a plan.
Concretely, a team of 8 fits entirely in the Business plan with no extra cost. That's what makes phone service for affordable for teams and multi-client agencies.
From how many people is it worth it?
The threshold sits around 3 to 4 people. Below that, a per-seat app can cost the same. Once you go past that size, the per-team plan gets clearly cheaper, and the gap grows with every hire.
Add telecom at cost on top — since you bring your own provider account — and the savings compound. To see the exact total for your headcount, use the calculator.
Good habit: count the people who need the number, not just heavy users. That's where per-team wins — it doesn't charge occasional members at full price.