Why Per-Seat AI Licensing Costs More Than You Think
Per-seat pricing penalises adoption. With banded platform pricing, the whole organisation gets in for a flat fee, and your bill stays flat when you hire.
The per-seat tax on AI adoption
Per-seat licensing creates a direct conflict. The more people you give AI to, the more it costs, linearly. At €30 per user per month, giving AI to 500 employees costs €15,000 a month before anyone sends a single message.
That math creates an incentive to limit access. IT teams become gatekeepers, deciding who deserves AI. The employees who could benefit most, the ones who don’t even know what to ask yet, never get the chance.
We think every employee should have access. That’s why Plainsight charges for the platform, not the people. A flat fee per company size, your own infrastructure as a transparent passthrough, no per-seat math.
The 80/20 reality
In most organisations, AI usage follows the 80/20 rule.
~20%
Power users
Use AI daily. Generate significant token volume. These users get massive value from the platform.
~60%
Regular users
Use AI a few times per week. Moderate token usage. Per-seat overcharges them every month.
~20%
Light users
A few questions a month. Infrastructure cost in cents. Per-seat charges them €30 regardless.
See the difference
Slide to your team size. See what per-seat costs versus a platform band fee plus your infrastructure.
Per-seat (e.g. Copilot)
€6,000/mo
200 × €30/user/mo
Plainsight (Mid band)
~€1,150/mo
€750 platform + ~€400 infra
Save ~€4,850/mo (81% less)
Infrastructure estimate of roughly €2 per user per month. Actual usage varies. Band follows our public pricing: Small up to 100, Mid 101 to 500, Large 501 to 2,000. More than 2,000? Talk to us.
Cost at scale
| Employees | Per-seat (€30/user) | Plainsight (band + infra) |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | €1,500/mo | ~€400/moSmall band |
| 100 | €3,000/mo | ~€500/moSmall band |
| 200 | €6,000/mo | ~€1,150/moMid band |
| 500 | €15,000/mo | ~€1,750/moMid band |
| 1000 | €30,000/mo | ~€3,500/moLarge band |
Plainsight estimates show the platform band fee plus an infrastructure estimate of roughly €2 per user per month. Actual infrastructure cost depends on usage intensity.
Common arguments, and the reality
"Per-seat is simple and predictable"
Predictable, yes. Predictably expensive. Per-seat charges your light users (a few questions a week) the same as your power users. With infrastructure billed at cost, light users cost cents. And the 80/20 rule applies: most of your team is light users.
"We only need AI for a few teams"
That's how it starts. Then Marketing wants in. Then Finance. Then HR. Per-seat pricing punishes the spread, so you ration access. Platform pricing removes the math. Everyone gets in on day one.
"We can manage multiple subscriptions"
Copilot for some users, ChatGPT for others, Claude for the creative team. Three vendors, three invoices, three security reviews. One platform replaces all of them, with consistent governance and one bill.
The bottom line
Per-seat made sense for traditional SaaS, where every user consumed roughly the same resources. AI is different. Usage varies wildly. By user, by week, by season.
Platform pricing follows that reality. Within a band, your bill doesn’t move when you hire. Light users cost cents in infrastructure. Power users cost more, still less than a per-seat licence. And nobody on your team has to hear “sorry, the licence pool is full.”
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