SaaS spend by industry.
Software spend varies dramatically across sectors. Seven industries — average spend per employee, typical waste percentages, and the most common tools driving the bill in each.
- Industries covered
- 7
- Per-employee range
- $80–$400
- Waste range
- 20–45%
- Highest spenders
- Agencies
✦ The table
Average spend per employee, by industry.
| Industry | Avg / employee | Typical waste | Top categories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technology | $200-$350/month | 30-40% | DevelopmentCloud InfrastructureCommunicationProject Management |
| Finance & Banking | $180-$300/month | 25-35% | SecurityCRMProductivityAnalytics |
| Healthcare | $120-$220/month | 25-35% | SecurityProductivityCommunicationCustomer Support |
| Marketing & Agencies | $200-$400/month | 30-45% | DesignMarketingProject ManagementCommunication |
| E-commerce | $150-$280/month | 25-35% | FinanceMarketingCustomer SupportAnalytics |
| Education | $80-$150/month | 20-30% | ProductivityCommunicationProject Management |
| Manufacturing | $80-$160/month | 20-30% | ProductivityCRMFinanceProject Management |
Technology
- Avg / employee
- $200-$350/month
- Typical waste
- 30-40%
Finance & Banking
- Avg / employee
- $180-$300/month
- Typical waste
- 25-35%
Healthcare
- Avg / employee
- $120-$220/month
- Typical waste
- 25-35%
Marketing & Agencies
- Avg / employee
- $200-$400/month
- Typical waste
- 30-45%
E-commerce
- Avg / employee
- $150-$280/month
- Typical waste
- 25-35%
Education
- Avg / employee
- $80-$150/month
- Typical waste
- 20-30%
Manufacturing
- Avg / employee
- $80-$160/month
- Typical waste
- 20-30%
✦ Sector by sector
Detailed industry analysis.
Technology
$200-$350/month· 30-40% wasteTech companies tend to have the highest per-employee SaaS spend due to expensive developer tooling and cloud infrastructure costs. Over-provisioned cloud resources are the single largest source of waste.
Top tools
Finance & Banking
$180-$300/month· 25-35% wasteFinancial services firms invest heavily in security and compliance tools. Redundant legacy systems running alongside modern SaaS platforms are a common source of waste.
Top tools
Healthcare
$120-$220/month· 25-35% wasteHealthcare organizations prioritize HIPAA-compliant tools, often paying premium prices. Compliance requirements limit the ability to switch to cheaper alternatives.
Top tools
Marketing & Agencies
$200-$400/month· 30-45% wasteMarketing agencies often have the highest waste percentage due to tool proliferation across client accounts and creative teams experimenting with new tools frequently.
Top tools
E-commerce
$150-$280/month· 25-35% wasteE-commerce companies accumulate SaaS costs across the entire customer journey from acquisition to fulfillment. Overlapping marketing and analytics tools are common waste sources.
Top tools
Education
$80-$150/month· 20-30% wasteEducational institutions typically have lower per-employee spend but often struggle with unused licenses during off-peak academic periods.
Top tools
Manufacturing
$80-$160/month· 20-30% wasteManufacturing companies have lower SaaS density but often maintain expensive legacy ERP and CAD software licenses that are underutilized across frontline workers.
Top tools
✦ Visual scale
Industry spend at a glance.
Scale: $0 – $400 per employee per month
✦ The pattern
Why agencies top the table.
Technology consistently ranks among the highest spenders ($200–$350/employee/month). Developer tooling, cloud infrastructure, observability, and design tools stack up fast. Cloud alone often represents 40–60% of a tech company's SaaS bill. Compare how company size shifts these numbers further.
Marketing agencies have the widest range ($200–$400) and the highest typical waste (30–45%). Tool experimentation, client-specific subscriptions, and overlap between analytics, SEO, social, and design platforms compound. Consolidation wins biggest here.
Healthcare & finance face compliance-driven pricing pressure. HIPAA, SOC 2, and PCI-DSS push teams toward higher tiers — often org-wide when only a subset of users handles regulated data. Right-sizing compliance tiers can reduce costs 15–25% without compromising posture. Use the SaaS cost calculator to model the right-size scenario for your team.
Education & manufacturing have the lowest per-employee spend ($80–$160) but face their own quirks: seasonal usage in education; legacy ERP/CAD licenses alongside modern SaaS in manufacturing.
✦ Get started
Industry averages are a starting point.
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