Managed service providers price their services in two main ways: per user or per device. Both can be fair. The right one depends on how your team works, how many devices each person uses, and how much you value a predictable bill.
How per-user pricing works
You pay a fixed monthly amount for each person the provider supports. The fee typically covers that person's help desk support, their Microsoft 365 account, and the computer they work on. When you hire, the bill goes up by one seat. When someone leaves, it goes down.
Per-user pricing fits modern office teams well, because most support requests are about people and their accounts: email, files, sign-in, permissions and apps, not just hardware.
How per-device pricing works
You pay for each managed device: workstations, laptops, servers, firewalls and sometimes printers or switches. Industry pricing guides published in 2026 list workstations at roughly $50 to $150 per month and servers at roughly $200 to $500 per month, with user-related services such as Microsoft 365 management often billed on top.
Per-device pricing can suit environments with many shared machines, such as a warehouse with kiosk computers used by shifts of staff.
Side by side
How we price
NexJen Essentials is per user: $149 per user per month on a 12-month agreement, with a $499 setup fee and a five-user minimum. The price assumes one computer per person, which matches most office teams. If your team has more computers than people, extra devices are $5 per device per month to cover endpoint protection with managed detection and response, rather than charging another full seat.
Questions to ask any provider
Common questions
Is per-user or per-device MSP pricing cheaper?
It depends on your ratio of people to devices. For office teams where each person has one computer, per-user pricing is usually simpler and comparable or cheaper once account support is counted. For many shared devices, per-device can cost less.
How does NexJen count extra devices?
NexJen Essentials assumes one computer per user. Extra computers are $5 per device per month, which covers endpoint protection with managed detection and response for that device.
Do shared mailboxes count as users?
Ask each provider. Shared mailboxes that nobody signs in to as a person usually do not need a full seat, but policies vary, so get it in writing.
See per-user pricing in practice
NexJen Essentials is one per-user plan with one computer per user included and a set price for extra devices.