B2B Software Pricing Transparency (2026): 45 Figures From 2,300+ Vendor Pricing Checks

This page reports how openly B2B software vendors publish their prices. It covers how many vendors show a price at all. It shows which categories and sectors publish most and least. It also reports free plans and trials, entry prices and billing terms. Every figure comes from 2,366 dated pricing notes that StatWharf recorded against vendor pricing pages in September and October 2026. Each number links to the method section below, which states how the notes were classified and where the data has limits.

The figures describe the vendors listed on StatWharf comparison pages. They report shares only. No vendor is singled out for withholding its prices. The way StatWharf builds and sources its comparison pages is set out on the methodology page.

Method

Each StatWharf comparison page lists between 5 and 12 vendors. For every vendor, StatWharf opens the vendor’s own pricing page and records a short dated pricing note. Where no pricing page exists, the product page is used. A typical note reads “Quote-based (checked Sep 2026)” or states each published plan and its price. The note also records any billing terms that the page states. A vendor price shown on a public cloud marketplace listing was recorded as public. Of the 2,366 notes used here, 1,728 were checked in September 2026 and 638 in October 2026.

StatWharf read all 2,589 vendor entries across 269 category pages. It then excluded 189 entries in services categories, such as agencies and consulting firms, and 32 entries in consumer hardware categories. Two software entries had not completed a source check and were also excluded. The headline set is 2,366 source-checked software entries in 245 categories. They cover 2,052 distinct vendors after names were normalized, because some vendors appear in several categories.

Each note was classified first by text rules. Every note that the rules did not settle was then read in full and classified individually. Seventy entries were classified this way. Each entry received one price visibility class:

• Published: a price for at least one paid plan is public, and no tier is quote only.
• Partial: some tiers carry a public price, and at least one tier, usually the top one, is quoted.
• Quote only: no public price exists for any paid plan of the product in the category. A price for a separate product from the same company does not count.
• Free only: the product is free or open source with no paid tier.
• Unclear: the pricing page was not readable, or the product is billed only as part of a wider platform.

The starting price is the first paid plan price in US dollars stated per month. A price stated per year was divided by 12. Prices in other currencies and prices per unit of use, such as per minute or per message, have no starting price. Billing is “monthly available” where the note states a monthly option. It is “annual only” where the note states annual billing and no monthly option.

The data has three limits. First, the categories StatWharf covers lean toward SAP governance, compliance and B2B operations software. The sample is therefore not a random sample of all software. Second, a note records one page on one date. Vendors change prices often. Third, billing terms were not stated for most entries, so the billing figures rest on a smaller base.

How many vendors publish a price

About half of the listings carry a public price for a paid plan. The other half send buyers to sales for a quote. Among listings with a public price, close to half still quote their top tier.

The distinct-vendor figures differ only slightly from the listing figures. A vendor that appears in several categories was counted once, with the class it received most often. The close match shows that vendors listed in many categories do not drive the result.

Transparency by sector

StatWharf grouped its 245 categories into nine sectors. In SAP and ERP, about one listing in seven has a public paid price. In marketing and sales, about two in three do.

A likely explanation, not tested by this data, is how each kind of software is sold. Marketing, sales and developer tools are often bought by a single team on a card. Their vendors publish plans so that buyers can start without a call. SAP governance, compliance and ERP products are sold to large firms through long contracts. Their price depends on the number of systems, users and modules, and vendors quote it after scoping.

Most and least transparent categories

The category figures below cover the 240 categories with eight or more source-checked listings. The median category has a public paid price for half of its listings.

Nineteen categories reach 100%. The ten below are ordered by the share of listings with every tier public, which separates them further.

Sixteen categories have no listing with a public paid price. All sixteen are shown below, because a cut at ten would split a group of equal values. In two of them, one listing was not classifiable, so the quote-only share is 90%.

Six of the sixteen are SAP governance categories. Five are supply chain, distribution, freight and trade promotion categories. In these categories, a buyer must request a quote from every vendor on a shortlist before any price comparison.

Free plans and free trials

Free entry points are common among vendors that publish prices and rare among those that do not. A listing can record both a free plan and a free trial, so the shares below can overlap.

A free trial is likely under-recorded. Many vendors offer a trial only after a demo, and the pricing note records only what the pricing page states.

Starting prices

StatWharf set a starting price for 898 listings. These are listings with a public paid plan in US dollars stated per month or per year. Usage-only rates and prices in other currencies are not included.

A per-user price is a price for one seat, while a flat plan covers a team or an account. The two medians are therefore not directly comparable. The lowest published plan is also often a limited tier. Buyers get a better comparison from the plan that fits their team size and needs than from the entry figure.

Billing terms

Most pricing pages do not state a billing cadence in plain text. Where they do, monthly billing is available more often than not.

Many pages show a monthly price that is billed once a year. A note that reads “$29 per month billed annually” was classed as annual only unless the page also offered monthly billing. Buyers need to ask which cycle a quoted price assumes.

What the figures show

Three points stand out. First, a buyer comparing B2B software will find a public price for only 47.3% of listings. For the remaining half, the first price arrives after a sales conversation.

Second, transparency depends heavily on the sector. Marketing, sales and developer tools mostly publish their plans. In SAP and ERP, only 13.6% of listings carry a public paid price, and none do in six SAP governance categories.

Third, published prices cluster low. Half of all published starting prices sit below US$50 a month. That reflects which vendors choose to publish. The median therefore describes published plans only, not the price of quoted products.

Where to go next

Each category named on this page links to its StatWharf comparison. Every comparison lists the dated pricing note for each vendor alongside its billing terms. The methodology page explains how vendors are selected and how sources are checked.

The next update follows the next full round of pricing checks. Corrections to any figure can be sent to the editorial address below.

Factual corrections are free: editorial@statwharf.com.