It's the first question everyone asks, and the one most IT companies answer with "it depends" followed by a form. Here's the straight version.
The honest short answer
For small and mid-size organizations, managed IT is usually priced one of three ways: per user, per device, or as a flat monthly rate for the organization. A published 2026 guide for Colorado businesses puts complete managed IT at roughly $125–$275 per user per month, which works out to about $1,000–$3,500 a month for 5–15 employees, $3,500–$9,000 for 15–40, and $9,000–$22,000 or more for 40–100 (Automated Business Technologies). Treat those as a starting point. What's inside the number matters more than the number.
The spread is wide because the word "managed" hides enormous differences. At the bottom of the range you often get monitoring plus an hourly bill for anything that actually happens. At the top you get a real security stack, tested backups, and someone who answers the phone. The number on the quote matters less than what's inside it.
What actually drives the price
Four things move the number more than anything else:
- How much is included versus billable. "Unlimited support" and "8 included hours" can carry the same sticker price. One of them has a second invoice hiding behind it.
- The security stack. Endpoint detection, email defense, MFA management, and security training are either in the rate or sold back to you later — often right after something scary happens.
- Who answers the phone. A tier-1 call center is cheap to run. Senior engineers aren't. You feel this difference on your worst day, not in the demo.
- Backup and recovery. Backups that are stored is one price. Backups that are tested, with a written recovery plan, is a different level of service entirely.
Per user, per device, or flat
Per-user pricing is simple to read and grows every time you hire, even when nothing about your IT changes. Per-device pricing tracks the computers and servers being looked after, which is closer to the actual work. A flat monthly number built from your environment is the easiest to budget, as long as the provider tells you how it changes.
Whichever model you're quoted, ask the same question: what makes this number go up? If the answer is "more tickets" or "more hours," the provider earns more when things go wrong.
The costs that hide outside the quote
When you compare quotes, ask about the edges: onboarding fees, after-hours rates, on-site visit charges, "project work" definitions, and what happens to the price when you add people. If you're changing IT providers, ask how the handover will work, too. Per-user pricing quietly punishes growth — every hire raises your IT bill. That's backwards for a growing team, and it's the main reason we don't publish a seat price at all: our managed IT rate is sized by the environment we're responsible for, not by how many people you employ. The rate holds for the twelve-month term; the number follows what we're actually managing — a computer added or retired moves it, a heavy support month doesn't — and you hear about any change before it lands on an invoice. Our reasoning is on the pricing page, and which engagement you belong in is a page of its own — no form required.
Managed IT, an in-house hire, or break/fix
A monthly plan isn't the only option. Some businesses hire their own IT person, and very small ones sometimes pay a technician per visit. We've written up both comparisons: the real cost of hiring IT in-house and managed IT vs break/fix. If you're comparing providers, here are the questions worth asking before you sign.
Cheap IT is the most expensive kind
One more honest thing. The organizations that come to us hurting are rarely the ones who paid too much — they're the ones who paid too little, got monitoring-plus-hourly, and discovered the real price during a ransomware event or a week of downtime. Managed IT is one of those purchases where the cost of the service and the cost of not having the service are wildly asymmetric.
We publish where it starts — IT Essentials from $500/month and Fully Managed IT from $1,500/month — and then quote your actual number. If you want that number for your actual organization, with your current stack and your real requirements, a free IT risk review gets it to you in one conversation.
Common questions
What's a normal price for managed IT in Denver?
Published Colorado ranges run roughly $125–$275 per user per month for a complete service. Where you land depends mostly on what's included.
Why do quotes vary so much?
Because "managed IT" covers very different services. Compare what's included, especially security, tested backups and who answers the phone, before you compare the totals.
Is onboarding extra?
Usually, yes. Getting set up is normally a one-time cost quoted separately. Ours is its own line on the quote, so you know it before you sign.
Do prices go up when we hire?
With per-user pricing, yes, every time. We size the number by the environment we look after, so it moves when computers or servers are added or retired, not when you hire.
What's the smallest business you work with?
IT Essentials is built for small teams with a few computers, mostly in the cloud. If you're smaller than that, we'll tell you honestly whether you need us yet.