Choosing care management software is not only about finding the lowest advertised monthly price. The real cost depends on how the provider calculates its fees, which features are included and how the price changes as your care agency grows.
Some care software providers charge per carer, while others charge according to the number of active service users. There may also be additional fees for administrator accounts, eMAR, rostering, payroll, reporting or other features.
Understanding the pricing model can help you avoid unexpected costs.
What is per-carer pricing?
With per-carer pricing, you pay a monthly licence fee for each staff member who uses the system.
This model may work well for providers with a small and stable team. However, costs can increase quickly as the agency recruits more carers.
This can be particularly important for domiciliary care providers that need additional staff to cover:
- weekends and evenings
- annual leave and sickness
- double-handed visits
- emergency cover
- different geographical areas
Part-time, bank and temporary carers may also require paid accounts.
What is per-client pricing?
With per-client pricing, the subscription is based on the number of active service users.
Some per-client systems, such as Care Esteem, include unlimited carers and administrators. This means providers can recruit staff and create the necessary user accounts without increasing their software bill.
Per-client pricing can be particularly suitable for growing agencies that employ more carers than the number of clients they support.
However, providers should check how the software company defines an active client and whether inactive clients are still included in the monthly charge.
Additional costs to check
The monthly subscription may only be part of the total cost.
Before choosing a system, ask about:
- additional administrator licences
- separate feature or module costs
- minimum contract periods
- annual price increases
A low starting price may become significantly higher once essential features and additional users are included.
Questions to ask during a care software demonstration
Ask the provider:
- Is pricing based on carers, clients, visits or care hours?
- Are carers and administrators unlimited?
- Is eMAR included?
- Are rostering, payroll and invoicing included?
- Will the price increase when we recruit?
- Is there a minimum contract period?
- What would the total cost be as the agency grows?
These questions will help you compare the full cost rather than only the advertised starting price.
Can care software make a provider CQC compliant?
No software can automatically make a care provider compliant.
Providers remain responsible for delivering safe care, maintaining accurate records, demonstrating good governance and meeting regulatory requirements.
However, care management software can support compliance by helping providers:
- keep records accurate and up to date
- maintain clear audit trails
- monitor incidents and follow-up actions
- identify overdue reviews
- record medication administration
- access evidence quickly
- communicate changes to carers
The quality of the information entered and the way the organisation uses the system remain the provider's responsibility.
How Care Esteem pricing works
Care Esteem pricing is based on the number of active service users, rather than the number of carers.
Providers can add the staff accounts needed to run their service without paying an additional monthly fee for every carer or administrator.
Care Esteem includes:
- unlimited carers
- unlimited administrators
- no limit on care hours
- digital care planning
- assessments and risk assessments
- rostering
- eMAR
- audits
- incident reporting
- staff records
- supervisions and spot-check tools
- payroll and billing
- reports and audit trails
Subscriptions for new providers start from £20 plus VAT per month for one active client. Pricing then increases according to the number of clients supported.
As the number of clients increases, the effective cost per client becomes lower.
Consider the long-term value
When choosing care management software, consider how the cost will change as your organisation grows, which features are included, how many users can access the system and whether additional fees apply.
Care Esteem brings care planning, rostering, eMAR, audits, incident management, staffing, billing and reporting together in one platform.
With unlimited carers and administrators, your agency can grow its workforce without increasing its subscription every time a new staff member joins.
Use the Care Esteem pricing calculator to estimate the cost for your organisation, or book a personalised demonstration to see how Care Esteem could support your care service.