It is the first question almost every business owner asks us, and the honest answer is: it depends. But "it depends" is not much help when you are trying to budget, so here is how IT support pricing actually works in 2026.
The common pricing models
Most UK providers price managed IT support in one of three ways:
- Per user, per month. The most common model today. You pay a flat monthly fee for each member of staff, and that covers them across all their devices. It is predictable and scales cleanly as you hire.
- Per device, per month. You pay per laptop, server or piece of kit. This can work out cheaper for teams where people share machines, but it gets messy when everyone has a laptop, a phone and a desktop.
- Fixed monthly fee. A single all-in price for the whole business, agreed up front. Simple, but only fair if your provider really understands your setup first.
So what are the actual numbers?
As a rough guide, fully managed IT support in the UK tends to land somewhere between £30 and £80 per user per month, depending on what is included. Lighter, "support only" cover sits at the bottom of that range; fully proactive support with security, backup and a real helpdesk sits towards the top.
The cheapest quote is rarely the best value. A low headline price often means security, monitoring, backup or out-of-hours cover are all extras that appear later. When you compare quotes, compare what is actually included.
What should be included
- Unlimited remote helpdesk for your whole team
- Proactive monitoring, patching and maintenance, not just fixes after things break
- Core security: endpoint protection, multi-factor authentication and email security
- Backup and a tested recovery plan
- Clear response times you can actually hold someone to
We cover the detail of each of these on our IT support and cyber security pages.
The questions that change the price
Before any honest provider can quote, they will want to know: how many people are in your team, how many sites, what your security and compliance needs are, and whether you are running anything older or unusual. The more standardised your setup, the lower the cost.
Want a quick, no obligation ballpark for your business? Give us a call and we will talk you through it in plain English, no hard sell.
