Original data · Q4 2026 baseline · Snapshot v0.7 · 2026-10-23
Boutique Stack Cost Index
Short answer: across 14 paid stacks we price for solo consultants and boutique agencies, the median software bill is$44/mo on annual billing and $55/mo month-to-month. Paying monthly costs a median 25% more per stack(and a median 25% more per plan across vendor-verified rows). 1 recipe runs at $0.
This is the baseline edition. We plan to re-run it each quarter from the same recipes, so changes reflect vendor prices, not a new method.
| Stack | Type | Annual $/mo | Monthly $/mo | Monthly premium | Admin hrs/wk (est.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lean free+paid hybrid | Calculator recipe | $0 | $0 | — | 2.25 |
| Solo outbound / dialer | Calculator recipe | $9 | $19 | 111% | 2.00 |
| Fractional CFO (solo) | Niche stack | $28 | $35 | 25% | 2.50 |
| Bookkeeping practice (2 people) | Niche stack | $28 | $35 | 25% | 3.00 |
| Solo under $100 | Calculator recipe | $29 | $43 | 48% | 2.25 |
| Solo client-ops all-in-one | Calculator recipe | $29 | $36 | 24% | 2.00 |
| Boutique under $100 (2 seats) | Calculator recipe | $43 | $67 | 56% | 3.50 |
| Boutique client-ops | Calculator recipe | $44 | $55 | 25% | 3.00 |
| HR consultant (solo) | Niche stack | $44 | $55 | 25% | 3.50 |
| 3-person design studio | Niche stack | $44 | $55 | 25% | 2.50 |
| B2B copywriter (solo) | Niche stack | $62 | $75 | 21% | 2.25 |
| Fractional CMO (solo) | Niche stack | $85 | $104 | 22% | 3.25 |
| Boutique under $200 | Calculator recipe | $127 | $157 | 24% | 4.00 |
| 5-person SEO agency | Niche stack | $180 | $217 | 21% | 5.00 |
| Growing team stack | Calculator recipe | $196 | $246 | 26% | 6.00 |
Method
- Each stack is a fixed recipe of Snapshot rows × seats. Prices are list prices read on vendor pages on 2026-10-23 (28 rows). HubSpot rows that show a new-customer promo are not used as primary picks.
- Email tools are priced at about 1,000 contacts. ActiveCampaign monthly figures come from a secondary source because the US page shows yearly prices only.
- Payment processing and taxes are excluded from the index; niche pages show fee math separately.
- Admin hours are estimates (method). Medians exclude $0 stacks.
- Free to cite under CC BY 4.0 with a link. Changes between editions: stack-bill change log.