MES software pricing: what an MES really costs

What drives MES software cost

An MES quote is the software plus the work and hardware it takes to get it running on your shop floor. The software itself is often only part of the total.

What the price is counted by matters too. With per-user pricing, every operator who signs in at a terminal can count as a license. In a shop running three shifts with several operators per machine, that number grows fast. With per-machine pricing, the cost grows with the number of machines you track. When you ask for a quote, always ask whether operators count as users.

Cloud MES subscription or on-premise license?

MES software is sold in two ways. With a cloud subscription (SaaS) you use the software on the vendor's servers and pay as you go. With an on-premise license the software runs on a server in your own building.

Compare the total over several years, not just the first one. A subscription is paid every year, but servers, backups and the IT time they take are included. On-premise is expensive in year one, and after that you pay maintenance and your own IT time. If your data must not leave the building, or your ERP is not reachable from the internet, on-premise may be the only option anyway.

Hidden costs to ask about

The items that are not on the price list usually come out with these questions:

• Do operators count as users? Is there a charge per terminal?
• Are implementation, training and data import included, or billed by the day?
• Is there a ready connector for your ERP or accounting system, or does one have to be built?
• When you add machines, do you move up a plan or pay per machine?
• What percentage of the license is the yearly maintenance fee, and does it go up every year?
• What currency is the price in, and how is the renewal price set?
• Is there a minimum contract term? What do you pay if you leave early, and do you get anything back?
• If you leave, in what format can you take your data with you?

The criteria beyond price are in the guide on how to choose MES software, and planning the move off spreadsheets is covered in MES vs Excel.

ModernMES plans and current prices

ModernMES is a cloud MES sold as a monthly or yearly subscription. The table below takes its prices from the plans on sale in the app, so the figure you see here is the figure you pay. You can switch the currency above the table.

The plans differ mainly in how many machines and users you can have and in the level of support. Work orders, the operator terminal, the live shop floor view, quality, maintenance and reports are in every plan, and there is no limit on work orders.

• The user limit counts people who sign in to the web app with their own account. Operators who sign in at a terminal by scanning their badge or typing their code do not count.
• The machine limit counts the machines you set up in the system.
• The largest plan has no machine or user limit, and includes the ERP integration and the AI assistant.
• The ERP integration can be added to the other plans as an add-on. The systems it works with are listed under integrations.
• Plans bought in the app are invoiced for the plan and any add-on you choose, and nothing else. There is no setup fee. You can import your parts and routings yourself with the spreadsheet template.
• Where the table says "Contact us for a price" instead of a figure, the price for that plan is agreed with us.

Free trial, monthly and yearly billing

A 14-day free trial starts when you sign up. No credit card is needed, and during the trial you use ModernMES with your own data. Choosing a plan during the trial does not cut it short, because the paid period starts the day the trial ends. If the trial ends without a plan, the app closes, but you can still sign in and choose one.

Paying yearly costs less than twelve monthly payments. The yearly column in the table shows what yearly billing works out to per month.

• Moving to a bigger plan takes effect at once. You pay only the difference for the days left in the period.
• Moving from monthly to yearly starts a new yearly period that day, and the unused days of the month are credited on the new invoice.
• Moving to a smaller plan, or from yearly to monthly, takes effect when the current period ends. To move down, your machines and users have to fit within the smaller plan's limits.

Currencies and payment

Outside Turkey, you pay in US dollars or euros by card through Stripe. You choose the currency with your first plan and it stays your billing currency. The card is kept on file and renewals are charged to it at the end of each period, with an email beforehand. If you choose a plan during the trial, the card is only saved then, and the first charge is made when the trial ends. Prices are shown before tax.

Businesses in Turkey pay in Turkish lira by card in the app, through PayTR, with VAT added. No card is kept for lira payments, so each renewal invoice is paid in the app.

Cancellation and refunds

You can cancel in the app at any time. It is done by a user with the admin role, and there are two ways to do it.

• The subscription ends at the end of the period you paid for. You keep using it until then, and nothing more is charged. A renewal invoice already issued is cancelled too.
• The subscription ends now and you get a refund under the rules below.

The refund works like this:

• Within 14 days of your first plan purchase, everything you paid since then is refunded.
• After those 14 days, on a yearly plan, the whole months left in the period are refunded. You keep the month you are in, and access ends when it does.
• On a monthly plan there is no refund after 14 days. The subscription ends with the month you paid for.

The 14-day full refund applies to the first purchase only. Taking a refund and buying again does not start a new 14 days. If you cancel a plan you chose during the trial before the trial ends, your card is never charged and the trial carries on.

On-premise MES

For companies whose data must stay in the building, or whose ERP is not reachable from the internet, ModernMES also runs on your own server. Installation is a single command. The license is bound to that server's hardware and issued for an agreed term and number of users and machines. Offline licenses are available for networks with no internet access.

New versions arrive as a package and install without touching your data. If you replace the server, the license is reissued for the new one free of charge. If the license runs out, nothing is lost. The system becomes read-only until a new license is entered. On-premise pricing is quoted per project, based on user count and facility size. See ModernMES on your own servers for more.

Frequently asked questions