Resource-Based vs User-Based Pricing: Which is Better for Resource Planners?

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Overview 

Resource planning software pricing models dictate exactly who gets to participate in your planning process. The standard user-based approach charges a fee per seat and works well for email software or customer relationship management (CRM). But in resource planning, it often forces companies to limit access to save money. The alternative model is resource-based pricing, which charges only for the assets you track. At Ganttic, we use resource-based pricing. This model allows you to invite unlimited users to view or edit the schedule, providing total visibility and collaboration across your entire organization without artificial bottlenecks.

Buying resource planning software often comes down to looking at the feature list. Buyers check for integrations, reporting capabilities, and visual layouts. Yet the pricing model itself dictates how your team will actually use the tool in their daily work.

In resource management, the pricing structure shapes who gets to participate in the planning process. When evaluating software, businesses generally have to choose between two dominant models: resource-based pricing vs user-based pricing. Both approaches serve completely different operational philosophies. Understanding the difference will save you money and prevent operational bottlenecks down the road.

The default: user-based pricing

User-based pricing is the standard software-as-a-service model. You pay a set monthly or annual fee for every individual who needs a login. This model makes perfect sense for tools like email clients or customer relationship management systems. Every employee needs a dedicated inbox. Every sales representative needs to track their own accounts.

For resource planning, this per-seat model is likely to create friction. When a company pays per user, the natural reaction is to limit licenses to keep costs low. Management restricts access to a handful of top-level planners. The rest of the team relies on static spreadsheets exported at the end of the week.

This creates a siloed environment. When field workers, technicians, or project managers cannot view the schedule directly, they have to email the primary planner for every minor update. If someone wants to check when a bulldozer is available, they have to ask a gatekeeper.

Some companies try to bypass these costs by sharing generic login credentials across the team. Sharing passwords destroys accountability because you can never track who made a specific change to the schedule.

The alternative: resource-based pricing

Resource-based pricing takes a completely different approach. You pay for the assets you are actually managing. A resource can be an employee, a piece of heavy machinery, a specialized testing room, or a company vehicle. You simply pick a subscription tier based on the total number of resources in your system.

When you remove the financial penalty for adding users, operations become transparent. A project manager in another city can log in to see if a specific engineer is booked for the month. A site manager can check the availability of an excavator right from their phone. Everyone stays on the same page.

This model solves a major operational bottleneck. Most people interacting with your schedule do not need to make changes. Clients want to see project timelines, and field staff want to check their assignments.

When software charges per user, companies refuse to buy licenses for viewers. This turns your main planners into reporters who constantly have to export data to keep everyone informed. Resource-based pricing eliminates this extra work. You pay for the assets you plan, and you can give free viewing access to your entire ecosystem.

Comparison: resource-based pricing vs user-based pricing

Cost Predictability

User-based pricing punishes team growth. If you hire ten new project managers, your software bill spikes immediately. Resource-based pricing keeps costs tied strictly to your operational capacity. If your fleet of vehicles or portfolio of projects stays the same, your bill remains flat even if fifty new employees need view-only access to the schedule.

Security and Accountability 

Because user-based models encourage shared logins to save money, tracking activity becomes impossible. Unlimited users in a resource-based system mean every employee gets their own secure account. Administrators can set specific viewing or editing permissions for each person to maintain strict data security.

Collaboration 

A schedule locked behind a few paid seats becomes a bottleneck. Planners spend half their day answering questions about availability. Open access empowers employees to find the answers themselves and collaborate freely across departments.

Resource-Based pricing explained: what Ganttic charges and why

We built Ganttic fifteen years ago with a core belief: effective planning requires input from the team. That is why we operate on a resource-based pricing model.

To us, you should only pay for what you actually plan. Whether your operations rely on a team of human specialists, autonomous robots, fleet vehicles, testing labs, or heavy equipment, your bill reflects your actual scheduled assets. You simply choose your resource tier and invite an unlimited number of users to the platform. They can be owners, administrators, or users with limited access.

Choose custom permissions

Ganttic gives you the freedom to set up custom permissions for different roles.

Top management gets a high-level overview. Project managers can get editing rights for their specific departments. Field technicians can get view-only access on their mobile devices.

Everyone gets the exact visual clarity they need to make smart decisions, and you never have to worry about the software bill jumping just because you added a new user!

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