How much do managed IT services cost in Australia?
Updated 31 July 2026 · 7 minute read
Short answer
Most Australian managed IT providers charge between $99 and $199 per user per month, excluding GST. A 20-person business should expect roughly $2,000 to $4,000 a month for fully managed IT including security. Nexcentric charges $115 per user per month with a five-user minimum. Hardware, third-party licences like Microsoft 365, and major projects are almost always billed separately — which is where published prices most often mislead.
The short answer
Published Australian rates for fully managed IT sit broadly between $99 and $199 per user per month, excluding GST. Per-device pricing is also used, typically $10 to $299 per device per month depending on whether it's a workstation, a server or a firewall.
Most providers won't publish anything at all, which is why this range is harder to find than it should be.
| Staff | At $99/user | At $115/user | At $199/user |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 people | $495 | $575 | $995 |
| 10 people | $990 | $1,150 | $1,990 |
| 20 people | $1,980 | $2,300 | $3,980 |
| 50 people | $4,950 | $5,750 | $9,950 |
All figures exclude GST, and exclude hardware and third-party licences. Treat any quote that doesn't separate those clearly as incomplete.
Per user or per device — and why it matters
Per-user pricing counts people. If someone has a laptop, a desktop and a phone, that's one user. Per-device pricing counts endpoints, so the same person costs three times as much.
Per-device pricing made sense when everyone had one desktop. Today it penalises businesses for equipping staff properly, and it makes your bill unpredictable every time someone gets a second screen or a site tablet.
Ask which model a quote uses before comparing two numbers. A $99 per-device quote can easily cost more than a $150 per-user one.
What actually drives the price up or down
- Number of staff — larger businesses pay less per user because fixed effort spreads further
- Servers and on-premises infrastructure — more to monitor, patch and recover
- Number of sites — each location adds network, connectivity and often on-site attendance
- Security level — Essential Eight Maturity Level 2 costs meaningfully more to run than Level 1
- Compliance obligations — healthcare, finance and government supply chains carry evidence requirements
- Response time expectations — genuine 24/7 cover costs more than business hours
- Industry software — specialised line-of-business systems take longer to support
- Current state — an undocumented, neglected environment costs more to take on in year one
What's usually NOT in the headline price
This is where published prices most often mislead. A low per-user rate with everything stripped out isn't cheaper, it's just quoted differently.
- Microsoft 365 and other third-party licences — normally billed at cost on top
- Hardware — laptops, servers, firewalls and network gear quoted separately
- Major projects — migrations, office moves, infrastructure replacement
- After-hours and emergency response, where 24/7 isn't included as standard
- Cloud consumption — Azure, AWS and hosting billed on usage
- Onboarding or transition fees, which some providers charge and some don't
Ask any provider for their exclusions in writing before you compare quotes. The gap between two proposals is usually in what isn't mentioned.
Is security included, or extra?
This is the single biggest variable in Australian managed IT pricing, and the one most likely to make two quotes incomparable.
Some providers include multi-factor authentication, endpoint protection, email filtering, patching and monitoring in the base rate. Others quote a low headline number and sell security as an add-on afterwards — often after an incident.
A managed IT service without security isn't a cheaper version of the same thing. It's a different, riskier product.
What about break-fix instead?
Break-fix means paying hourly when something goes wrong, typically $120 to $220 per hour in Australia. It looks cheaper until you count the downtime, and it creates an awkward incentive: your provider earns more when things break.
Break-fix can genuinely suit businesses under about five staff with simple, cloud-only setups. Above that, the maths usually favours a managed service — and crucially, break-fix providers rarely do the proactive security work that prevents the expensive incidents.
How to compare quotes properly
- Convert everything to the same unit — per user per month, ex GST
- Ask what's excluded, in writing
- Check whether security is in the base price or an add-on
- Ask about contract term and notice period
- Ask what happens to your documentation if you leave
- Confirm response targets by severity, not a single vague number
- Ask whether onboarding or transition is charged separately
Quick answers
What is the average cost of managed IT services in Australia?
Between $99 and $199 per user per month excluding GST for fully managed IT. A 20-person business typically pays between $2,000 and $4,000 per month. Hardware and third-party licences are normally billed separately.
Is managed IT charged per user or per device?
Both models exist. Per-user pricing counts people regardless of how many devices they use, and is generally more predictable. Per-device pricing counts endpoints, typically $10 to $299 per device per month, and costs more for staff who use multiple devices.
Does managed IT pricing include Microsoft 365 licences?
Usually not. Most providers bill Microsoft 365 and other third-party licences at cost on top of the managed service fee. Always confirm this before comparing quotes, because it can change the total materially.
Why do some IT providers refuse to publish prices?
Partly because scope genuinely varies, and partly because it removes the ability to price each prospect differently. Providers who do publish tend to have standardised what they deliver, which is generally a good sign for consistency.
Is there a minimum business size for managed IT?
Most providers set a minimum, commonly around five users. Below that, the fixed cost of monitoring, security tooling and documentation doesn't spread far enough to be good value, and a break-fix arrangement often suits better.
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