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Benchmark 05 · AI workflows

SaaS spend & licence utilisation benchmark

How many of the licences you pay for are actually used? We join your spend, login and contract data to benchmark SaaS spend per employee, utilisation and renewal exposure against Zylo's 2025 SaaS Management Index.

Get your free snapshot Industry report · $199
The market reference

What the market looks like.

52.7%Share of purchased SaaS licences left unused (Zylo 2025)1
$4,830Average SaaS spend per employee, up 21.9% year on year1
66.5%Share of IT leaders hit by unexpected usage-based or AI charges1
KPIMarket referenceBest-in-class / noteSource
SaaS spend per employee$4,830—1
Licences unused52.7%—1
Share of SaaS spend controlled by business lines70%IT: 26.1%1
Spend growth on AI-native apps+75.2% YoY—1
Average annual licence waste$21M per organisationSkewed by large enterprises1

SaaS is now bought by every team, not just IT, and AI tools add usage-based bills. MarketsandMarkets projects the SaaS management market to grow from USD 4.58 billion in 2025 to USD 9.37 billion by 20302.

Who it’s for

Is this benchmark for you?

Industries

SaaS & tech · Professional services · Financial services & insurance · Retail & e-commerce

Buyer

CFO & finance · CIO, CTO & IT

Company profile

100+ employees
Good first benchmark if you are new to AI

You need it if…

  • Nobody has a full list of the apps you pay for
  • Renewals roll over without review
  • AI tools add usage-based bills nobody forecast
The benchmark

What we measure. What you get.

What we measure

  • Spend per employee and per department
  • Licence utilisation per app (seats vs active users)
  • Overlapping and duplicate tools
  • Renewals due in the next 90 days
  • Usage-based and AI spend trend

What you receive

  • Your spend and utilisation vs the Zylo reference
  • Reclaim, downgrade and consolidation list with annual savings
  • Renewal calendar with negotiation priorities
  • Guardrails for usage-based AI spend
Typical turnaround: 1–2 weeksService: AI workflowsFree snapshot: availableRelated workflow: SaaS licence & spend →
Industry report · $199 · in production

The full saas spend study.

Planned contents. Everything behind this page, in depth: the numbers by sector and company size, what top performers do differently, and a model to price your own gap.

  • Market size and growth, every analyst estimate reconciled
  • KPI quartiles by company size, sector and region
  • Original survey data from decision-makers
  • Cost-of-the-gap model with worked examples
  • How top-quartile companies close the gap
  • Solution landscape and a 12-month roadmap
  • Self-assessment scorecard
Reserve your copy · $199 Publishing in 2026. Reserve now and we email you the day it is available. No payment today.
How it works

Four steps. No disruption.

01

Intake call

30 minutes with a senior engineer to agree scope, KPIs and the data we need.

02

Data, read-only

Exports or read-only access to the systems involved. Nothing is changed.

03

Analysis

Your numbers placed against the published market references, KPI by KPI.

04

Readout

Your position, the cost gap in dollars and a costed roadmap to close it.

Reports & custom benchmarks

Reserve this report.

Reserve the saas spend industry report, or ask for a custom benchmark on your own data.

  • Your spend and utilisation vs the Zylo reference
  • Reclaim, downgrade and consolidation list with annual savings
  • Renewal calendar with negotiation priorities
Your details are used only to prepare your benchmark. A senior engineer replies, not a sales rep.
Thank you. We have your request and will be in touch by email.

Sources

  1. 1
    Zylo, 2025 SaaS Management Index. zylo.com/news/2025-saas-management-index
  2. 2
    MarketsandMarkets, SaaS Management Market 2025–2030 (USD 4.58B → USD 9.37B, 15.4% CAGR). marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/saas-management-market-215635254.html