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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 2026 SaaS Management Index.

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

What the market looks like.

36%Average share of SaaS licences unused, against industry-recommended utilisation levels (Zylo 2026, vendor index)1
$9,455Median SaaS spend per employee, across Zylo customers (vendor index)1
78%Share of 218 IT leaders in a vendor survey hit by unexpected charges from consumption-based or AI pricing1
KPIMarket referenceTop performers / noteSource
SaaS spend per employee (median)$9,455Zylo customers, 20261
Licences unused (average)36%Against industry-recommended utilisation levels1
Share of SaaS spend controlled by business units81%IT directly manages 15%1
Spend growth on AI-native apps+108% YoY+393% above 10,000 employees1
Average annual spend on unused licences$21M per organisation2025 edition; up 14.2% on the year2

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 20303.

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
Why it pays · by size and role

What the report is worth to your business and your role.

The report prices unused licences at list price and across bill sizes, and prices the staff time each renewal takes. Figures below are taken from the report (chapters 11, 38, 39 and 41).

CaseHow it is pricedCost a yearWhere to start
250 seats, 20% unused250 seats × 20% × $100 a user a month × 12 (Salesforce Pro Suite list price)$60,000Reclaim unused seats before the renewal date
$5m yearly SaaS bill, 30% unused30% of the yearly bill$1,500,000Application inventory and usage data first
$25m yearly SaaS bill, 30% unused30% of the yearly bill$7,500,000Renewal calendar run 90+ days ahead
25 renewals a year, 24 hours eachStaff time at $57.53 an hour (buyers and purchasing agents)$34,500Negotiation brief and vendor questions

Market research model · based on published benchmarks. Unused cost = seats × unused share × price × 12, or the unused share of the yearly bill. Bill sizes, unused shares, renewal counts and hours are grid values, not benchmarks; the cost is an upper bound, as only seats you can remove or downgrade at renewal turn into savings. Loaded hourly cost = mean US wage (BLS OEWS) divided by the wage share of total compensation (BLS ECEC, 70%). The where-to-start column is NEWMIND analysis, not a measured outcome.

For the CFO: cost you can take to the budget

  • 250 seats at $100 a user a month cost $60,000 a year at 20% unused and $90,000 at 30%
  • Zylo’s 2026 index, built on its customers’ data, reports a median $9,455 per employee and, against industry-recommended utilisation levels, an average 36% of licences unused (vendor claim)
  • Reference grids of unused spend by bill size and of renewal effort by number of renewals
  • Scenario tables of price uplifts and reclaimed seats
  • A business case template to take the saving to the budget

For the COO: productivity you can run

  • An application inventory and a monthly reclaim log
  • A renewal calendar, a negotiation brief and questions for vendors
  • A log for AI and usage-priced tools, where Zylo reports AI-native application spend up 108% in one year (vendor claim)
  • Roles and ownership: Zylo reports business units control 81% of spend and IT manages 15% (vendor claim)
  • A first-90-days plan, a twelve-month roadmap and a KPI tracker
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: 2–4 weeksService: AI workflowsFree snapshot: availableRelated workflow: SaaS licence & spend →
Industry report · Edition 1 · $199

SaaS Spend & Licence Utilisation Benchmark 2026.

The full study behind this page: what SaaS costs per employee, how many licences go unused, who holds the spend, a cost-of-shelfware model, nine playbooks and the worksheets to price your own gap.

What’s included

102pages
59chapters
41cited sources
13tools & templates

Tools you can use straight away

  • Self-assessment: KPI sheet and scoring worksheet
  • Scenario tables: uplifts and reclaimed seats
  • Reference grids: loaded labour cost by role, unused spend and renewal effort
  • Business case
  • Application inventory
  • Monthly reclaim log
  • Renewal calendar
  • Questions for vendors
  • AI and usage-priced tools log
  • Roles and ownership
  • Twelve-month KPI tracker and action plan
  • Renewal negotiation brief
  • New software request

About this edition: built from published research and NEWMIND models. It does not yet include our own survey; Edition 2 adds survey data from decision-makers, free for Edition 1 buyers.

Reserve your copy · $199 Online checkout opens soon. Reserve now and we email you the payment link; nothing is charged today.

Contents

  1. 01About this editionp. 4
  2. 02Executive summaryp. 6
  3. 03Market context: SaaS vendors and the tools that manage themp. 8
  4. 04Definitions: what counts as SaaS spendp. 11
  5. 05How much companies spend on SaaSp. 13
  6. 06Portfolio size and application sprawlp. 15
  7. 07Licence utilisation and wastep. 16
  8. 08List prices: seats, tiers and creditsp. 17
  9. 09Seller pressure: what vendors' annual reports showp. 19
  10. 10Software prices against inflationp. 22
  11. 11The cost of shelfware: a reference modelp. 24
  12. 12Who buys SaaS nowp. 27
  13. 13Shadow IT and expensed softwarep. 28
  14. 14AI spend: the fastest-moving linep. 29
  15. 15Consumption pricing and unexpected chargesp. 31
  16. 16Credit pools: modelling a seat-plus-usage billp. 33
  17. 17Where spend control meets securityp. 35
  18. 18FinOps practice and what it teaches SaaSp. 36
  19. 19Negotiation services and their claimsp. 38
  20. 20How to use the playbooksp. 39
  21. 21Playbook: build the SaaS inventoryp. 40
  22. 22Playbook: the renewal calendarp. 42
  23. 23Playbook: reclaim unused licencesp. 44
  24. 24Playbook: prepare a renewal negotiationp. 46
  25. 25Playbook: rationalise overlapping toolsp. 48
  26. 26Playbook: AI tool guardrailsp. 50
  27. 27Playbook: joiners, movers and leaversp. 52
  28. 28Playbook: contract terms to ask forp. 54
  29. 29Playbook: operating model and governancep. 56
  30. 30SaaS management tools: the landscapep. 58
  31. 31Regulation: United Statesp. 60
  32. 32Regulation: EU Data Actp. 62
  33. 33The first 90 daysp. 63
  34. 34The 12-month roadmapp. 64
  35. 35Building the business casep. 65
  36. 36Self-assessment: KPI sheetp. 67
  37. 37Self-assessment: scoring worksheetp. 69
  38. 38Scenario tables: uplifts and reclaimed seatsp. 70
  39. 39Reference grid: loaded labour cost by rolep. 71
  40. 40Self-assessment: your figures against published onesp. 72
  41. 41Reference grids: unused spend and renewal effortp. 74
  42. 42Worksheet: application inventoryp. 76
  43. 43Worksheet: monthly reclaim logp. 77
  44. 44Worksheet: renewal calendarp. 78
  45. 45Worksheet: questions for vendorsp. 79
  46. 46Worksheet: business casep. 80
  47. 47Worksheet: AI and usage-priced tools logp. 81
  48. 48Worksheet: roles and ownershipp. 82
  49. 49Worksheet: twelve-month KPI trackerp. 83
  50. 50Worksheet: action planp. 84
  51. 51Worksheet: renewal negotiation briefp. 85
  52. 52Worksheet: new software requestp. 86
  53. 53Data appendix: vendor filingsp. 87
  54. 54Data appendix: price indexesp. 89
  55. 55Data appendix: wages by rolep. 90
  56. 56Data appendix: register of published figuresp. 91
  57. 57Method and limitsp. 98
  58. 58Glossaryp. 99
  59. 59Sourcesp. 100
Look inside · click a page to enlarge
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Next step

Turn this benchmark into your custom workflow.

The benchmark shows where saas spend stands against the market. NEWMIND PARTNERS designs, builds and runs the workflow that closes your gap, built around the systems you already use.

01

Feasibility audit

We measure your workflow on your data (read-only), then compare every solution on the market, off-the-shelf or custom.

02

Design

The workflow that fits your systems, suppliers and approval rules, with a human checkpoint on every decision that matters.

03

Build and run

Senior engineers build it, connect it to the tools you already use and run it in production with an audit trail.

04

Prove it

Baseline on day one, then the change in cost, hours and cash, reported every month.

Start with a feasibility audit

Find out what your workflow really costs, which solution fits best, and the business case to back it. No commitment.

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

Questions or a custom benchmark?

Ask the team about the saas spend report, or request 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 (vendor index, Zylo customer data), 2026 SaaS Management Index, press release, 29 January 2026. zylo.com/news/2026-saas-management-index
  2. 2
    Zylo (vendor index, Zylo customer data), 2025 SaaS Management Index. zylo.com/news/2025-saas-management-index
  3. 3
    MarketsandMarkets, SaaS Management Market 2025–2030 (USD 4.58B → USD 9.37B, 15.4% CAGR). marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/saas-management-market-215635254.html