Build a comparable first-year budget before choosing an ABA platform. A low unit price is useful only when you know who is counted, which work it covers, and what the agreement commits you to paying.
Substantially updated October 21, 2026. Public-source review by Codex (automated). This purchasing guide is editorial analysis, not hands-on software testing or a vendor quote.
1. Define the billing unit before multiplying
Start with your expected staff and learner counts, then ask how each vendor turns those counts into a bill. Does an inactive learner still occupy a paid license? Does a part-time employee count as one full user? Are supervisors, family accounts, administrative staff and temporary workers included? These are questions to resolve, not assumptions about a particular vendor.
Record the minimum billable quantity, how additions and removals take effect, and whether unused licenses can be reassigned. Model a busy month as well as your current month. A price based on active learners and a price based on staff accounts can move in different directions as the practice grows.
2. Match the scope, not just the label
On October 21, 2026, Motivity’s pricing page lists data collection at $26 per learner monthly, practice management at $24, and the combined platform at $50. Its FAQ identifies some advanced practice-management tools as add-ons. These are published base prices; they do not establish a complete quote for your organization.
Hi Rasmus’s pricing page describes Standard and Premium client licenses and separate add-ons including premium staff profiles, training and outcomes reporting. The page reviewed does not display dollar rates. That does not mean prices are unavailable elsewhere or that the product is more expensive. Ask for a written price for the exact tier and extras you need.
List the work your team must complete: clinical data collection, scheduling, notes, billing, reporting, staff oversight and data export. Mark each item as included, separately priced, supplied by another system, or unresolved. Keep your existing system’s cost in the comparison if the proposed product will not replace it. Feature names alone cannot establish whether a workflow will work for your team.
3. Separate the base subscription from the first-year budget
Published-price illustration: 20 learners at Motivity’s displayed $50 monthly combined-platform rate would produce a $1,000 monthly base, or $12,000 over 12 months if the count and rate stay constant. This arithmetic excludes discounts, taxes, add-ons, setup charges and any other amounts not established by that page. It is not a quote or a prediction of your invoice.
Then calculate an implementation budget separately. The following numbers are entirely hypothetical and are not Motivity fees:
- Base subscription for one year: $12,000.
- One-time setup and migration allowance: $1,500.
- Two months of overlap with an old system at $400 per month: $800.
- Thirty staff training hours valued at $30 per hour: $900.
The illustrative first-year planning total is $15,200, before taxes or any further costs. Of that amount, $14,300 represents the listed subscription, setup and overlap allowances; $900 represents staff time. Keep staff time visible without treating it as an invoice from the new vendor.
Replace every assumption with your own documented amount. If learner counts vary, calculate each month separately and add the results. Do not multiply a discounted introductory month by twelve unless the discount actually lasts twelve months. For a multi-year commitment, show both first-year cost and the total committed amount.
4. Ask for a quote you can check later
Send each shortlisted vendor the same scenario and request an itemized response:
- People and scope: current and expected learner/staff counts, required modules, locations and integrations.
- Recurring charges: billing unit, minimum quantity, add-ons, usage charges, discounts and taxes or other exclusions.
- Transition: migration scope, setup, training, expected overlap and who does each task.
- Commitment: term, payment schedule, renewal price, notice deadline and early-exit conditions. Monthly billing does not by itself establish a month-to-month agreement.
- Records: export format, assistance charges and access after termination. Use our export demonstration guide to test what the files actually contain.
Date the quote and retain its version, assumptions and expiry date. Treat an unanswered line as unresolved rather than $0. Before signing, reconcile any differences between sales statements, public pages and the proposed agreement. A cheaper quote with unresolved essential workflows is not yet a comparable offer.
Choose the next comparison
Use the ABA software ranking to build a shortlist, then inspect detailed software records. Rankings explain editorial fit; this budget method helps you evaluate your own purchasing scenario.