When we first priced Argus we used per-client plan bands — small, medium, large, each with a device cap. It is a common model and it is wrong for a multi-client MSP. Here is why we changed it, and how to think about your own margin.
The problem with per-client bands
An MSP does not have "a client." They have twenty, ranging from a 3-person accountant to a 200-seat manufacturer. Per-client bands force you to over-buy for the small ones and hit a cliff on the big ones, and every band boundary is an awkward upsell conversation. Worse, your cost does not actually track clients — it tracks devices scanned. So the pricing model and the cost driver were misaligned.
Graduated per-device
We now bill on your total active devices across your whole book, on a graduated ladder: a flat platform minimum for the first 25 devices, then a per-device rate that steps down as you grow. Crossing a threshold only prices the next devices, never re-prices the ones below — no cliffs. One bill for the whole account.
The effect: your unit cost falls as you add clients, which is exactly the leverage a growing MSP wants. And there is no penalty for onboarding a tiny client — a 3-device accountant costs three devices, not a "small business plan."
How to re-sell it
Because the cost is per device, your pricing to clients can be too — which makes the maths clean and defensible. Two common models:
- Per-device markup. Take your blended per-device rate, mark it up, and bill each client for their device count. Argus shows each client's allocated share so the numbers reconcile exactly to your bill.
- Fixed monthly service. Wrap the assessment into a flat "security & compliance" line on the client's existing MSP invoice — a quarterly report, a compliance PDF, and a QBR. The device cost becomes a small, predictable input to a much larger recurring service.
The deliverable is the product
Clients do not buy scans; they buy the report and the reassurance. A branded posture PDF with a risk rating, a prioritised "fix this first" list, a compliance coverage percentage against NIS2 and ISO 27001, and a trend line that proves last quarter's fixes held — that is a recurring deliverable worth far more than the per-device cost underneath it. Price the outcome, not the scan.
Per-device pricing keeps your cost honest and your margin visible. What you charge on top is the service you wrap around it — and that is where the real business is.