Diving brief:
- The average organization now spends $55.7 million annually on software applications as a service, with artificial intelligence-based tools fastest growing, SaaS management company Zylo said in a report released Thursday.
- Even with software portfolios holding steady at an average of 305 applications, spending increased nearly 8% in 2025 from the previous year, according to the findings. Large companies with 10,000 or more employees spent an average of $123.5 million to $375.5 million. Zylo said. THE The report was based on an analysis of more than 40 million SaaS licenses.
- “AI is quickly becoming the most expensive ‘invisible worker’ in the organization,” said Ben Pippenger, vice president of strategic partnerships at Zylo, in a press release. “As AI-based software absorbs more work, companies add opaque, usage-based expenses that are harder to predict and manage. »
Dive overview:
Global software spending According to Gartner, the amount is expected to reach $1.43 trillion in 2026, an increase of 15.2% year-on-year.
New pricing mechanisms and monetization of AI capabilities are now the main drivers of rising SaaS costs, outpacing application proliferation, according to Indianapolis, Indiana –based on Zylo, which annually publishes research on SaaS spending trends.
Software giants like Salesforce and Microsoft are updating their plan structures, bundling AI capabilities and accelerating the shift to consumption-based pricing, Zylo said.
“The number of applications organizations have has effectively stabilized, but spending continues to rise, indicating that pressure now comes from pricing mechanisms rather than growth in the number of applications,” the report said.
In December, Microsoft announced plans to increase commercial prices for Microsoft 365 suite subscriptions starting July 1. The price increases are due to the increased availability of AI, as well as security and management capabilities of Microsoft 365 offerings, the company said at the time.
In August 2025, Salesforce increased prices by 6% on average for key clouds and introduced new AI-infused editions of Agentforce ranging from $125 to $550 per user, Zylo noted in its report, adding that Slack’s Business+ plan also increased by 20%.
“SaaS pricing is undergoing the most significant change the market has seen,” the report states. “Seat-based models are giving way to hybrid and consumption-based approaches that make forecasting more difficult and widen the gap between planned and actual spending. As vendors introduce variable pricing tied to usage, AI features, or automated overages, executives face surprise bills that strain budgets and disrupt project plans.”
As AI continues to drive pricing volatility and reshape business conditions, organizations will need “stronger financial control and tighter operational tempo” across technology, procurement and finance teams, Zylo said.
