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Software sold only through partners: what it means for price and project

8 of the 18 all-in-one solutions show no price on their website, because they do not sell themselves. You are therefore deciding two things at once — and the second is in no data sheet.

Published
Data as of
August 2026
Reading time
4 minutes

The essentials

  1. 8 of the 18 all-in-one solutions compared sell exclusively through distribution partners, 2 give prices only on request. Together that is 11 of 18 with no published price. As of July 2026.
  2. The partner sets the price. The same vendor can, through two partners, produce two different offers — for the same software.
  3. You are thereby deciding two things: the program and the firm that implements and supports it. The second determines project success more strongly than the first.
  4. Practical consequence: ask for two quotations from the same vendor through two partners. That is permitted and customary in this market, and it is the only way to test the price.
Rather filter for yourself? All 18 solutions with 26 criteria in one table Filter by profile and features, set a budget, read the columns side by side. This article gives the bearings — the table is the tool. To the comparison table

Why these vendors give no prices

It is not concealment but a consequence of the model. Whoever sells through partners cannot publish an end price without dictating their partners’ pricing — and the price of a project consists only partly of licences anyway.

For you it remains a time factor. For 11 of the 18 solutions compared, the comparison starts with a conversation, and a project conversation takes weeks, not minutes. That belongs in the schedule before the shortlist is set.

Five questions for the partner, not the vendor

About the software you can find information. About the partner you have to ask — and these five questions decide the project.

  1. References of my size and industry

    Not the vendor’s references but this partner’s. A firm that implements two-hundred-person businesses will set up your twelve-person business differently — usually too large.

  2. Who implements, who supports afterwards

    The same people or different ones. The handover from project to operations is where knowledge gets lost.

  3. Hourly rate and estimated effort, separately

    A lump sum without an effort estimate is not a quotation but a hope. Demand both figures and the assumptions behind them.

  4. What happens if the effort is exceeded

    The answer to that question is the contract. Given verbally, it is not one.

  5. Can I change partner

    Switching to another partner for the same product is possible, but not equally easy everywhere. Ask before you need it.

What the entry price does not say

7 of the 18 solutions state an entry price, in the middle CHF 35.– a month. For an all-in-one solution that is the smaller figure: setup, data migration and training fall once, appear in no price list, and regularly exceed the first annual subscription.

These implementation costs are expressly NOT included in our survey — they depend on the project and the partner and cannot be surveyed as a product feature. So demand them as a separate item in the same quotation, not as an estimate in a subordinate clause.

Frequently asked questions

Is software through partners more expensive?

Not as a matter of principle. The licence is often the same, and the partner brings implementation and support that would otherwise fall internally. It gets more expensive when the partner is too large for your business — then you pay for project methodology you do not need.

Can I buy directly from the vendor?

For the 8 solutions that sell exclusively through partners, no. That is the vendor’s distribution decision and not a point of negotiation.

How many quotations should I get?

Two per product where it is sold through partners — then you see the spread. And two products if the choice is still open. Four conversations is a lot, and it is less than one wrong project.

Where the figures come from

Price source per vendor
Own survey, as of July 2026. What is recorded is WHY no price is published — through partners, on request, only in a calculator, only as a purchase price, no franc prices. That is a finding about the vendor and not a gap in the survey.
Implementation costs
NOT surveyed. They depend on the project and the partner and cannot be captured as a product feature.

Which of the 18 all-in-one solutions are sold through partners appears in the comparison table in the row on price information.

All 18 providers in the comparison table: Complete system

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