MIGRATION PAYBACK CALCULATOR
How quickly will a cheaper platform repay the move?
Enter what you pay now, the new monthly price, and the full one-time cost of switching. We’ll calculate first-year savings and the payback period.
The move pays back in 3 months.
The text file includes your inputs, the result, what it leaves out, and when we checked the sources. It is created on this device.
HOW THE NUMBER IS WORKED OUT
Twelve months of savings, minus the move
- 01
Monthly saving. What you pay now minus the new monthly price.
- 02
First-year net savings. Twelve months of that saving, minus the one-time switching cost. The result can be negative when the move costs more than a year of savings.
- 03
Payback. The switching cost divided by the monthly saving, rounded up to a whole month. A move that repays in 2.1 months is shown as 3.
- 04
Edge cases. If the new price is not lower, there is no payback period and the calculator says so. If switching costs nothing, savings start in the first month. Amounts are worked in cents so rounding cannot add an extra month.
WORKED EXAMPLE
The starting inputs, step by step
These are the values the form opens with. They are example amounts, not price quotes for any platform.
- Inputs
- $79 a month now, $39 a month on the new plan, and a $120 one-time switching cost.
- Monthly saving
- $79 − $39 = $40 a month.
- First-year net savings
- $40 × 12 = $480, minus the $120 switching cost = $360.
- Payback
- $120 ÷ $40 = 3 months.
- A larger move
- If the same switch costs $600 in time and outside help, first-year net savings are −$120 and payback takes 15 months ($600 ÷ $40). The move starts saving money only after month 15.
Include the work, not only the invoice
Price your time, outside help, template rebuilding, subscription overlap, integration work, and any expected disruption.
A switch can still make sense without first-year savings if the new platform solves an important problem. This calculator only measures direct software savings.
Both prices are held flat for twelve months. Price changes, introductory rates, annual-billing discounts, and a move to a higher tier as your list grows are not modelled. Enter the price you expect to pay for most of the year.
Overlap counts only if you enter it. If you will pay for both platforms during the move, add those months of the old bill to the switching cost.
Readers and revenue are outside the calculation. Subscribers lost in the move, paid subscriptions that do not transfer cleanly, and any revenue share either platform takes are not included. Amounts are in US dollars, before sales tax or VAT.
YOUR NEXT STEP
Plan the move before you commit.
The migration checklist covers subscribers, suppression lists, content, automations, domains, billing, and rollback: the work that sets your switching cost. To check the new monthly price at your list size, use the platform cost calculator. If your current platform takes a percentage of paid revenue, the percentage-fee calculator shows the monthly amount.