Why there is no standard price
Anyone searching for the price of self-storage software rarely finds an amount. That is because the cost depends on your number of facilities and units, which processes you want to automate, which integrations you need and how much data has to come out of your old system.
A fair comparison therefore starts not with the monthly price, but with what is included. Two quotes with the same monthly price can have completely different total costs.
The five cost items
Almost every quote can be broken down into these items:
| Cost item | What it is | Ask in the quote |
|---|---|---|
| Implementation | Setup, data migration, floor plans and training | What is included and what is not? |
| Licence | Recurring fee per facility, per unit or per user | What is the licence based on and when does it go up? |
| Add-ons | Optional modules, such as extra analysis or reporting | Which features are in the base, which cost extra? |
| Payment fees | Transaction fees from your payment provider | Which providers are supported? |
| Integrations | Access control, accounting, website | Which integrations work today, which are on the roadmap? |
Pricing models compared
Vendors charge in different ways. Each model has its own effect on your costs as you grow:
| Model | Advantage | Disadvantage |
|---|---|---|
| Per facility | Predictable; grows with your portfolio | Small and large facilities pay the same |
| Per unit | Matches the size of a facility | Cost rises with every expansion |
| Per user | Cheap with a small team | Discourages giving staff access |
| Percentage of revenue | Low threshold at the start | You pay a share of your own success |
| Separate modules | You only pay for what you use | Total price harder to compare |
Hidden costs to watch for
These costs are rarely in the monthly price, but they do determine what you end up paying:
- Fees for a data export when you want to leave.
- Extra work for integrations that are not standard.
- Extra cost per facility for the booking environment or customer portal.
- Manual work that remains because the system does not cover a step, such as matching payments or blocking codes by hand.
- Time spent reconciling figures from different tools.
The cost of doing nothing
Spreadsheets look free, but they cost time and revenue. Think of bookings that come in at night and are only followed up the next day, payments that nobody links to an invoice, and prices that have not changed for years while a size has long been full.
Work out your own situation with the free calculators for occupancy, revenue potential per unit size and rent increases. Then you can see where the software has to earn itself back.
How to request a quote you can compare
Send every vendor the same starting points, and you will get quotes you can lay side by side:
- Number of facilities and units, now and in three years.
- Number of staff working in the system.
- Which processes you want to automate: online booking, digital signing, payments, access.
- Which systems need to be connected: access control, accounting, website.
- Which data has to come over from your current system.
- A request for total cost over three years, including implementation.
What does TheStorageControl cost?
TheStorageControl's pricing is on request, because every operation is different. The model is simple: a one-off tailored implementation, a monthly licence per active facility and optional add-ons, such as the SQL Explorer.
After a demo you receive a proposal that fits your number of facilities and the processes you want to automate. Your data stays fully exportable, so you never pay an exit fee to get your own data back.
