The four pricing models
Almost every asset tracking product on the Australian market prices one of four ways. The model matters more than the headline number, because it decides how your bill behaves as the operation grows.
- Per asset.You pay for what you track, usually with volume tiers so the per-asset rate falls as counts rise. Predictable, and adoption is free: every extra person who scans costs nothing. This is MapTrack’s model.
- Per user (per seat). You pay for who logs in. Cheap for a two-person office register, expensive for a field operation where crews, apprentices and subcontractors all need to scan. Watch for products that gate the mobile app behind a paid seat - that is where per-user pricing quietly defeats the point of tracking.
- Tiered plans with caps. A flat monthly fee up to an asset or user cap, then a jump to the next tier. Simple until you sit just past a cap boundary, where the marginal asset is very expensive.
- Quote-only enterprise pricing. No public rates; price depends on the deal. Common for enterprise suites. Nothing wrong with it, but it makes comparison impossible without going through sales, and renewal pricing has no public anchor.
If the vendor also sells hardware (GPS trackers, labels, scanners), treat that as a separate line in the comparison - see cost drivers below.
What actually drives the cost
Two operations with the same software can pay very different amounts. These are the variables that move the number:
- Asset count and mix. The biggest driver under per-asset pricing. Hand tools tracked with QR labels cost far less to cover than GPS-tracked plant, so the tools-to-machinery ratio shapes the bill.
- Tracking technology per asset. QR code tracking needs only durable labels and any phone. GPS trackers add a per-device hardware cost and sometimes a per-device data subscription. OEM telematics integrations reuse hardware your machines already carry.
- Labels and consumables. Industrial-grade polyester or metal labels survive Australian site conditions; office-grade stickers do not. Budget labels per asset at rollout plus a small annual replacement rate. See the label store for what industrial labels actually cost, or the asset label buyer’s guide.
- Users - or not. Under per-user pricing, head count is a first-order cost driver. Under per-asset pricing it is not a driver at all.
- Onboarding and support. Some vendors charge setup, training and premium-support fees; others include them. Ask explicitly - a low licence price with a four-figure implementation fee is a different deal.
- Data residency and compliance needs. If your contracts or sector require Australian data residency, confirm it is available and whether it carries a premium.
MapTrack pricing (public AUD rates)
A cost guide should show its own numbers, so here are ours. MapTrack publishes per-asset AUD ex GST rates on the pricing page:
- Tools & Equipment: from $1 per asset per month at the 200-500 billable asset tier, with volume tiers as counts grow.
- Fleet, Plant & Heavy Machinery: from $8 per asset per month.
- Unlimited users on every plan. Crews, subcontractors and office staff all scan and see data at no additional cost.
- No setup fees, no lock-in contracts. Onboarding support is included.
- 30-day free trial with full Pro plan access and no credit card required.
GPS tracking hardware and QR labels are priced separately in the hardware store, so you only buy devices for the assets that need live location.
How to compare quotes on total cost of ownership
Headline prices across different models cannot be compared directly. Normalise every option to a three-year total with your real numbers:
- Count billable assets by class (tools versus plant), realistic user numbers, and sites.
- Price year one: licences + hardware + labels + implementation + training.
- Price years two and three: licences + hardware for asset growth + label replacement + any support fees.
- Normalise to AUD including GST, and note which quotes are contractually fixed versus reviewable at renewal.
- Subtract the recoverable value: fewer duplicate purchases, fewer losses, faster audits. The TCO calculator and ROI calculator put structure around this side of the ledger.
The cost of not tracking
The alternative to paying for asset tracking is not paying nothing - it is paying in losses. Victorian tradies alone had $40.8 million of tools stolen in a single year per Crime Statistics Agency data, and unplanned downtime costs the typical industrial business close to US$125,000 an hour per ABB’s 2023 reliability survey. Our equipment theft statistics and downtime cost statistics pages hold the sourced numbers, and the tool loss calculator estimates what disappearing gear already costs your operation. For most field teams the honest comparison is a few dollars per asset per month against thousands per year in shrinkage, idle hire and failed audits.
