MSP technician cost calculator

What does an in-house technician really cost your MSP?

A week has 168 hours. Your techs work 40. Covering one seat around the clock means 4.2 salaries, plus benefits and turnover. Whatever coverage you need, see your in-house vs. managed cost in 60 seconds.

Instant results
Defaults from public BLS data
Easy to share with your C-suite

In-house, per year

$182,631

Salaries (2 FTEs): $123,720
Benefits and payroll taxes: $56,911
Replacement hiring: $2,000

Not counted: Team lead timeQATrainingTools and licensesPTO cover

LTVplus, fully managed, per year

From $67,200

2 dedicated engineer(s) at the $2,800/month starting price

Estimated difference

Your real number is higher. Managed plans include everything not counted above.

$115,431/yr

Or skip ahead and book a scoping call

LTVplus has been an invaluable resource for staffing hard-to-fill shifts in our around-the-clock operations. Their associates integrated well with our on-site and remote staff across many layers of our business. They are always courteous, give 100%, and once up to speed with our diverse systems, they consistently exceed expectations and have become an integral part of our team.

Chris R. ESP by NexusTek

What the managed price covers

The costs that never show up on an offer letter.

Recruiting and replacement

We source, vet and replace engineers. No two-week notices landing on your desk.

Training on your stack

Engineers matched to your PSA and RMM, then trained on your clients' environments.

QA and daily management

Ticket QA, scheduling and performance management, with weekly reporting to you.

Shift and backup coverage

Sick days and PTO are covered, so the queue doesn't stall when someone is out.

How we calculate this

FTEs needed = seats × weekly hours to cover ÷ 40. One seat covered 24/7 is 168 hours, or 4.2 full-time techs, before PTO.

Salaries = FTEs × base salary. Defaults are U.S. national medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025: computer user support specialists $61,860, computer network support specialists $76,220, information security analysts $129,180.

Benefits and payroll taxes = salaries × 46%. In June 2026, benefits were 31.5% of total compensation cost for full-time private industry workers and wages 68.5% (BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation), which is about 46 cents of benefits per dollar of wages.

Replacement hiring = FTEs × turnover rate × cost per hire, using your estimates.

LTVplus = seats × the starting monthly price for that service × 12. Final pricing depends on coverage, tools and ticket profile.

Sources