How We Estimate Prices That Vendors Do Not Publish

When a vendor does not publish a price, we show an estimate only if public evidence supports a range. If it does not, we label the price Not published rather than guess.

An estimate is always labeled Estimate, so you can tell it apart from a price the vendor publishes. Our methodology explains the three labels and how we check the vendor’s own sources first.

What counts as evidence

We look for evidence only after the vendor’s own pages show no price. We accept:

• government or public-sector contract price lists
• public company filings
• the vendor’s own sales material, where anyone can reach it
• dated buyer reports on forums and review sites
• published customer case studies that state a price

We do not scrape pages behind logins or ask for quotes under a false identity.

The rules for an estimate

1. At least three independent, dated data points. With fewer than three, the price is Not published, not a low-confidence estimate.
2. One unit and term. We convert every data point to the same unit and billing term as the plan, such as per technician a month, before we compare them. A point we cannot convert without guessing is not counted.
3. Always a range, never a single figure. The range runs from the lowest counted data point to the highest. We do not average, trim or round the figures, except to whole dollars. We show the low and high figure, the dates of the evidence and the number of data points.
4. The method in one sentence. Each estimate states, under the figure, how many independent sources it uses, their date span and what kinds of source they are, with a link back to this page.
5. Sources listed. Every source is listed with its date and a link.

We never invent a price, average unrelated numbers, present someone else’s guess as fact, or copy a review site’s “starting at” figure without checking the vendor’s own page.

How we set the confidence level

Every estimate is marked high, medium or low confidence. The same rules apply to every estimate:

• High: five or more independent data points, all dated within the last 12 months. At least one is a public-sector price list, a public filing or the vendor’s own material. The high figure is no more than 1.5 times the low figure.
• Medium: three or four independent data points, or more that do not meet the rules for high. All are dated within the last 18 months, and the high figure is no more than twice the low figure.
• Low: anything else that still has at least three independent, dated data points.

A worked example

Ranges published elsewhere

Other sites sometimes publish price ranges for field service software. If we cannot trace a range to three independent, dated sources, we never show it as a price.

Sign-off before anything is shown

No estimate appears on the site until it has been checked independently against its sources and method and approved for publication. Until then, the price shows as Not published.

How an estimate appears on a page

An estimate carries the Estimate label beside the figure. Under it you see the method, the number of data points, the dates of the evidence and the confidence level. When a team’s yearly cost depends on an estimate, that cost is a range labeled Estimate too.

To see how prices and labels appear on a real page, read the ServiceTitan pricing page or HVAC software prices. About us explains who does this research, and how this site makes money explains why no vendor can pay to change an estimate.