On Monday, Marta puts down the phone on which she's just been discussing a flower order, and goes back to the budget for her nine-person studio. On one sheet she has an offer with a monthly fee per person, on the other - a one-off Task Manager licence. To compare the costs, she needs a three-year breakdown, not just the purchase price.
The cost of a task management programme is more than the price of a licence
The full bill for Task Manager is made up of the licence and hosting, plus items you choose separately: update renewal, AI and services. You don't have to buy everything to use the programme, but you do need to account for the server you'll run it on.
| Item | When you pay | Is it required? | Who you pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence | At purchase | Yes | Task Manager providers |
| Hosting | As per your hosting agreement | Yes, though you may already have it | Hosting providers |
| Update renewal | After the included update period, if you choose it | No | Task Manager providers |
| AI | According to usage and the model provider's terms | No | Model providers |
| Additional services | If you order them | No | Task Manager providers |
So Marta's bill won't come down to a single invoice. She'll check the price of the licence and services in Task Manager's price list, the cost of the server in her hosting agreement, and any AI cost on her account with the model provider. On both sheets, she'll check how much she'll pay in the second and third year: whether a per-person fee comes back, or only selected hosting, renewal and AI costs.
With nine people, Marta chooses the Classic plan
For nine active people, Marta needs the Classic plan. In Task Manager, the plan determines the number of seats, while the Standard or Pro variant determines the available features.
Starter covers up to 8 people, Classic up to 20, and Max up to 35. Above 35 people there's the Enterprise plan with individual pricing. A seat is taken up by an active user; if you deactivate an account, you free up a seat without deleting its data. When you need a higher limit, you enter a new licence key.
Marta compares two purchase prices: PLN 1,490 for Classic in the Standard variant and PLN 3,990 for Classic in the Pro variant. Pro adds Mail, Files and Automations. The AI Assistant, the AI knowledge base and data encryption are available in both variants, so simply wanting to use AI doesn't require Pro. If Marta starts with Standard, she can later move to Pro by entering a new key, without updating the application.
The licence is perpetual: you don't pay per seat every month. The difference in scope between the variants is set out in the Standard vs Pro comparison, and the purchase terms are described on the Perpetual licence page.
After a year you can renew updates, but you don't have to
The purchase price includes 12 months of updates, and a later renewal is optional. If you don't buy it, Task Manager keeps working on the installed version; you just won't be able to download releases published after your entitlement ends.
For Marta, an annual Classic renewal costs PLN 447 in Standard or PLN 1,197 in Pro. If she chooses Standard and doesn't renew updates in the second and third year, the licence alone will cost PLN 1,490. With two annual renewals, it will be PLN 2,384. In both calculations, hosting and any chosen options still need to be added.
Don't confuse the end of your update entitlement with the licence expiring. Read-only mode may apply, for example, to an expired time-limited key or an invalid or revoked key, but not simply to a lack of update renewal on a perpetual licence. You'll see a newer release from outside your entitlement period in Settings → Updates, marked "Blocked" with an explanation.
An update is run by the administrator. The programme warns them beforehand so they can back up the database and the attachments folder. Install the last release from your entitlement period before it ends - the manufacturer's server usually only provides the latest version. This process is described in the guide to updating on your own hosting.
Work out hosting from your own contract, not from the licence price
Task Manager runs on ordinary shared hosting with PHP 8.1+ and MySQL or MariaDB. You take the price of that hosting from your own agreement, not from the programme's price list.
On Wednesday, Marta checks the PHP version, database and free disk space in her hosting control panel. She doesn't need a server with Node.js, Redis or Composer. HTTPS is recommended, and required if she wants to install the program as a PWA app.
Package size matters after purchase too. Tasks, messages and attachments sit on your own server, so the space used can grow as the team works. Don't assume your current package will definitely be enough for the next three years: check its disk space and the terms for increasing it. In the Pro plan, the administrator can set space limits in the Files module for users.
Having your own server also means you're responsible for taking a backup before an update. If you'd rather not upload releases and make backups yourself, you can factor in paid Maintenance. You'll find more about server requirements in the description of Installed on your own server.
Without an AI key, you pay nothing for AI
The AI Assistant is optional, and Task Manager works without a configured key. When Marta doesn't use AI, she doesn't put a model fee on her bill.
If she wants to turn on the AI Assistant, she sets up an account with OpenAI, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude or xAI Grok and enters her own API key in Settings → AI. An API key is a code that lets the program send requests using her account with the model provider. Marta pays the provider directly, with no mark-up from Task Manager; the requests, along with the necessary context, go to the chosen provider.
The cost depends on how the team uses the model and how the provider bills for it. In the settings, you can set a maximum response length - a longer one allows longer text, but may raise the cost. Attachment summaries are set to Manual mode by default, so they don't run automatically. If you use Automations (Pro plan), the AI Settings also include a daily limit on AI requests from Automations - 200 per day by default, and entering 0 turns the limit off.
There's an even less visible item: with OpenAI and Gemini, enabled semantic search looks for documents by meaning and may send fragments of Notes and Files to the model provider. The requests this requires are billed separately. With Claude and Grok, indexing alone doesn't send these fragments to the provider. That's why Marta will enter her own spending forecast into the calculation, then check the actual charges on her account later. How billing works is explained in the guide on using your own AI key.
Only add services if you're actually ordering them
Installation, training, Maintenance and Support are not mandatory items on the bill. Include only the services you intend to use, and separate a one-off fee from a monthly one.
Remote installation on Starter costs PLN 299, and is included in the price from the Classic plan upwards. Training costs PLN 599. For Classic, Maintenance is PLN 199 a month, and Support PLN 329 a month.
Maintenance covers uploading new versions along with a backup, and runs alongside an active update renewal. If Marta adds it to her second- and third-year expenses, she also needs to count the relevant renewals. She shouldn't treat Maintenance as a substitute for the right to new releases.
How do you work out three years without guessing hosting and AI rates?
Add up the licence fee, three years of hosting costs, and only the options you choose. In the table below, enter the amounts from your own hosting contract and your account with the AI provider; leave zeros where you opt out of a service.
| Item for 9 people, Classic Standard | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licence | 1 490 zł | 0 zł | 0 zł | 1 490 zł |
| Renewal, if you choose it | Included in the licence price | PLN 447 or PLN 0 | PLN 447 or PLN 0 | Sum of chosen renewals |
| Hosting | Enter the amount from your contract | Enter the amount from your contract | Enter the amount from your contract | Three-year total |
| AI, if you enable it | Enter your forecast | Enter your forecast | Enter your forecast | Sum of costs with the provider |
| Services, if you order them | Enter your chosen services | Enter your chosen services | Enter your chosen services | Sum of services |
| Total | Add up the column | Add up the column | Add up the column | Add up three years |
Marta's option without AI, renewal or extra services is PLN 1,490 plus three years of hosting. If she chooses two renewals, AI and Maintenance, she'll add hosting, spending with the model provider and monthly Maintenance for the period she uses it on top of PLN 2,384. Don't enter some random rate from the internet instead of your own costs.
Tomorrow, write down the number of active people, check the PHP version and the space on your hosting, then fill in three figures of your own: hosting cost, AI forecast and scope of services. If you run a business that wants to keep its data on its own server and not pay a subscription per person, see how the program works in the Demo.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pay for a renewal after a year for Task Manager to keep working?
No. A perpetual licence lets you keep using the installed version; once your entitlement ends, you won't be able to download releases published after that date until you renew it.
How much does a task management programme cost over 3 years for nine people?
For nine people on Classic Standard, the licence alone costs PLN 1,490, and with two annual update renewals it's PLN 2,384. Add hosting and any optional AI and services to your chosen scenario.
How much does hosting for Task Manager cost?
You'll find that amount in your agreement with your hosting provider. Task Manager can run on ordinary shared hosting with PHP 8.1+ and MySQL or MariaDB, so check the requirements and the space available in your package.
How much will I pay for the AI Assistant?
You'll pay the amount charged by your chosen model provider on your own API key, with no mark-up from Task Manager. If you don't set up a key, the programme runs without AI and this item comes to zero.
Can I start with Standard and move to Pro later?
Yes. Upgrading requires a new licence key; once you enter it in Settings → Advanced → Licence, Pro features switch on without updating the application.
Sources
The Task Manager Team - we write about teamwork, AI in business and keeping tasks organised, using examples from Task Manager, software installed on your own server. Task Manager has been developed by Blue Creation Group (Piotr Łącz) since 2013 and is used by organisations including Neonet, the Military University of Technology and Polpharma - read customer reviews. We check our articles against the user guide and the latest version of the software.
