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Annual or monthly billing — which one to pick
Break-even for annual billing runs from 8.92 months to 10.80 months across the 5 vendors we checked. Shopify reaches it earliest, at 8.92 months; HubSpot latest, at 10.80 months.
Our default for a first contract: when you cannot yet predict how long the service will be used, take monthly billing as the baseline. Annual billing is the reasonable choice when the rollout is already decided, you have checked the refund conditions, and the annual lump sum has budget approval.
The discount is already included in those months: that is how long annual billing has to run before it merely matches monthly. Cancel at 3 months and the amount you would not have paid on monthly billing is $274 for 3 Asana seats and $2,340 for 3 HubSpot seats.
“Annual billing” does not mean a monthly debit
Annual (or yearly) billing means committing to 12 months in one contract. A price shown as “$9 per month, billed annually” is not $9 leaving your account each month. monday.com, Semrush, Shopify and HubSpot all state on their own pages that the term is paid in full upfront at signup.
A seat (or user) is the slot for 1 person who can sign in. Seats cannot be reduced mid-term on monthly billing either. What differs is the length of the period you are locked into — 1 month or 12. monday.com starts at 3 seats and then sells in multiples of 5, so a team of 3 that loses 1 person cannot drop to 2 seats; on annual billing they keep paying for 3 seats for up to 11 more months.
Cancel at 3 months and you throw away 1.93 to 6.50 times the annual discount
Months to break even = 12 × (1 − discount rate). An 18% discount puts that at 9.84 months, and even Shopify at 25.64% needs 8.92 months. However large the discount, monthly billing costs less until somewhere between just under 9 and just under 11 months of use.
| Service / terms | Monthly (per month) | Annual (amount leaving the account at signup) | Advertised discount | Discount per year | Extra paid if you cancel at 3 months | Months to break even | How to read this number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asana Starter, 3 seats | $40.47 | $395.64 | “Save up to 18%” (18.53% on the actual amounts) | $90.00 | $274.23 | 9.78 months | 3.05×. Only 1 full year of use gets you to break-even |
| monday.com Basic, 3 seats (3-seat minimum) | We could not find this stated on the vendor's own pages. | $324.00 | “18% discount” | Cannot be calculated | Cannot be calculated | Cannot be calculated | The only one of the 5 whose monthly price is not published, so no comparison is possible |
| Semrush SEO, 1 user | $139.00 | $1,407.96 | “save up to 17%” is the figure for the higher plans. On the SEO plan the actual figure is 15.59% | $260.04 | $990.96 | 10.13 months | 3.81×. That is the exposure for 1 user, so decide before adding seats |
| Shopify Basic, 1 store | $39.00 | $348.00 | No advertised discount figure found (25.64% on the actual amounts) | $120.00 | $231.00 | 8.92 months | 1.93×. The smallest annual-billing risk of the 5 |
| HubSpot Sales Hub Professional, 3 seats (3 seats is this article's model case) | $300.00 | $3,240.00 | No advertised discount figure found (10.00% on the actual amounts) | $360.00 | $2,340.00 | 10.80 months | 6.50×. The heaviest annual commitment of the 5 |
Scroll sideways to see every column.
As of August 2026, excluding tax, in US dollars. Formulas: extra paid = annual lump sum − monthly price × 3 (Asana: $395.64 − $40.47×3 = $274.23); months to break even = annual lump sum ÷ monthly price (Shopify: $348.00 ÷ $39.00 = 8.92); multiple = extra paid ÷ discount per year (HubSpot: $2,340.00 ÷ $360.00 = 6.50). The loss runs from 1.93 times the annual discount (Shopify) to 6.50 times (HubSpot).
Buying from Japan, what actually leaves the account is yen after conversion. At $1 = ¥150, Asana's $395.64 for 3 seats is roughly ¥59,300 and HubSpot's $3,240.00 for 3 seats roughly ¥486,000. If Japanese consumption tax of 10% is added on top, those become roughly ¥65,300 and ¥534,600. The vendors' own pages do not state whether it is added.
We could not obtain monday.com's actual monthly price from the official pricing page. The official FAQ says “By choosing a yearly plan, you will receive an 18% discount.” — yet the same company's CRM pricing page lists Basic at $18 monthly and $12 annually and labels it “SAVE 33%”. The implied discount factors do not agree across the vendor's own pages, so we publish no estimate.
HubSpot's pricing page carries the line “Cost shown does not include the required, one-time Professional Onboarding for a fee of $1,500.” It is paid setup assistance, and because it is required on monthly billing too it has no bearing on the annual-or-monthly decision. What does have a bearing is the $1,500 of upfront cost that the other 4 vendors do not charge.
Asana Starter, 3 seats — cumulative spend (excluding tax, US dollars)
The lines cross at 9.78 months (395.64 ÷ 40.47 = 9.78). Stop before that point and annual billing has cost you more. Source: https://asana.com/pricing (checked August 2026)
Run the arithmetic with your own contract
Nothing is sent anywhere. The figures stay in this browser, and “Save” keeps them for your next visit. Start from one of the 4 vendors in the table, or type your own prices.
Annual billing is not cheaper than monthly on these figures. There is nothing to gain from a 12-month commitment — sign monthly.
You stop before break-even. Annual billing has cost you the extra above, that many times the discount you were chasing. Unless the rollout is already decided and the lump sum has budget approval, sign monthly (Q1–Q4 below).
You reach break-even. From this point annual billing is the cheaper contract, provided the seat count does not fall during the term (Q3 below).
The contract terms change one thing: how long seats stay locked
| Service | How annual billing is charged | Refund on canceling mid-term | Can seats be reduced mid-term | Downgrade mid-term (moving to a cheaper, lower plan) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| monday.com | Stated as a single upfront payment: “Payment is made in one upfront installment.” | Pro-rated refund only within 30 days of the first purchase. Existing customers are out of scope once they have renewed | No (applied at renewal). Deactivating users does not reduce the count: “monday.com does not automatically reduce your seat count when users are deactivated.” | No (only at renewal) |
| Asana | The wording assumes payment in advance, but we could not find it stated whether that is one payment or installments | Amounts that have fallen due are non-cancelable and non-refundable unless the agreement says otherwise: “Amounts due are payable in the currency set forth in the applicable invoice and are non-cancelable and non-refundable unless otherwise provided in this Agreement.” | No. Written notice at least 30 days before renewal (in-app notice or email is accepted) → applied on the renewal date | No (conditional on the same 30-day notice as a seat reduction) |
| Semrush | Stated as paid in full upfront: “you pay for the entire year upfront. It is not a monthly payment plan spread over 12 months.” | Only within 7 calendar days of a first subscription of 12 months or longer, and only when bought by card directly from Semrush.com. Monthly plans are out of scope | We could not find this stated on the vendor's own pages. | Annual → monthly is possible mid-term. If the new monthly price exceeds the unused annual balance, the difference is applied automatically as a discount (if it falls below, contact support) |
| Shopify | Stated as paid in full upfront: “Annual billing charges the full year upfront” | The terms state “Shopify does not provide refunds.” The help pages, on the other hand, accept a request within 30 days of the invoice date and review it case by case | Not applicable — pricing is not per seat | No (applied at the end of the cycle; credited against future invoices rather than refunded) |
| HubSpot | Stated as paid in full upfront: “Annually: you'll be charged once per year.” The full amount is invoiced on the order effective date | Payment obligations are non-cancelable and amounts paid are non-refundable: “All payment obligations are non-cancelable and all amounts paid are non-refundable, except as specifically provided for in this Agreement.” Canceling mid-term and refunding prepaid fees are ruled out as well: “Except as specifically provided for in this Agreement, you may not cancel your subscription prior to the end of your Current Term, and we will not provide any refunds of prepaid fees or unused Subscription Fees through the end of your Current Term.” | No: “Once seats are purchased, the total count can't be reduced until your next renewal date.” | No: “You are not permitted to downgrade your Subscription Service during your Current Term.” It becomes possible by signing a new Order Form on the renewal date |
All of the above was checked on the vendors' own pages in August 2026.
3 of the vendors lock seats for the whole term. What differs is what you must do, and by when, to reduce them at the next renewal. Asana alone requires written notice at least 30 days before renewal; forget it and the same seat count renews for 1 more year. Deactivating a user (putting that person in a state where they cannot sign in) and reducing seats are separate operations. Only 3 vendors have a channel for requesting a refund at all — Asana and HubSpot have none.
Who should not choose annual billing
- You are less than 1 month in. Whether a tool sticks only becomes clear after 1 busy season has passed
- You are the only user. At 2 people or fewer, Asana Personal covers 2 users and monday.com Free covers 2 seats at $0, and monday.com's paid plans start at 3 seats, so there is no reason to move up
- Your seat count could move during the 1-year term (hiring, swapping contractors, seasonal swings). None of the 3 vendors allow a mid-term seat reduction, and if 1 person leaves you pay for 3 seats until the next renewal date
- Your reason for signing is “the free trial went well.” What you gain is the annual discount (Asana $90, Shopify $120); what you pay for getting it wrong is 1.93 to 6.50 times that
In the internal approval request, write “first-year spend $3,240 (plus $1,500 in setup fees), no refunds” rather than “$90 per month × 3 seats.”
Pay monthly in the first year, switch to annual from year 2
US dollars, excluding tax. Annual lump sums: Asana 3 seats $395.64 / monday.com 3 seats $324.00 / Semrush SEO $1,407.96 / Shopify Basic $348.00 / HubSpot Sales Hub Professional 3 seats $3,240.00 (August 2026, vendors' own pages)
Shopify is the one vendor where annual billing also wins on the numbers. Its 25.64% discount is the largest of the 5, break-even arrives at 8.92 months, and the loss stops at 1.93 times. HubSpot, at 10.80 months and 6.50 times, is the heaviest, and these 2 should not be judged by the same standard.
Even if you run 10 months on monthly billing before switching to annual, all you give up is 10 months of the discount ($2.50×3×10 = $75.00 for 3 Asana seats). When in doubt, sign monthly and put a marker in the calendar 40 days before the renewal date. Asana requires notice at least 30 days before renewal both to cut seats and to move down a plan, so realizing it on the renewal date itself leaves that year fixed. If you do choose annual billing, add the refund request deadlines as well (monday.com 30 days / Semrush 7 days / Shopify 30 days).
Sources (checked August 2026)
- monday.com: Pricing (Basic $9 annual, Free 2 seats) / FAQ (18% discount, single upfront payment) / CRM pricing ($18 monthly, $12 annual, SAVE 33%) / Plans and pricing (3-seat minimum, multiples of 5) / Refund eligibility (30 days from the first purchase) / Changing plans and seats (applied at renewal, deactivation vs seat reduction)
- Asana: Pricing ($13.49 / $10.99, Save up to 18%, Personal 2 users) / Subscriber Terms (the qualified non-refundable clause, 30-day renewal notice)
- HubSpot: Sales Hub pricing ($100 / $90, onboarding $1,500) / Billing FAQ (annual is 1 charge per year, in full on the order effective date) / Terms of Service (non-refundable, no mid-term cancellation, no mid-term downgrade) / Seat billing (cannot be reduced until the renewal date)
- Semrush: Pricing ($139 / $117.33, save up to 17%) / Refund policy (7 calendar days, direct card purchase, monthly out of scope) / Billing FAQ (paid in full upfront, annual → monthly difference applied as a discount)
- Shopify: Pricing ($39 / $29) / Terms of Service 5.10 (Shopify does not provide refunds.) / Plan refund policy (request within 30 days, case-by-case review, credited to future invoices) / Plan changes (annual → monthly, contact support) / Pricing and billing overview (annual is paid in full upfront)
All amounts are in US dollars, excluding tax. HubSpot Starter is not covered here. Its pricing page shows a list price of $20 a seat next to promotional rates of $10 monthly and $7 annually, both carrying the note “New customers only. Select offers available for a limited time.” (rechecked 6 September 2026). A price open only to new customers for a limited time does not belong on the annual-against-monthly axis used here, so we leave it out. Squarespace is not part of this survey. Terms change, so check each vendor's own pages before you sign.
What changed on this page
- correction7 September 2026 HubSpot Starter Customer Platform — how the plan is described
#08: “promotional rates of $20 monthly and $7 annually, and we could not separate out the standard price”. #10: listed as “HubSpot Marketing Starter, $7/seat”. → The list price, the annual promotional rate and the monthly promotional rate are named separately, each quoting the vendor’s “new customers only, limited time” note. #08 now states why a limited-time price is kept off its annual-against-monthly axis.
The three figures now come from one ledger entry, so a change to the price moves every mention of it at once.
Where: Budgeting from the list price times twelve leaves you short - editorial basis7 September 2026 Article 8: the annual-against-monthly arithmetic — how a reader runs it with their own contract
the table and the formulas in the text → a form in the article that runs the same formulas from the 4 vendors in the table or the reader's own prices, with a link that carries the figures
The form computes only what the table states: extra paid at the month you stop, months to break even, and that extra as a multiple of the annual discount. Entries stay in the reader's browser and are not sent anywhere. - correction6 September 2026 Annual or monthly billing — how Shopify is described
The one exception is Shopify. → Of the five vendors checked, Shopify reaches break-even earliest, at 8.92 months.
Every recorded change to this site is in the change log.
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