Once the contract is signed the cost moves to what the software makes you do: single sign-on that only appears on an upper plan, audit logs kept for a fixed window, data stored in a country you did not choose, and export formats that decide how hard it is to leave.
These pieces read the vendor's own security, administration and legal documentation rather than the marketing page — and they say plainly where a vendor publishes nothing at all.
What does SSO actually cost?
The cheapest published route is $90 per seat per month, but a mandatory $1,500 onboarding fee brings the first year to $2,580 for a single seat.
Read → Operations and security 06What happens to your data when you cancel
Only Shopify and HubSpot state how long data survives cancellation, which makes the export a job for while the contract is still live.
Read → Operations and security 12Will your automation run count be enough?
Only monday.com stops you on monthly run count, and because 1 run can spend several actions, its 250 runs a month cover about 42 pieces of work.
Read → Operations and security 13On which plan does support stop being a help article?
Only 2 of the 6 put a live channel on every plan, and only 2 state anywhere how long you wait for a reply.
Read → Operations and security 14Who helps you when something breaks
Only 2 of the 5 vendors put a response time in numbers, and only on their top plans.
Read → Operations and security 15Which country will your customer data sit in?
All 4 put a US sign-up in the United States. HubSpot moves regions free once you pay, Asana moves for a price, monday.com never moves an account at all.
Read → Operations and security 21How many times a month will your automations run, before you sign?
With last month's actual volumes, 7 steps give you the monthly figure, but of the 4 vendors only monday.com lets you check afterwards whether that figure was right.
Read → Operations and security 23What do you hand over when a client asks how you manage information
SOC 3, the URL of the DPA and the storage-location display are the first 3 items of a client security questionnaire, and all 3 are free; the other 4 are listed in the piece.
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