If you're a solo MSP or a small two-person shop managing 30–100 endpoints across a handful of client sites, you've probably looked at Syncro, Atera, or NinjaOne and thought one of two things: either "this is too expensive" or "I'm paying for all this and only using 20% of it."
Both feelings are correct. These tools are designed for 20–50 person MSPs with full-time procurement staff, dedicated billing teams, and clients who demand white-labeled reporting portals. If you're the technician and the owner and the sales rep, that's not your world.
Here's a clear-eyed breakdown of what these tools actually cost — and whether the price makes sense for your size.
The Pricing Math
Let's say you're managing 60 endpoints across 6 client sites, with one full-time tech (you).
(+ PSA features)
($129 + $95)
(60 endpoints × $3.75)
For 60 endpoints, you're spending $129–$225/month on tools designed for enterprises with far more endpoints and far more staff than you have. That's $1,548–$2,700/year — before you add any integrations or upgrade tiers.
What You're Actually Paying For
Syncro: $129/tech/month
Syncro bundles RMM, PSA, and billing into one platform. That sounds great — unless you already have a billing system, don't need a full PSA, and just want to monitor endpoints and get alerted when something breaks.
Syncro's per-tech pricing also means your costs grow with headcount, not endpoint count. If you hire a part-time contractor to help on-site, you're paying an extra $129/month. That's a punishing model for small shops that occasionally bring in help.
Atera: $129/month + $95 AI add-on
Atera uses per-technician pricing too, which means you're paying $129/month as a solo operator. The base plan is already loaded with features you may never use: patch management, remote access, IT automation scripts.
Then there's the AI add-on. Atera's "AI Copilot" — which gives you basic anomaly suggestions and auto-generated ticket summaries — costs an extra $95/month. So if you actually want AI-assisted monitoring (which is the future of this space), you're looking at $224/month minimum.
Real cost for a solo operator on Atera: $129 base + $95 AI = $224/month, or $2,688/year — for a tool designed for teams far larger than yours.
NinjaOne: $3.75/endpoint/month
NinjaOne's per-endpoint pricing sounds transparent, but it adds up fast. At 60 endpoints, you're at $225/month. At 100 endpoints — a pretty modest number for a growing MSP — you're at $375/month.
The per-endpoint model also creates a weird incentive: every device you onboard at a client site costs you money. Some MSPs admit they've started leaving older devices unmonitored just to control costs. That's exactly the opposite of what good network monitoring setup should encourage.
The Features You're Paying For But Not Using
Here's the honest problem with enterprise RMM tools for small MSPs: they're built for teams that need workflow automation, multi-tier approval processes, detailed SLA tracking, and client-facing reporting portals that can be white-labeled with your logo.
Those are real needs — for a 20-person MSP with an account manager who needs to justify their contract to a 200-person law firm.
If you're a solo operator with 8 clients, you need:
- Real-time visibility into whether every device is up
- Alerts when something starts degrading — before the client calls
- Enough diagnostic context to fix it remotely instead of driving out
- A clear picture of which sites need attention right now
You don't need a built-in billing module, a full PSA, multi-tier ticket routing, or an SLA dashboard. Every feature you're not using is a feature you're paying for anyway.
How the Pricing Compares
| Tool | InfraWatch | Syncro | Atera | NinjaOne |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (60 endpoints, 1 tech) | $49/mo | $129/mo | $224/mo* | $225/mo |
| Annual cost | $588 | $1,548 | $2,688 | $2,700 |
| AI anomaly detection | ✓ Included | ✗ Not available | Add-on ($95/mo extra) | ✗ Not available |
| Per-seat pricing | None | Yes | Yes | No (per-endpoint) |
| Built for solo MSPs | ✓ Yes | No | Partially | No |
*Atera base plan ($129) + AI Copilot add-on ($95). Without the add-on, AI features are unavailable.
The Right Tool for Your Size
This isn't an argument that Syncro, Atera, and NinjaOne are bad products — they're not. They're excellent tools for what they're designed to do. The problem is they're designed for MSPs 5–10× your size.
For a small MSP, the right monitoring tool is one that:
- Charges flat monthly pricing that doesn't punish you for adding endpoints or contractors
- Includes AI anomaly detection without an add-on surcharge
- Focuses on network monitoring and alerting without a dozen features you'll never configure
- Gives you a clean multi-site overview so you can spot problems fast
The MSPs who are most frustrated with enterprise RMM pricing are usually those who figured out they were paying $2,000+/year for a platform they were using at 15% capacity.
At some point, the smarter move is to find a tool that actually fits your operation — rather than keeping a subscription to something that was designed for someone else. Our comparison of the best monitoring tools for small MSPs breaks down which platforms are actually built for your scale and what each one costs.