The honest answer to "how much does adult family home software cost" in 2026 is "it depends on the model the vendor uses, and on what the quote actually includes." Most operators who shop care-home software end up comparing four different pricing models with four different sets of hidden assumptions. This post breaks the models down, prints real numbers, and shows you what to verify before you sign.
Key takeaways
- Four common pricing models for care-home software: flat per home, per bed, per resident, and quote-based.
- Setup fees, implementation fees, and per-module add-ons are where the real cost hides.
- A typical 6-resident small home in 2026 should pay $100 to $200 per month for a credible eMAR-plus-care-plan stack, all in.
- Marpass tiers in 2026: Entry $49 base plus $10 per resident, Advanced $79 base plus $10 per resident, with a 3-resident minimum. A 6-bed home runs $109 to $139 per month. Annual billing saves 20%.
- No setup fee, no implementation fee, and no long lock-in are the three "asks" that separate transparent vendors from quote-only ones.
The four pricing models, side by side
| Model | How it bills | What it usually includes | Common gotchas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat per home | One monthly fee per facility, regardless of resident count | Core eMAR and basic records | Usually capped at a resident count, with an upcharge above the cap |
| Per bed | Monthly fee multiplied by licensed beds | Core eMAR; sometimes includes care plans | You pay for empty beds. Vacancy costs you twice. |
| Per resident | Monthly fee multiplied by active residents | Often a base plus per-resident component | Aligns cost with revenue, but the base fee varies a lot. |
| Quote-based | No public pricing. Custom quote per facility. | Whatever the rep wants to bundle | Renewal pricing is usually higher than the signing price. |
Where the real money hides
The monthly subscription is rarely the whole bill. The line items below come up in nearly every vendor quote, even when they are not mentioned in the demo.
- Setup or onboarding fee. One-time charge to "configure your account." Sometimes $300, sometimes $3,000. Often non-refundable.
- Data migration fee. Moving your old records in. Quoted by the hour or by the resident.
- Training fee. Live training is sometimes billed per hour or per session.
- Module add-ons. Inspection readiness, billing, time and pay, cloud fax, family portal. Each one has its own price.
- Annual contract minimum. Locks you in for a year. Cancelling early triggers a fee or forfeits a deposit.
- Renewal increase. Many quote-based vendors raise prices 5 to 15 percent at renewal. Read the contract.
Marpass pricing in 2026
Marpass publishes its pricing on the site so you can plan your year without a sales call. Two tiers cover the small-home and small-ALF market. A custom Enterprise tier is available for larger operators.
| Tier | Base per home per month | Per resident | Minimum residents | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | $49 | $10 | 3 | Core eMAR, MAR or MOR exports, care plan templates, refusal and PRN prompts. |
| Advanced | $79 | $10 | 3 | Everything in Entry plus time and pay, advanced reporting, audit trail enhancements. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Variable | Multi-home operators with custom integrations. |
The monthly bill for a typical 6-bed home with all 6 residents active comes out to $109 on Entry ($49 + $10 x 6) or $139 on Advanced ($79 + $10 x 6). Annual billing saves 20 percent. There is no setup fee, no implementation fee, no per-module surprise, and no long lock-in.
How to compare a quote apples to apples
When you compare two vendors, the only number that matters is the yearly total, all in. Build the comparison this way:
| Line | What to include |
|---|---|
| Year-1 subscription | Monthly fee times 12, for the residents you actually have today |
| Setup or onboarding fee | One-time, in year 1 |
| Data migration | One-time, in year 1 |
| Training | One-time or annual, depending on vendor |
| Required modules | Any module the vendor calls optional but you actually need (inspection readiness, billing, etc.) |
| Year-2 renewal increase | Best guess from the contract, usually 5 to 15 percent for quote-based vendors |
Why compliant software is worth paying for
The medication record under WAC 388-76-10475 and the medication observation record under FAC 59A-36.008(5) are content rules. Both paper and software satisfy them when the content is complete. The reason operators move to software is that software is much harder to leave incomplete by accident. For more on the actual recordkeeping rules, see our WA medication-rules walkthrough and FL medication-records guide.
WAC 388-76-10475 (Washington) and FAC 59A-36.008(5) (Florida)
Both states require complete, current medication records: the resident's name, every medication with dose and frequency, dosing time, initials of the staff who gave or assisted, refusals with reasons, and changes with dates. Both rules describe content, not format. Software that prompts the caregiver makes the content complete by default. Plain-language summary, not legal advice.
Two operator scenarios
Marcela runs a 6-bed AFH in Lakewood. She compared three vendors. Vendor A: per-bed at $35 a bed per month plus $1,200 onboarding plus $300 per module for inspection readiness. Year 1 all in: about $5,520 for 6 beds. Vendor B: quote-based at $325 a month, with no published renewal terms. Year 1 all in: $3,900 with unclear year 2. Marpass Advanced: $139 a month for 6 active residents, $1,335 a year on annual billing (20 percent off). She picked Marpass on transparency more than the price gap.
Vinnie owns a 24-bed ALF in Orlando. His prior vendor had quoted him a 12 percent renewal increase. He had been paying $480 a month for the eMAR, plus a separate $90 a month for billing, plus $40 a month for the family portal. Total $610 a month. He moved to Marpass Advanced at $79 base plus $10 per resident times 22 active = $299 a month. He recovered the cost of the data migration and one round of training in the first quarter, on his own time.
What to ask every vendor before you sign
- What is the full year-1 number, including setup, migration, training, and any modules I need?
- What is the renewal-year increase, in writing?
- Can I cancel monthly, or am I locked into a year?
- Is the inspection-ready export an extra module or included?
- Are care plans included, or extra?
- Does the price change if a bed goes empty for a month?
Our eMAR buyer's guide covers the feature side of vendor selection in more depth, including a five-minute demo stress test.
Annual vs monthly billing
Most operators pay monthly because it matches how their revenue arrives. Annual billing is worth a second look anyway. On Marpass, paying annually saves 20 percent versus monthly, which is two-and-a-half months of free service over the year. For an Advanced 6-bed home running $139 a month, that is $1,668 a year on monthly billing versus $1,334 on annual billing. The savings is $334 per home per year. For a two-home operator, it is real money on top of a system that already costs less than the per-bed quotes you have been comparing.
The trade-off is a single cash outlay at the start of each year. If cash flow is tight in your first 6 months, stay monthly and revisit at renewal. If you already have a reserve, annual is the obvious choice.
Two pricing red flags worth re-stating
Two things to listen for during a sales call. First, "let me get you a quote." If the vendor cannot give you a number out loud in the first 10 minutes of a demo, the number is going to change after you sign. Second, "the platform fee is separate from the modules." A platform fee that excludes the inspection-ready export, the audit trail, or the care plan is not a $X per month deal; it is the start of a build-your-own bill. Both signals should send you back to the comparison table at the top of this post.
How Marpass fits
Marpass publishes pricing because the math is on our side: a transparent flat-per-home plus per-resident model is cheaper than nearly every per-bed quote once you add the setup fees. No setup fee, no implementation fee, no long lock-in. The full stack (eMAR, MAR or MOR, care plans, inspection-ready exports, refusal and PRN prompts) is included in both tiers. AI order reading is included too, not an upcharge. Pricing is on the site so you can plan your year without a sales call.
Want to see the math for your own home? Join the waitlist.
