Why 'Contact Us for Pricing' Is a Red Flag in Sign Management Software
You're evaluating sign management software. You find a platform that looks promising. You click "Pricing" and instead of numbers you get a form: name, email, company size, phone number, and a button that says "Let's Talk."
That's not a pricing page. That's a lead capture form.
What hidden pricing actually means
When a software company won't publish their prices, it usually signals one or more of these things:
They charge differently based on who's asking
If pricing depends on "your needs," it often means the same product costs more for a larger company — not because the product is different, but because the vendor thinks you'll pay more. That's not value-based pricing. It's guesswork with leverage.
They're expensive and they know it
Public pricing invites comparison. If a vendor's price is competitive, they have every reason to publish it. Hiding it suggests they'd lose deals if buyers could compare before getting on a call.
They want a sales conversation before you've decided anything
The "Let's Talk" model exists to get you into a pipeline. Once you've invested 30 minutes in a demo and follow-up emails, you're more likely to convert — even if the price is higher than you expected. That's by design.
Why this matters for event signage teams
Event signage teams are often small. A production manager, an event coordinator, maybe a signage lead. You don't have time for a multi-week sales process to find out whether a tool fits your budget.
You also don't have a procurement department. You need to compare options, make a decision, and get started — ideally before your next event, not three budget cycles from now.
Hidden pricing wastes your time. It forces you to:
- Fill out a form and wait for a response
- Sit through a demo you might not need
- Negotiate a contract before you've even used the product
- Guess at annual costs when planning your event budget
What transparent pricing looks like
Good pricing is:
- Published on the website. No forms, no calls, no "request a quote."
- Tiered by real usage. Storage, events, team size — things you can estimate before signing up.
- Available with a free tier. Let people try the product with real work before paying.
- Month-to-month. Annual discounts are fine, but locking teams into annual contracts before they've proven value is a red flag.
If you can't figure out what a tool costs in under 60 seconds, move on.
The cost of "free trials" without pricing
Some platforms offer a 30-day free trial but still hide the price you'll pay afterwards. That's not a trial — it's an audition where you don't know the salary. You invest time building your workflow inside a platform, and then discover the price only after you're already committed.
A genuine free tier is different. It gives you a real, usable version of the product — indefinitely — so you can evaluate it on your own terms and upgrade when you're ready.
Bottom line
Software pricing should respect your time. If a sign management tool won't tell you what it costs, they're optimising for their sales process, not your decision-making process.
Signplanr publishes every plan and price on our pricing page. There's a free tier with no time limit, and you can sign up and start building in under a minute — no sales call required.
Related reading:
- Your Contractors Shouldn't Need a Training Course to Use Your Software — another sign that a tool is built for the vendor, not the user.
- Double-Sided Signs Shouldn't Be a Software Problem — if a tool can't handle common sign formats, transparent pricing won't save it.
- Choosing the Right Event Signage Software — a practical framework for evaluating signage management tools.