Check 1: Unused Seats (3 Minutes)
Per-seat tools are the biggest source of waste. Check every tool that charges per user and identify seats that have not been active in 30+ days.
- CRM:Pipedrive ($14–$99/seat/mo), Salesforce ($25–$350/seat/mo), HubSpot Starter ($20/seat/mo). One unused Salesforce Pro Suite seat costs $1,200/year.
- Project management: Notion Plus ($12/user/mo), ClickUp Unlimited ($10/member/mo), Asana. One unused seat on Notion Plus costs $144/year.
- Communication: Slack Pro ($8.75/user/mo). Five unused Slack seats cost $525/year.
Action
For each tool, check the admin panel for last login dates. Remove or downgrade any user who has not logged in within 30 days. If they need access later, you can re-add them.
Check 2: Approaching Tier Limits (3 Minutes)
Many tools auto-upgrade or charge overage fees when you cross tier thresholds. Check your current usage against your plan limits to avoid surprises.
- Mailchimp contacts: Your plan starts at 500 contacts (Essentials, $13/mo). Crossing 500 bumps you to a higher contact tier. Crossing 2,500 contacts on Standard goes from ~$60/mo to higher tiers. Check for unsubscribed contacts inflating your count.
- Zapier tasks:Free is 100 tasks/mo, Professional is 750 tasks/mo ($29.99/mo), Team is 2,000 tasks/mo ($103.50/mo). Check your current task usage in Settings → Usage.
- Make operations:Core is 10,000 ops/mo ($10.59/mo). Check your current consumption in Scenarios → Usage.
- Email sends: Brevo Free is 300 emails/day. Brevo Starter is 5,000 emails/mo ($9/mo). Check if you are near the daily or monthly limit.
Check 3: Cheaper Alternatives (5 Minutes)
Once a quarter (every third monthly review), spend 5 extra minutes checking whether a cheaper alternative has emerged for your most expensive tools.
- Email marketing: If you are on Mailchimp Standard at $60/mo (2,500 contacts), compare Brevo Standard at $18/mo (unlimited contacts, 5,000 emails/mo) or Kit Creator at $39/mo (1,000 subscribers).
- Automation:If you are on Zapier Team at $103.50/mo (2,000 tasks), compare Make Core at $10.59/mo (10,000 ops) — a potential savings of $1,115/year.
- CRM: If you are on Salesforce Pro Suite at $100/seat/mo, compare Pipedrive Growth at $39/seat/mo or Freshsales Growth at $11/seat/mo. At 10 seats, that is $7,320 to $10,680 savings per year.
Check 4: Upcoming Renewal Dates (2 Minutes)
Annual contracts auto-renew unless you cancel before the renewal window. Check for any tool that renews in the next 60 days.
- Salesforce:30–60 day notice required before auto-renewal. Missing this window locks you in for another year.
- HubSpot Professional:Annual contracts auto-renew. Check your renewal date in Settings → Account & Billing.
- Any annual plan: If you switched to annual billing for a discount, set a reminder 60 days before renewal to evaluate whether you still need the tool.
Check 5: Feature Overlap (2 Minutes)
As your stack grows, tools start overlapping. Common overlaps that waste money:
- CRM + email tool. HubSpot includes email marketing. If you are also paying for Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign, you may be paying for email twice.
- Multiple automation tools. If you have both Zapier ($29.99/mo) and Make ($10.59/mo) running, consolidate onto one platform.
- PM + docs tools. If you use Notion for docs and ClickUp for PM, check if Notion alone covers both needs (or vice versa).
The Complete Monthly Checklist
- Check for unused seats on per-seat tools (CRM, PM, communication)
- Check current usage vs. plan limits (contacts, tasks, ops, sends)
- Clean Mailchimp audience (archive unsubscribed/cleaned contacts)
- Review Zapier/Make task usage dashboard
- Check for auto-renewal dates in the next 60 days
- Note any approaching tier thresholds
- Every 3rd month: compare top 3 most expensive tools to alternatives
- Every 3rd month: check for feature overlap between tools
- Document total monthly SaaS spend and compare to last month
- Action items: remove seats, downgrade tiers, or initiate switches
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should this review take?
15 minutes for the standard monthly review (checks 1–4). 25 minutes when you add the quarterly alternative and overlap checks (checks 5–6). Set a recurring calendar event so it becomes a habit.
What is a reasonable SaaS budget for a small team?
Solo founders should target $0–$100/mo. Small teams (3–5 people) typically spend $200–$500/mo. Growing teams (5–15) spend $500–$2,000/mo. If you are above these ranges, this review will help identify where the excess is.
Should I track spending in a spreadsheet?
Yes. A simple spreadsheet with columns for tool name, plan, monthly cost, seats, renewal date, and last review date is sufficient. Update it monthly during this review. Over time, the trend line reveals whether your stack is growing leaner or fatter.
What is the single biggest waste in most SaaS stacks?
Unused seats on per-seat tools. Most teams pay for 20–30% more seats than they actively use. At $39/seat/mo (Pipedrive Growth), 3 unused seats cost $1,404/year. This is the first thing to check every month.