Per-User vs Per-Client ABA Software Pricing: The Model Matters More Than the Number

When practices compare ABA software they compare numbers. The number matters less than the unit it is attached to, because the unit determines what happens to your bill over the next three years.

There are two dominant models in this market, and they behave very differently.

The two models

Per-client (or per-learner) pricing charges for every active client on your caseload. Your bill is a function of how many people you serve.

Per-user (or per-staff) pricing charges for every person who logs in. Your bill is a function of how many people you employ.

Some vendors combine both — a per-staff charge for practice management plus a per-client charge for data collection.

What each vendor publishes

Published pricing, as of August 2026. Verify current figures with each vendor, since pricing pages change without notice.

• Theralytics publishes per-client pricing: $20 per client per month for practice management, $20 per client per month for data collection, and $30 per client per month for the combined bundle. A base subscription covers up to 10 clients or users, with a stated monthly minimum of $200 or $300 depending on package. Optional full-service billing is offered at 4.5% of receivables.
• Motivity publishes per-learner pricing: $24 per learner per month for data collection, $24 per learner per month for practice management, and $48 per learner per month for the all-in-one platform.
• AlohaABA publishes a hybrid: $29.99 per staff member per month for practice management, plus $12 per client per month for data collection (advertised at a reduced $10), with data collection available only alongside practice management.
• Wilma publishes per-user pricing: $30 per user per month for the full Core platform, with optional AI at $20 per user and Phone at $10 per user. Ten-licence minimum, so accounts start at $300 per month. No per-client component.
• CentralReach, Rethink Behavioral Health and Passage Health do not publish pricing. All three route pricing questions through a demo or consultation.

Why the model matters: an example

Take a practice with 12 staff and 40 active clients — a fairly typical mid-size agency.

Using published rates for the all-in-one or bundled offering from each vendor that publishes one:

• Theralytics bundle: 40 clients × $30 = $1,200/month
• Motivity all-in-one: 40 learners × $48 = $1,920/month
• AlohaABA: (12 staff × $29.99) + (40 clients × $12) = $840/month
• Wilma Core: 12 users × $30 = $360/month — or $600 with the AI add-on

Now grow the caseload to 80 clients with the same 12 staff, which is what happens when a practice improves utilization rather than hiring:

• Theralytics bundle: $2,400/month
• Motivity all-in-one: $3,840/month
• AlohaABA: $1,320/month
• Wilma Core: $360/month — unchanged

Nothing about the software changed. The practice got better at filling its schedule, and under per-client pricing that improvement carries a software tax.

The honest counter-case

Per-client pricing is not a trick, and there are situations where it wins.

A practice with few clients and many staff pays less on a per-client model. A clinic with 15 clients and 20 employees — heavy on supervision, administrative and billing staff relative to caseload — will find per-client pricing cheaper.

Per-client pricing is also friendlier to a brand-new practice. A solo BCBA with three clients pays for three clients rather than a licence minimum, and Theralytics explicitly targets this with a startup package that is free for six months or until the first client.

The crossover point is roughly where your client count exceeds your staff count by a meaningful multiple. In ABA that usually happens early and then keeps widening, because one RBT typically serves several clients — but it is worth doing the arithmetic on your own numbers rather than assuming.

The costs that are not on the pricing page

Whatever the model, the quoted rate is rarely the whole bill. Ask specifically about:

• Implementation and onboarding fees. Often a four-figure one-time charge, sometimes waived under negotiation.
• Data migration. Whether bringing your existing clients, authorizations and history across is included or quoted as professional services.
• Clearinghouse and claim submission fees. Sometimes bundled, sometimes per-claim, sometimes a separate vendor entirely.
• Module unbundling. Whether scheduling, billing, data collection, a parent portal and reporting are all included or priced separately.
• Inactive clients. On per-client pricing, whether a client on a break or pending authorization still counts.
• Minimums. Both per-client and per-user models commonly carry a floor.
• Annual increases. Ask what the uplift has been for existing customers over the last three years, not what the contract permits.
• Contract term and exit. Whether you can leave annually, and what happens to your data when you do.

How to compare quotes properly

Build a three-year model, not a monthly one.

1. Project your client count and staff count separately for each of the next three years. They do not grow at the same rate, and that divergence is the entire point.
2. Apply each vendor's model to those projections.
3. Add implementation, migration and any per-claim fees in year one.
4. Apply a realistic annual uplift to each.
5. Compare the three-year total, not the first month.

Practices that do this routinely find the ranking changes between year one and year three. A platform that is cheapest at signature can be the most expensive by the time it matters.

The summary

Theralytics and Motivity price per client or learner, AlohaABA blends per-staff with per-client, Wilma prices per user with no client component, and CentralReach, Rethink and Passage Health publish nothing at all. Per-client pricing suits practices with more staff than clients and brand-new practices; per-user pricing suits practices whose caseload grows faster than headcount, which is most of them. Model three years, count clients and staff separately, and ask about the fees that never appear on a pricing page.