Finding · The 2026 State of B2B Software Monetization
What stops B2B software companies from changing pricing faster?
According to Nalpeiron’s 2026 State of B2B Software Monetization study (n=255 B2B software companies, fielded June 2026), the top obstacles to changing pricing faster are engineering bandwidth (40%) and billing-system limitations (30%), followed by insufficient data to design or validate a new model (29%).
Key numbers
| Obstacle | Share of companies citing it |
|---|---|
| Engineering bandwidth: too many competing priorities | 40% |
| Billing system limitations: provider cannot support the model | 30% |
| Insufficient data to design or validate a new model | 29% |
| Lack of real-time usage metering capability | 27% |
| Organizational alignment: too many stakeholders | 27% |
| Fear of churn from customer-facing changes | 27% |
| Customer contract or legal constraints | 26% |
| Entitlement or licensing infrastructure gaps | 26% |
| Revenue recognition complexity | 24% |
Question Q22. n = 255. Select up to 3; shares sum to more than 100%.
What this means
Asked what most slows pricing changes, companies name capacity and tooling first. Engineering bandwidth leads at 40%, billing-system limitations follow at 30%, and insufficient data to design or validate a new model comes next at 29%. Metering gaps, organizational alignment, and churn fear each register at 27%.
The top two barriers are two sides of the same problem. When the billing system cannot support a model, engineering has to build the difference, so a tooling limitation converts directly into an engineering-bandwidth cost. That is why the same teams report both as leading obstacles.
Below the top of the list, the barriers spread across data, organizational alignment, contracts, entitlements, and revenue recognition, each cited by roughly a quarter of companies. Speed is rarely blocked by one thing; it is blocked by several at once, which is why point fixes rarely move the timeline much.
Methodology
The 2026 State of B2B Software Monetization is based on n=255 product and engineering leaders at B2B software companies, screened for direct involvement in pricing, packaging, or monetization decisions (manager-level and above; 86% director-level or higher). It was fielded in June 2026 through an industry research panel; figures reflect 255 completes as of 19 June 2026. Two AI-inference questions use a reduced base of n=243.
This finding is based on the full sample of 255 responses (survey Q22).
See the full methodology and every question on the report hub.
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This finding is one cut from The 2026 State of B2B Software Monetization. Get the complete report, all findings, and the full data appendix.
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