Finding · The 2026 State of B2B Software Monetization
How much engineering capacity goes to monetization infrastructure?
According to Nalpeiron’s 2026 State of B2B Software Monetization study (n=255 B2B software companies, fielded June 2026), the median B2B software company spends 11% to 20% of its engineering capacity building and maintaining billing, entitlement, metering, and pricing infrastructure, and 24% spend more than 20%.
Key numbers
| Capacity share | Share of companies |
|---|---|
| Less than 5% | 6% |
| 5 to 10% | 16% |
| 11 to 20% | 53% |
| 21 to 30% | 17% |
| More than 30% | 7% |
| Do not know | 1% |
Question Q10. n = 255. More than 20% = 24%.
What this means
Monetization infrastructure is a standing engineering cost, not a one-time build. In this study, the median company spends 11% to 20% of its engineering capacity building and maintaining billing, entitlement, metering, and pricing systems. About a quarter, 24%, spend more than 20% of capacity on it.
That capacity is not going to product or to AI features. When a fifth or more of engineering is absorbed by monetization plumbing, the opportunity cost is the roadmap, which is why teams that run this work on purpose-built infrastructure can redirect it to differentiation.
The burden is felt most by the people who carry it. Engineering leaders rate monetization infrastructure a materially higher investment priority than product leaders do across every category, led by usage metering, reflecting who absorbs the maintenance cost day to day.
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 Q10).
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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