---
title: "Choosing a CMMS: A Buyer's Guide for Maintenance Teams"
description: "The criteria for choosing a CMMS, the question to put to each vendor, how the options differ, and what the purchase costs beyond the license."
---

[Back to Guides](/guides/) Guide

# Choosing a CMMS: A Buyer's Guide for Maintenance Teams

The criteria for choosing a CMMS, the question to put to each vendor, how the options differ, and what the purchase costs beyond the license.

Choosing a CMMS means choosing the software your technicians will use every day, and a vendor who will support it for years. If you are new to the term, [what a CMMS is](/blog/what-is-cmms/) sets out the basics.

## Check whether you need one

Check whether your current tools can do these jobs: generate and track work orders, find an asset’s service history, control spares, store manuals and warranties, and track assets. If a spreadsheet still does them, [FixAhead vs spreadsheets](/compare/spreadsheets/) sets out when a spreadsheet stops being enough.

## Write the requirements before the demos

Write down what the team needs before any vendor is involved. Split the list into must-haves and nice-to-haves. Have field staff in the decision, with at least one person from each department that will use the system.

Do not change the process to fit the software. A 2006 [FacilitiesNet article on CMMS selection](https://www.facilitiesnet.com/software/article/CMMS-Selection-Success--4689) notes that managers too often do exactly that.

Buy for the work you do now and the work you can see in the next few years. [US federal guidance (FEMP), section 4.3](https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2020/04/f74/omguide_complete_w-eo-disclaimer.pdf) names feature overload as a common complaint of active CMMS users, so check that the functions you will not use can be hidden.

## Put each criterion’s question to every vendor

Put the question for each criterion to every vendor.

| Criterion | Question to put to the vendor |
| --- | --- |
| Ease of use for technicians | Show a technician closing a work order on a phone, from a work order built on our data. |
| Field access | What happens when a technician has no signal or no device? Can a checklist be printed and closed out later? |
| Functions for the work we do | Which functions can be hidden for users who do not need them? |
| PM scheduling | Does PM run on the calendar, on run-hours or meter readings, or both? Does the next due date count from the last completion? |
| Integration | Which systems connect to this one, and what does each connection cost? |
| Support and stability | How long have you been in business, how many customers like us do you have, and how is support given, in which hours, with what response time? |
| Getting data out | Can we export everything in a standard format, and is there a fee to extract it or to end the contract? |
| Price | What is the price for our user count? Are named and concurrent users priced differently? |

Ease of use matters most to the people who enter the data. A 2004 [CMMS survey](https://www.plant-maintenance.assetivity.com.au/articles/CMMS_survey_2004.shtml) of 105 respondents in mixed industries rated their current CMMS moderate to hard to use, on average. In a 2024 [request for proposal from O’Fallon, Missouri, a US city](http://gis4.ofallon.mo.us/bids/Projects_DropIn/24-020/Specs.pdf), the software’s interface was worth 10 of the 40 points available.

Ask for each answer in writing. [FixAhead’s pricing page](/pricing/) states that data exports to CSV or Excel are available at any time, including after cancellation. Ask every vendor for the same.

## Choose cloud or on-premise, the buying route, and the license model

Settle these three points before you ask vendors for quotes.

- **Cloud or on-premise.** Cloud needs fewer upfront costs, and fixes can be applied remotely. On-premise has better security, and is the best option where data must stay on site, as a [US technical-assistance report from the Southwest Environmental Finance Center](https://swefc.unm.edu/home/large_resources/CMMS_Report_Evaluation_and_Recommendations.docx) sets out.
- **A formal request for proposal or a trial.** Issue a formal request for proposal where your organization’s buying rules require one. Where they do not, ask for a trial before you buy.
- **Site license or seat license.** Ask every vendor to price both models side by side.

## Run the demo on your data

- Send vendors sample data before the demonstration.
- Give them a script. Have them create a location, an asset, an inventory record, a job plan, a PM, and a work order, then complete the work order.
- Ask to see each listed feature as you would use it. Ask whether a failed inspection can create a corrective work order.
- Stay away from vendors who answer only yes or no. Ask them to show it.

## Check references with the people who use it

During a site visit, talk with the system’s users, not only the people who made the selection.

Ask references which customers switched from another system, and what was hardest.

## Count every purchase cost beyond the license

Ask for every cost in writing, not only the license. The 2006 [FacilitiesNet article on CMMS selection](https://www.facilitiesnet.com/software/article/CMMS-Selection-Success--4689) lists training, support, database creation, and annual upgrades as costs to add. Ask for each of these in writing:

- the license model, and each fee: monthly, yearly, per-user, or per-transaction;
- the initial implementation fee;
- any fee to extract data, and any termination fee;
- the cost of each change to a requirement;
- implementation services, by the hour;
- integration costs.

Ask what comes after the contract is signed: onboarding and training fees, the cost to import data, technical support, upgrades, and any charge for an API or an integration.

Ask how much the price can rise each year, and get the limit in writing.

## Score the answers, then decide

Score the written answers and the demonstration against weights set before the first reply.

Shortlist three or four vendors after the written scoring. Plan to live with the choice for at least five years.

## Compare the options

To set a named product against FixAhead, use its page: [Fiix](/compare/fiix/), [eMaint](/compare/emaint/), [Limble](/compare/limble/), [MaintainX](/compare/maintainx/), or [UpKeep](/compare/upkeep/). The category pages are [enterprise platforms](/compare/enterprise/), [legacy CMMS](/compare/legacy-cmms/), and [spreadsheets](/compare/spreadsheets/).

## On this page

- [Check whether you need one](#check-whether-you-need-one)
- [Write the requirements before the demos](#write-the-requirements-before-the-demos)
- [Put each criterion’s question to every vendor](#put-each-criterions-question-to-every-vendor)
- [Choose cloud or on-premise, the buying route, and the license model](#choose-cloud-or-on-premise-the-buying-route-and-the-license-model)
- [Run the demo on your data](#run-the-demo-on-your-data)
- [Check references with the people who use it](#check-references-with-the-people-who-use-it)
- [Count every purchase cost beyond the license](#count-every-purchase-cost-beyond-the-license)
- [Score the answers, then decide](#score-the-answers-then-decide)
- [Compare the options](#compare-the-options)

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