SaaS inflation rate
How much are software prices rising in 2026?
While general inflation in many economies has stabilized, Vertice’s data reveals that software vendors are continuing to implement double-digit price increases.
SaaS inflation rate, month by month
After dipping to 12.1% in April 2026, SaaS inflation has climbed steadily through the quarter, reaching 14.2% in May and 16.4% in June. This is a new high surpassing the previous high of 14.7% recorded in November 2025.
- Q2 acceleration: SaaS inflation increased by 4.3 percentage points in just two months which is the fastest pace of increase Vertice has recorded to date.
- A new peak: At 16.4%, June 2026 now holds the highest monthly inflation rate on record, ahead of the previous peak seen in November 2025. SaaS shrinkflation may be compounding this, as vendors combine list-price increases with reduced feature access at the same tier.
- Renewal timing matters: For companies on annual contracts, this month-to-month movement doesn't change what they're already paying, but it does mean the increase they're offered at renewal depends heavily on timing. Without visibility into how rates move across the year, there's no way to know if a renewal quote is high, low, or in line with the market.
Real-time pricing benchmarks are the most effective way to manage this uncertainty, giving finance and procurement teams visibility into current market rates before a renewal locks in a higher-than-necessary increase. A SaaS purchasing platform like Vertice flag when a quoted increase is out of line with what similar companies are actually paying – and companies using this kind of industry-leading pricing intelligence achieve an average discount of 33.8% compared to list price.
Data source: These insights are derived from over $75bn of global processed spend managed by Vertice in 2026.
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The need-to-knows about Vertice
As of June 2026, SaaS inflation reached 16.4%, the highest monthly rate recorded to date, up from 13.2% in Q1 2026. This is almost 4x the US CPI of 4.2%.
SaaS inflation is trending upward. After dipping to 12.1% in April 2026, it climbed to 14.2% in May and 16.4% in June, marking its steepest quarterly increase to date.
Real-time pricing benchmarks help finance and procurement teams see current market rates before a renewal locks in a higher-than-necessary increase. Companies using a platform like Vertice that provides a high level of pricing intelligence achieve an average discount of 33.8% compared to list price. It also helps pinpoint where waste exists across the SaaS stack and where spend can be optimized.
With inflation now reaching 16.4% in a single month, static annual budgets are increasingly likely to fall short by renewal time. Budget management tools help finance teams track software spend against forecasts in real time and adjust allocations as pricing trends shift, rather than discovering the gap at renewal. Pairing this with SaaS spend management software gives a fuller picture of where rising costs are concentrated across the software portfolio, so budget can be reallocated toward the categories most exposed to inflation.