There's no single number that applies to every business, only a tipping point that shifts with team size. For a small team, outsourced IT support is generally the cheaper option once real employment costs, National Insurance, pension, training and cover for holidays and sickness, are counted alongside salary. As a business grows, that balance can shift the other way, though exactly where that happens depends on your setup, not a fixed formula.
What Does an In-House IT Hire Really Cost?
Hiring an in-house IT technician or engineer isn't just about the salary, though that's the number most people start with. According to Indeed's UK salary data, drawn from over 5,000 reported salaries, the average IT support salary sits around £29,500 a year, typically ranging from roughly £25,000 for entry-level roles up to £48,000 for more senior or specialist positions.
That headline figure is only the starting point. Employer National Insurance currently runs at 15% on earnings above £5,000 a year, and employers must also contribute a minimum of 3% into a workplace pension. Add both to a £30,000 salary and the real cost is already closer to £34,500, before recruitment, training, certifications, or the software and equipment the role needs are even factored in.
Holiday and sick leave work differently, they're already part of the salary rather than an extra cost, but they still matter. Between 28 days of statutory holiday and the current ONS average of 4.4 sick days a year, that's over a month a year where a single in-house hire simply isn't available. For a business relying on one person for IT cover, that's a real gap, not just a payroll line.
Comparing outsourced IT support vs in-house solutions means adding up more than just the wage bill.
For many businesses, one person isn't enough to cover everything, which means gaps in knowledge, limited availability, or eventually needing a second hire.
What Do You Get When You Outsource IT Support?
Outsourced providers usually offer a full team of specialists rather than one skillset, proactive monitoring, a remote helpdesk, on-site visits when needed, bundled cybersecurity tools, predictable monthly pricing, out-of-hours support options, and the ability to scale up or down without hiring new staff. This shows one advantage in the outsourced IT support vs in-house choice.
Outsourcing is often charged per device or per user, so small companies don't overpay for services they don't need.
How Does the Cost Compare in Plain English?
An in-house team means a fixed cost plus hidden overheads plus limitations. Outsourced IT means a predictable cost plus flexible service plus wider expertise.
Many small businesses find outsourcing cheaper because they get a whole team for less than the cost of one full-time salary, without the HR admin that goes with it. A useful comparison: an in-house hire is like a full-time mechanic for a fleet of three cars, whereas outsourcing is more like a monthly service plan with a reliable garage, you only pay for what you need, and you're covered when something breaks. In summary, the outsourced IT support vs in-house decision comes down to what your team truly needs.
It's tempting to put a single number on the difference, but that comparison is trickier than it looks. First, the £60 to £90 per user, per month range often quoted for outsourced IT support is, like most pricing figures in this industry, drawn from providers' own marketing rather than independent data. Treat it as a rough planning figure, not a fact.
Second, the two costs aren't actually comparable on a like-for-like basis, for two separate reasons. An outsourced fee often bundles in the provider's own tools of the trade, monitoring software, ticketing systems, remote access tools, things an in-house hire would need the business to source separately. It can also bundle in the software every device needs regardless of who supports it, antivirus, backup, Microsoft 365 and similar licensing. That second category is a cost either model has to carry, an in-house hire needs it just as much as an outsourced provider does, so a fair in-house comparison has to add it back in too. Because that kind of software is typically resold on thin margins, it can end up making up a surprisingly large share of the headline support fee, which is exactly why what's actually included is worth asking about directly, rather than assumed.
What matters more than any single figure is the tipping point. For a small team, outsourcing is very likely to work out cheaper once real employment costs are counted. As headcount grows, that balance can shift, and at some size it may make more sense to bring IT in-house, though exactly where that point sits depends entirely on the business, not a fixed rule of thumb.
What Are the Benefits of Outsourcing IT Support?
Outsourcing typically brings lower and more predictable costs, fewer interruptions thanks to proactive monitoring, better cyber security through tools and expertise you might not otherwise afford, faster problem-solving from a whole team rather than one person, and the ability to scale without recruitment headaches.
How Do I Work Out What's Right for My Business?
Audit your current IT pain points (slow laptops, Wi-Fi dropouts, security worries), calculate your true current costs (tools, downtime, ad-hoc fixes) against an outsourced quote, check any provider's service level agreement for response times, ask about bundled security tools, and look for right-sized support rather than paying enterprise prices for a 10 to 50 person team. Thinking through outsourced IT support vs in-house needs helps you make the right decision.
For most small teams, yes, once real employment costs are counted rather than just the salary. But the two aren't perfectly comparable: outsourced fees often bundle in software every device needs anyway (antivirus, backup, Microsoft 365), which an in-house hire also needs to be given separately. The honest answer is that outsourcing is very likely cheaper for a small team, with the exact gap depending on your setup rather than a fixed percentage.
A good outsourced provider gives you a full team of specialists rather than one person, plus proactive monitoring, a remote helpdesk, on-site visits when needed, bundled cybersecurity tools and predictable monthly pricing.
One person can't cover every skill area or be available around the clock, which often leaves gaps in cover or means hiring a second person as the business grows.
Quick Recap
- In-house hire costs: salary (roughly £25,000 to £48,000 depending on experience), employer National Insurance and pension contributions on top, plus training, recruitment, holiday/sick cover, and software licences.
- Outsourced IT: predictable monthly pricing, whole-team expertise, scales up or down without recruitment.
- For a small team, outsourcing is very likely cheaper once real employment costs are counted, though the exact gap depends on team size rather than a fixed percentage.
- Right-sized support means you're not paying enterprise prices for a 10 to 50 person team.
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