Frontify is the rare DAM vendor that explains its pricing model in public. It just doesn't attach numbers to it.
The model is monthly active users (MAU) rather than seats, which is genuinely different from how the rest of the category bills, and worth understanding before you compare quotes.
The Short Answer
The median Frontify buyer pays $32,386/year (Vendr). Typical negotiated contracts fall between $14,065 and $56,782.
Small-team Essentials packages run roughly $1,200-$1,800/year. Mid-size Growth deployments land at $8,000-$15,000/year. Enterprise starts around $25,000/year.
Buyers typically negotiate 5-15% off the initial quote.
Frontify Pricing at a Glance
| Tier | Reported cost | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $1,200-$1,800/year | 3-5 users; basic brand guidelines, limited DAM |
| Growth | $8,000-$15,000/year | 10-25 users; advanced DAM, template management, integrations |
| Enterprise | $25,000+/year (custom) | 50+ users; all features, advanced permissions, API, dedicated support |
| Median actual contract | $32,386/year | Across recorded purchases (Vendr) |
| Negotiated range | $14,065-$56,782/year | Vendr |
Note the gap between the tier figures and the median actual contract. Most published tier ranges describe list packages; the $32,386 median reflects what organizations really sign, which skews toward Enterprise.
How MAU Billing Actually Works
This is the part worth getting right, because it changes the maths against every per-seat competitor.
An MAU is any logged-in user who opens Frontify via browser, desktop or mobile app at least once in a calendar month.
Three consequences:
- Provisioned-but-inactive users cost nothing. Invite 200 people; if 40 log in this month, you're billed on 40. Per-seat platforms charge for all 200.
- Public brand portal viewers aren't counted. Anyone consuming a public guideline without logging in is free. Only authenticated users count.
- Frontify averages MAU over the trailing six months, so a launch-month spike doesn't set your price. This smoothing is a real advantage for campaign-driven teams with bursty usage.
Where MAU works against you: a team where nearly everyone logs in monthly gets no benefit from the model, and pays roughly what a per-seat platform would charge. MAU rewards intermittent, broad access. It does nothing for a small, fully-active team.
Why Quoted Entry Prices Disagree So Badly
Search for Frontify's starting price and you'll find, all stated confidently:
| Source | Claimed entry price |
|---|---|
| BrandyHQ | $79/month |
| Brandlife | ~$150/month |
| Software Finder | ~$39/user/month |
| Stockpress | $999/month |
These can't all be right, and the reason they differ is that MAU pricing has no meaningful "starting price." A per-user figure and a per-month package figure aren't the same unit, and a price quoted for 3 MAU tells you nothing about 30.
The defensible statement is Vendr's: $1,200-$1,800/year for a small-team Essentials package. Treat any single "Frontify starts at $X" claim with suspicion, including that one.
Hidden Costs to Budget For
Frontify's quote is not the whole bill:
- Storage overages — billed separately beyond your allocation
- Onboarding fees — charged on larger deployments
- Premium support — a separate tier
- MAU overage — exceeding your contracted MAU band mid-term has cost implications; ask how it's handled
What to Ask on the Sales Call
- "How is MAU calculated, and over what window?" — confirm the six-month averaging in writing
- "What happens if we exceed our MAU band mid-contract?" — the answer varies and matters
- "Are public portal viewers excluded from MAU? Confirm in writing."
- "What's the storage allocation, and the overage rate?"
- "Is onboarding included at this tier?"
- "What's the annual uplift at renewal?"
On discounts: buyers typically achieve 5-15% off initial quotes. That's a narrower band than Bynder's, so expect less room and focus your leverage on term length and included onboarding rather than headline rate.
When Frontify Is Genuinely Worth It
Frontify is the closest competitor to what we build, so treat this section with appropriate scepticism — and here's the honest version anyway.
Frontify is the right call when:
- Brand governance is the actual job. Frontify's brand guideline tooling is mature, deep, and better than most of the category at enforcing consistency across markets
- You have many intermittent users — the MAU model genuinely saves money at that shape, and it's the best-designed pricing model among the enterprise DAMs
- You need template management so non-designers can produce on-brand collateral
- You're a global or franchise brand coordinating many markets or partners
- You need both DAM and living brand guidelines from one vendor with enterprise credibility
If brand governance at global scale is your problem, Frontify is a genuinely strong product and the MAU model may make it cheaper than it looks.
Frontify is the wrong call when: you're an agency managing many client brands rather than governing one, or your team is small and fully active, which nullifies the MAU advantage while you still pay enterprise rates.
What Baseline Costs Instead
| Plan | Billed Monthly | Billed Annually | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 1GB, 2 members, 1 published site — no expiry, no card |
| Starter | $59/mo ($708/yr) | $49/mo ($588/yr) | 250GB, 3 members, 10 published sites |
| Team | $199/mo ($2,388/yr) | $169/mo ($2,028/yr) | 1TB, 10 members, 50 published sites |
| Business | $399/mo ($4,788/yr) | $349/mo ($4,188/yr) | 3TB, 50 members, unlimited sites |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | SSO, custom integrations, 10TB+ |
Against Frontify's $32,386 median, Baseline's top published tier is $4,188/year — roughly 87% less for publishing plus DAM. Our pricing is flat and published; there's no MAU band to monitor and no overage to model.
Where that comparison doesn't hold: a 3-5 person team on Frontify Essentials pays $1,200-$1,800/year — less than Baseline Business ($4,188) and close to Baseline Starter ($588). Essentials tops out around 5 users, so the crossover sits between 5 and 10 active users: below it Frontify is often cheaper, and once you need Growth ($8,000-$15,000) the gap opens quickly in our favour. The 87% figure is against the median contract, not against Essentials.
The honest trade: Frontify's brand governance depth exceeds ours, and if you're enforcing one brand across 30 markets, that depth is the product. Baseline is built for the opposite shape — agencies running many client brands, each needing its own published guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Frontify cost per year?
The median Frontify buyer pays $32,386/year according to Vendr, with typical negotiated contracts between $14,065 and $56,782. Small-team Essentials packages run $1,200-$1,800/year, Growth deployments $8,000-$15,000/year, and Enterprise contracts start around $25,000/year.
How does Frontify's MAU pricing work?
Frontify bills on monthly active users — anyone who logs in via browser, desktop or mobile at least once in a calendar month. Provisioned but inactive users cost nothing. Frontify averages MAU over the trailing six months, so short-term spikes don't disproportionately affect your license.
Are public brand portal viewers counted as MAU?
No. Only logged-in users count toward MAU. People who view a public brand portal without authenticating are not billed.
What is Frontify's cheapest plan?
Vendr reports Essentials packages at $1,200-$1,800/year for 3-5 users. Other sources claim entry points from $79/month to $999/month; these disagree because MAU pricing has no fixed starting price and the figures use different units.
Does Frontify have a free trial or free plan?
No. Every tier is paid — there's no free plan and no self-serve trial, and evaluation runs through a demo. Verified against Frontify's pricing page, September 2026.
Is Frontify pricing negotiable?
Yes, though modestly. Buyers typically negotiate 5-15% off initial quotes. Term length and included onboarding are usually more productive levers than the headline rate.
Does Frontify have hidden costs?
Storage overages, onboarding fees and premium support are billed separately from the subscription. Ask specifically about MAU overage handling if you exceed your contracted band mid-term.
The Bottom Line
Frontify's median contract is $32,386/year, with most buyers landing between $14,065 and $56,782.
The MAU model is the best-designed pricing structure among enterprise DAM vendors, and if you have many intermittent users it will genuinely save you money. Just confirm the six-month averaging and the overage terms in writing — those two details determine whether the model works for you or against you.
Start free | See Baseline's pricing | Baseline vs Frontify, in detail
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these. Where they disagree, we've said so above.
- Frontify pricing page
- Frontify Knowledge Base — how MAU pricing works
- Vendr — Frontify pricing & plans
- Brandlife — Frontify pricing guide
- BrandyHQ — Frontify pricing and alternatives
- Stockpress — Frontify alternative (cites $999/month)
- Software Finder — Frontify pricing