Atlassian Total Cost of Ownership Calculator

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Reviewed and Verified by David Chen, CPA, Cloud FinOps Specialist

Accurately estimate the true financial commitment required for your Atlassian ecosystem, including licensing, hosting, and internal administration costs.

Atlassian Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator

Estimated Annual Total Cost of Ownership (TCO):

$0.00

Atlassian Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Formula

TCO = (A + H) + (F * S) + T

Where:

A = Annual Subscription Cost, H = Hosting/Cloud Fees, F = FTE Admins, S = Admin Salary, T = Training & Consulting

Source: Atlassian Customer Resources, Gartner IT Glossary

Variables Explained

  • Annual Atlassian Subscription/License Cost (A): The recurring fee paid directly to Atlassian or a reseller for product access (e.g., Jira, Confluence).
  • Annual Hosting/Cloud Fees (H): Costs associated with running the software, whether it’s AWS/Azure infrastructure for Data Center or the premium charge for Atlassian Cloud.
  • Number of FTE Administrators (F): The equivalent staff needed to maintain, patch, and manage the Atlassian instance. This can be fractional (e.g., 0.5 or 1.5).
  • Average Annual Admin Salary (S): The fully loaded cost (salary + benefits) of one FTE Atlassian administrator/engineer.
  • Annual Training & Consulting (T): External costs for user training, process consulting, or specialized technical support beyond the standard subscription.

Related Calculators

What is Atlassian Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)?

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a comprehensive financial metric that helps organizations determine the direct and indirect costs associated with owning and operating a software system, such as Jira or Confluence, over a defined period (usually annually). For Atlassian products, TCO goes far beyond the simple sticker price of a license or subscription.

A true Atlassian TCO analysis accounts for the recurring operational expenses (OpEx) like the annual subscription and cloud hosting fees, but critically includes the less obvious internal costs. The most significant of these ‘hidden’ costs is the personnel required to administer, configure, update, and support the instance—represented by the FTE administrator costs.

Understanding TCO is essential for making informed build vs. buy decisions, justifying platform investments, and comparing the financial impact of different deployment models (e.g., moving from Data Center to Cloud, or evaluating managed services). By quantifying these costs, businesses can better budget and manage their overall technology spend.

How to Calculate Atlassian TCO (Example)

  1. Determine Annual Subscription (A): Start with the cost for all required licenses. Example: $50,000 for a Jira Software Premium subscription.
  2. Add Hosting Fees (H): Include any related infrastructure fees. Example: $10,000 for AWS hosting dedicated to the Data Center instance.
  3. Calculate Admin Labor Cost (F * S): Multiply the number of required FTE administrators by their fully loaded salary. Example: 1.5 FTE x $120,000 salary = $180,000.
  4. Factor in External Support (T): Add costs for external training, consulting, or specialized support contracts. Example: $5,000.
  5. Sum Components: Add all calculated values: $50,000 (A) + $10,000 (H) + $180,000 (F*S) + $5,000 (T).
  6. Final TCO: The estimated TCO for the year is $245,000.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the biggest component of Atlassian TCO?

For most organizations, the largest component of TCO is the internal labor cost (FTE Administrators and staff time) required to manage, maintain, and support the platform, often far exceeding the license fees.

Does TCO change between Atlassian Cloud and Data Center?

Yes, significantly. Data Center TCO often includes higher infrastructure (H) and administration labor (F*S) costs due to self-management. Cloud TCO generally shifts more of the cost into the subscription (A) but reduces labor and infrastructure overhead.

How often should TCO be calculated?

TCO should ideally be reviewed and calculated annually, especially before budget cycles or when considering major changes like a platform migration, a significant increase in user tiers, or the introduction of new applications.

Are third-party marketplace app costs included in this TCO?

Yes, all costs related to operating the full environment, including marketplace app subscriptions or licenses, should be included in the “Annual Atlassian Subscription/License Cost (A)” for a full TCO view.

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