Seat Utilisation Calculator
The Seat Utilisation Calculator shows how much of the software licensing you pay for is actually being used. Utilisation is the number of active seats divided by the number of purchased seats, shown as a percentage, and the tool also returns how many idle seats are sitting unused. You enter the active seats, meaning the licences people genuinely log in to and use, and the purchased seats, meaning the total you are billed for, and the calculator does the rest. IT managers, finance teams and SaaS account owners rely on this figure to find waste, plan renewals and decide whether to add or trim licences before the next billing cycle. Low utilisation is a clear signal that you are overspending and can right-size the contract, while utilisation near 100 percent suggests you may soon need more seats to avoid blocking new staff. For an accurate picture, agree on what active actually means, for example a login in the last 30 days rather than an account that merely exists, because counting dormant accounts as active hides the very waste you are trying to find. It also pays to review utilisation a few weeks before any renewal so you have leverage to renegotiate seat counts rather than auto-renewing the same volume. Watch the trend across tools too, since a vendor with persistently low utilisation is often a candidate for consolidation. Use this calculator to put a hard number on idle licences, support a clear conversation with your vendor, and make sure every seat you fund is delivering value to the team rather than quietly inflating your software bill.
Utilisation = active seats / purchased seats. Idle = purchased - active.
How it works
Utilisation is your active seats divided by your purchased seats, shown as a percentage. Idle seats are the purchased seats minus the active seats. Use the same definition of an active seat across the period.
Worked example
With 68 active seats and 80 purchased seats, utilisation is 68 divided by 80, which is 85.0 percent. Idle seats are 80 minus 68, which is 12 seats.
Related calculators
- Utilisation Rate Calculator: billable utilisation rate.
- Average Contract Value Calculator: average value per contract.
- Renewal Rate Calculator: share of renewals.
- Product Stickiness Calculator: DAU/MAU stickiness.