Firm owners search this because a vendor quote arrived and Excel is “free.” Excel is not free. It is unpriced labour plus deadline risk.
This article explains how immigration practice software is usually sold, what ImmigrateOS publishes in CAD, and how to build a fully loaded comparison without fake ROI calculators.
The cost you already have
List monthly spend on the current stack. Typical line items in Canadian consultancies:
- CRM or email-marketing tool
- Dropbox, Google Workspace, or Microsoft 365 (you may keep M365 anyway)
- E-signature
- Stripe or similar, plus a bookkeeping tool
- A separate booking link
- SMS or WhatsApp Business
Then add the unpriced items: consultant hours renaming files, reception answering status emails, a missed expiry that becomes an emergency consultation. You do not need a national statistic to know whether that happens in your office. Count last month.
How vendors charge
| Model | Looks like | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Per seat | Pay for humans who log in | Whether clients/portal users are free; staff vs consultant rates |
| Per client or matter | Grows with success | Active vs archived; sticker shock at scale |
| Tiered modules | Portal and AI on higher plans | The demo used a plan you will not buy |
| Usage (storage, AI, SMS) | Fair if transparent | Overage math that is not in the proposal |
ImmigrateOS uses seat-based plans with unlimited clients and portal users. That is a deliberate commercial choice: we do not tax you for taking more files. You still pay for storage and AI credits as you grow. Read the live numbers on pricing rather than treating this paragraph as a contract.
Published ImmigrateOS plans (as of this article)
All in CAD, billed monthly or annually (annual advertised as two months free). 14-day Professional trial on every plan, per the pricing page. Plus applicable taxes.
| Plan | Monthly | Included seats (summary) | Storage / AI (summary) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | $199 | 1 consultant; max 2 users; optional staff +$25 | 25 GB · 500 AI credits/mo |
| Professional | $399 | 5 seats; extra consultant +$49, staff +$25 | 100 GB · 3,000 AI credits/mo |
| Business | $799 | 15 seats; extra consultant +$39, staff +$19 | 500 GB · 10,000 AI credits/mo |
| Enterprise | Custom | Scoped with you | Custom AI/storage |
Professional is described as the plan the product is built around (custom portal branding, advanced roles, QuickBooks/Xero, priority onboarding). Business adds unlimited automations, bulk operations, advanced analytics, and migration assistance. If a number above disagrees with the website, the website wins.
Build a fully loaded quote
- Base plan × 12 (or annual)
- Extra seats you will actually assign (reception and bookkeeper count)
- Expected storage at 12 months (scans are fat)
- AI credits if you will use extraction and drafts daily
- SMS or e-sign if billed outside the plan (ask)
- One-time migration (hours × loaded consultant rate, or vendor fee)
- Subtract tools you will cancel — only if you will truly cancel them
Do not subtract “hours saved” unless you will reduce payroll or take more files. Time saved that becomes more WhatsApp is not ROI.
Common pricing mistakes
- Comparing a complete platform to the cost of Excel alone
- Buying Solo for a five-person firm and sharing a password (you lose audit and probably the contract)
- Ignoring annual vs monthly when cash flow is seasonal
- Forgetting implementation is a cost even when the vendor says “self-serve”
Worked examples (using published ImmigrateOS list prices)
These are illustrations of list math, not quotes. Taxes extra. Confirm seat rules on the pricing page when you buy.
Solo RCIC + one assistant. Solo is $199/month for one consultant, maximum two users, optional staff at +$25. That is the small-shop shape: two humans, unlimited clients, 25 GB, 500 AI credits.
Growing shop on Professional. $399/month includes five seats, 100 GB, 3,000 AI credits, custom portal branding, QuickBooks/Xero, and priority onboarding. Extra consultant seats are listed at +$49 and staff at +$25. Count real logins — reception and bookkeeping included — before you assume five is enough.
Larger team on Business. $799/month includes fifteen seats, 500 GB, 10,000 AI credits, unlimited automations, bulk operations, advanced analytics, and migration assistance. This is the tier where “we will import ourselves over a weekend” is no longer the plan.
Annual billing is advertised as two months free ($1,990 / $3,990 / $7,990). If cash is lumpy (study-permit season), monthly may be rational even if annual is cheaper on paper.
How ImmigrateOS can help
You can start a trial, or book a demo and ask us to map Solo vs Professional to your headcount. Integrations that affect cost (Stripe, Square, QuickBooks, Xero) are listed on integrations.
We will not claim a universal payback period. We will say this: if unlimited clients matter to you, put that in the spreadsheet next to any per-matter competitor, using their current public pricing, not a guess.
Frequently asked questions
How much is ImmigrateOS?
Published plans (CAD, plus tax): Solo $199/month, Professional $399/month, Business $799/month, with annual options that amount to two months free. Unlimited clients and portal users. Extra seats, storage, and AI credits vary by plan. Confirm figures on the pricing page; they can change.
Why do some tools charge per client or per case?
It matches how they think about matters. It also punishes growth: a good year makes software more expensive. Ask what happens at 2× caseload with the same headcount.
What hidden costs should I budget?
Onboarding time, data migration, extra storage, AI credit overages, e-sign envelopes if billed separately, SMS, accounting sync, and the overlapping subscriptions you forget to cancel (CRM, Dropbox, a form tool).
Is a free trial enough to estimate ROI?
It is enough to see whether the team will use it. ROI shows up when portal collection replaces chasing, and when deadlines are visible. We will not invent hour-saved statistics. Track one metric for 30 days: time-to-complete-document-checklist on new files.
This article is practice-management guidance for immigration professionals. It is not legal, immigration, or regulatory advice, and ImmigrateOS is not affiliated with IRCC, CICC, or any government agency. Confirm current professional obligations with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants and current program rules with IRCC.