What Is a CMMS? Meaning, Cost and How to Choose (2026)

What does CMMS stand for?

CMMS stands for computerized maintenance management system. You will also see it called maintenance management software, work order software or preventive maintenance software. They describe the same kind of tool. The word “system” is a leftover from when this meant a server in the plant office; today almost every CMMS runs in a web browser and on a phone.

What a CMMS does

Strip away the feature lists and a CMMS does five jobs:

1. Keeps the equipment list. Every machine, its location, model, serial number, manuals and warranty, in one place instead of on a clipboard. Most tools print QR code labels so a technician can scan a machine and see its history.
2. Schedules preventive maintenance (PM). You set what needs doing and how often, and the system creates the job when it comes due. That can be by calendar (every 3 months) or by usage, such as run hours or cycles. See meter-based vs calendar-based maintenance.
3. Tracks work orders. A work order is one job: what is wrong, who is doing it, the checklist, the parts used, the time spent and the notes when it is done. Breakdowns and PMs both become work orders.
4. Tracks spare parts. What is on the shelf, what each job used, and when to reorder before you run out.
5. Remembers everything. Every finished job becomes history, so you can answer “when was this last serviced?”, “which machine breaks most?” and “did we do the PMs the auditor will ask about?”.

CMMS vs a spreadsheet: when to switch

Plenty of shops run maintenance on a spreadsheet, a whiteboard or a card rack, and for one person with a handful of machines that can work. These are the signs it has stopped working:

• Preventive maintenance gets missed because nobody looked at the sheet that week.
• More than one person does maintenance, and they keep different notes.
• A machine goes down and nobody can say what was last done to it.
• You find out a part is out of stock when you need it.
• An auditor, insurer or customer asks for maintenance records and it takes a day.

The spreadsheet is not the problem; nobody being reminded is. A CMMS sends the job to the right person when it is due and keeps the record when it is done. For the full comparison, read maintenance spreadsheet vs software. If you are staying on a spreadsheet for now, our free preventive maintenance schedule template is a good place to start.

CMMS vs EAM vs ERP

These get mixed up in vendor marketing. A CMMS runs day-to-day maintenance. An EAM (enterprise asset management) system adds the whole life of an asset, from purchase and depreciation to disposal, and is built for large organizations with many sites. An ERP runs the business, such as orders, inventory, accounting and payroll, and sometimes has a maintenance module bolted on. A small team almost always wants a CMMS, and it does not need an ERP to use one: see maintenance software without an ERP.

What a CMMS costs

Most CMMS vendors charge per user, per month. That sounds small until you multiply it out: every technician you add raises the bill, which pushes shops to share logins or leave people off, and then the records are incomplete. Here is what published pricing works out to for a 10-person team:

We make RunTight, so check our pricing page yourself. The short version: a Free plan for up to 5 people, Team at $49 a month for up to 10 people with parts, purchase orders and hour-based PMs, and Pro at $149 a month with no limit on people. You pay per workspace, not per person, so adding a technician costs nothing until you pass your plan's limit.

Watch for the costs that are not on the price list too: paid onboarding or “implementation” packages, features held back for higher tiers, and annual contracts you cannot leave.

How to choose a CMMS for a small team

Big plants buy a CMMS through a months-long evaluation. A small team should be able to decide in a week by trying it on real equipment. Check these:

• Price that does not grow with headcount. You want every technician in it, so per-user pricing works against you.
• Technicians will actually use it on a phone. If closing a job takes more than a minute on the shop floor, it will not get done. See why shop-floor adoption decides it.
• It imports your spreadsheet. Retyping 200 machines is where most setups stall.
• You can set it up yourself. No sales call or consultant needed to get your first PM running.
• You can get your data out. Make sure you can export equipment and history if you ever leave.

Already comparing vendors? Our side-by-sides cover MaintainX, UpKeep, Fiix and Limble, and our MaintainX alternatives guide sorts the field by what each tool is best at.

Getting started in an afternoon

1. List your equipment, or import the spreadsheet you already have.
2. Add the five or ten PMs that matter most. Do not try to load every manual on day one.
3. Print QR labels and stick them on the machines.
4. Invite the people who do the work and have them close their next job in the app.
5. After a month, look at what broke most and adjust your PMs.

That is the whole setup in RunTight. You can start free and have your first PM scheduled before the end of the day.

Frequently asked questions