What the 2027 increase covers
- Nov 2026
SaaS
Most IBM SaaS rises 9% on November 1, 2026. A subset, including Planning Analytics as a Service, rises 20%.
- Jan 2027
Passport Advantage
Distributed software, Subscription and Support renewals and mainframe software rise 9% on January 1, 2027.
- Jan 2027
IBM i
IBM i software maintenance rises 12%.
- Excluded
Recent acquisitions
Confluent, HashiCorp and Apptio offerings are excluded.
The January 2026 harmonization raised most software, SaaS, mainframe software and Power hardware by about 6%.
Why it compounds
Subscription and Support renews every year and is repriced each January. An increase applied to support carries into every year after it. For capacity-based software measured in PVUs or VPCs, sub-capacity licensing also depends on the IBM License Metric Tool, installed within 90 days of the first sub-capacity deployment. Without it, IBM can price software at the full capacity of the server.
Where Deal IQ comes in
This page covers what has changed and where the cost sits. Turning that into a better price on your contract is the negotiation itself. Deal IQ has run 75+ IBM negotiations covering $600M+ in contract value, with a network of 350+ former vendor sales, pricing and deal desk leaders that includes people who sold IBM. We negotiate directly with IBM or behind the scenes with your team, and our fee comes from the savings.
Frequently asked questions
How much is IBM's 2027 price increase?
9% on Passport Advantage software and S&S renewals from January 1, 2027, 9% on most SaaS from November 1, 2026, with some SaaS at 20% and IBM i maintenance at 12%.
What does IBM's price increase exclude?
Confluent, HashiCorp and Apptio offerings.
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