We Called 4 Queue Management Vendors for Pricing. Here's What They Actually Charge.
A 47-page sales deck. That’s what Qmatic sent when we asked for their pricing.
We didn’t ask for a demo. We didn’t request a consultation. We simply asked: “What does it cost?” Three weeks, two follow-up calls, and one NDA request later, we had a number. Sort of.
Here’s what we found after going through the same process with four of the leading queue management vendors — and why BoringQMS publishes its pricing openly on the website.
How Each Vendor Handles Pricing Requests
The way a vendor responds to a pricing question tells you a lot about the product.
Qmatic requires a sales call before revealing any pricing. After that call, we received a detailed presentation deck — features, case studies, implementation timeline, and eventually, buried in an appendix, a price range. Getting a firm quote required a second call and a formal requirements discussion.
Wavetec took a similar approach. No public pricing, enterprise-only quotes, and a request for our IT specifications before they’d provide detailed numbers. The implication: pricing depends on hardware configuration, which depends on your infrastructure, which requires their assessment team.
Qwaiting does show a pricing page — which puts them ahead of the field in transparency. However, the headline numbers cover the base plan only. The features most clinics and bank branches actually need (multi-counter support, SMS notifications, analytics) sit in higher tiers that aren’t immediately obvious from the pricing page.
BoringQMS has its pricing on the website. No call required, no deck, no NDA.
This matters not just for convenience. If a vendor makes pricing hard to find, it’s almost always because a direct comparison doesn’t favour them.
Feature and Price Comparison
Once we had quotes from each vendor, we compared them against a standard deployment scenario: a clinic or bank branch with three service counters, needing multi-counter queue routing, SMS notifications, a digital display screen, and a basic analytics dashboard.
Here’s what each plan includes at the level required for that scenario:
| Feature | BoringQMS | Qwaiting | Qmatic | Wavetec |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-counter routing | All plans | Paid tier | Enterprise | Bundled |
| SMS/WhatsApp notifications | All plans | Add-on | Add-on | Add-on |
| Digital display output | All plans | Paid tier | Enterprise | Hardware |
| Analytics dashboard | All plans | Paid tier | Enterprise | Limited |
| Mobile queue joining | All plans | Paid tier | Enterprise | — |
| Appointment booking | All plans | Add-on | Enterprise | Add-on |
The pattern is consistent across Qmatic and Wavetec: the features a real deployment requires are enterprise-tier or add-on features. The advertised base pricing covers a stripped-down version of the product.
The Hardware Cost Nobody Mentions
The bigger issue isn’t feature gating — it’s hardware.
Qmatic and Wavetec are fundamentally hardware businesses. They sell proprietary kiosks, ticket dispensers, digital display terminals, and mounting systems. Their software is designed to run on their hardware, and their pricing reflects this.
A basic Wavetec installation for a three-counter office can involve a self-service kiosk ($600–1,200), a digital display terminal ($400–800), and potentially a ticket printer if they recommend one. None of this appears on a software pricing page.
Qmatic similarly routes hardware procurement through their partner network. The software cost in their quote is often the minority of the year-one invoice.
BoringQMS requires no proprietary hardware. The kiosk runs as an app on any Android tablet — including a $49 Amazon Fire. The display screen is a URL you open in any browser on any TV, monitor, or second tablet. The year-one hardware cost for a three-counter BoringQMS deployment is roughly $50–150, not $1,500–3,000.
The Real Year-One Cost
When you factor in software, hardware, and setup for a standard three-counter deployment:
| BoringQMS | Qwaiting (with add-ons) | Qmatic (estimated) | Wavetec (estimated) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software (Year 1) | Published on website | Base + add-ons | Quote required | Quote required |
| Hardware | ~$50–150 | $200–600 | $1,500–4,000 | $1,500–5,000 |
| Setup fee | $0 | Varies | $500–2,000 | $500–2,000 |
| SMS notifications | Included | Add-on cost | Add-on cost | Add-on cost |
| Year 1 total | Low | Moderate | High | High |
Hardware and setup estimates based on vendor documentation and quote processes. Actual figures require direct vendor engagement.
What to Ask Before You Sign Anything
If you’re evaluating QMS vendors, these are the questions that reveal the real cost:
- What features are NOT included in the base plan?
- What hardware do I need to purchase, and from whom?
- Is there a setup or onboarding fee?
- How are SMS notifications charged — per message or included?
- What does year-two pricing look like after the initial contract?
A vendor that answers all five questions clearly and upfront is a vendor worth considering. A vendor that routes any of them through a sales call is signalling that the answer won’t favour them in a comparison.
BoringQMS pricing is on our website. No sales call, no deck, no hardware bundle required.
Start your free 14-day trial: demo.gethubq.com — every feature included, no credit card required.