Your Bentley License Usage Is Bleeding Budget

If you're in the business of civil infrastructure, you already know Bentley tools like are essential to your workflow. They’re powerful, reliable, and often required for DOT projects. But they’re also expensive—and many firms are spending more than necessary simply because of how those licenses are managed.

Bentley’s licensing model is not straightforward. Between term licenses, perpetual licenses, usage alerts, and quarterly invoicing cycles, it’s easy for costs to get out of hand. Even well-organized firms can find themselves overpaying—sometimes by tens of thousands of dollars each year—without realizing it.

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Where the Budget Bleed Happens

In my experience working with civil and transportation firms, a few patterns show up consistently when it comes to licensing inefficiencies:

- Teams using OpenRoads Designer for simple tasks that don’t require a full license.

- Licenses tied up on inactive machines or accounts that are no longer in use.

- Usage spikes during project crunch times that quietly trigger additional charges.

- A lack of regular review of SELECTserver or CONNECT usage reports.

These aren’t careless mistakes—they’re the result of a licensing structure that’s hard to manage day to day. And when you’re focused on hitting project deadlines, license monitoring usually isn’t at the top of the list.
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A Real-World Example

A mid-sized firm was regularly exceeding its Bentley license threshold—not by much, just a couple of users during peak project periods. But those small overages added up to nearly $18,000 per year in unexpected costs.

After reviewing usage patterns and identifying where and when those spikes were happening, the firm made a few straightforward adjustments. By reassigning licenses more intentionally and setting up basic monitoring practices, they were able to eliminate the overages the following quarter. It wasn’t a massive overhaul—just better visibility and a bit more structure around how licenses were managed.

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It’s Not About Cutting Tools

What most firms need isn’t fewer tools—it’s a better understanding of how those tools are being used.

For example:

- Are all OpenRoads users actually designing, or could some be using viewer licenses?

- Is there a process to reclaim licenses when someone leaves or shifts roles?

- Do team leads have visibility into current usage so they can avoid unexpected charges?

As projects get more complex and margins stay tight, even modest improvements in license management can have a measurable impact. And they often reveal other areas for efficiency—like training, onboarding, and standardization.

If You're Not Sure Where to Start

It can be hard to know what’s normal and what’s waste when it comes to software usage. A license audit doesn’t need to be a huge lift—it’s just a way to get a clearer view of what’s going on so you can make more informed decisions as a leader and a better hold of your budget.

Whether you do it in-house or ask for outside help, getting a handle on your Bentley license usage is one of the easiest ways to improve budget predictability without compromising your workflows. Reach out today to learn how we can help you do a free audit.

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