If you run a small collection site or a one-person C/TPA, the math on most compliance software is upside down: you pay a fixed monthly subscription whether you run one random selection or a hundred. In a business that grows client by client, that fixed cost is the thing standing between you and your next employer account.
Pay-as-you-go flips that. Instead of renting access to a platform, you buy small amounts of credit and spend it only on the handful of actions that actually produce billable value — a random selection, an annual MIS report, an invoice you send. Everything else — keeping records, managing donors, scheduling — is free, because charging for good recordkeeping only discourages compliance.
Why monthly fees hurt small testing businesses
A subscription assumes steady, predictable usage. New testing businesses don't have that. You might sign two owner-operators this month and none the next; you might run a busy quarter of pre-employment tests and a quiet one after. A $200–$400/month platform fee doesn't care — it bills the same either way, so your slow months quietly eat your good ones.
The result is a familiar trap: you either overpay for capacity you're not using, or you avoid buying the software you need and try to run a defensible DOT random program on spreadsheets. Neither helps you grow.
What "pay-as-you-go" actually means
With a token model, you top up a small balance and spend it per action. Here's the shape of it in Random Pool Manager:
| What you do | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Run a random selection (with a defensible selection certificate) | a couple of tokens |
| Generate an annual MIS report (once per company / year) | a couple of tokens |
| Send an invoice to a client, or generate a test form | a fraction of a token |
| Manage donors, companies, pools, appointments, records | Free |
The point isn't the exact number — it's the structure. You only pay on the actions that happen because you have a paying client. When business is slow, your software bill is too.
Start free. No credit card required. Create your account and receive free tokens to try the platform. There is no monthly subscription. Purchase additional tokens only when you need them.
Free starting tokens
Every new account starts with a balance of free tokens. That's enough to run real selections, generate a report, and see exactly how the workflow fits your business before you spend a dollar — not a crippled demo, the actual product.
No credit card to begin
You don't enter a card to sign up or to start using the platform. You only add a payment method when your free balance runs low and you choose to buy more — so there's nothing to cancel and no trial clock ticking against you.
Pay only for the actions you choose
Because charges attach to specific, value-producing actions, your costs scale with your revenue instead of your calendar. Ten clients cost more to serve than one — but by then you're earning from ten clients.
What you can run without a monthly bill
A pay-as-you-go platform isn't a stripped-down tool — it's a full C/TPA back office where only the value events are metered:
- Donor management — a clean roster of every driver and employee, with history, tags, and documents.
- Company management — each employer client, their DER, and their program details in one place.
- Appointments & scheduling — company and individual appointments, plus a shared calendar and standalone events.
- Forms — testing orders, chain-of-custody paperwork, and site logs, prefilled from your records.
- Invoices — bill clients directly from the platform and track what's outstanding.
- DOT random testing — defensible, cryptographically-random selections, selection certificates, pool-change reports, and the MIS data auditors ask for.
Records, rosters, results, and certificates are always free to keep and view. You're never charged to stay compliant — only to do the billable work that grows the business.
The bottom line
For a small drug-testing business, the right software cost curve is one that stays near zero when you're quiet and rises only when you're earning. That's what pay-as-you-go delivers: no subscription to justify, no card to hand over on day one, and no fixed fee punishing you for starting small. You get the full toolkit now and pay for value as you create it.
Start free — no credit card required
Create your Random Pool Manager account, get free tokens, and run your first defensible DOT random selection today.
Explore Random Pool Manager