While several preventive maintenance software manufacturers offer free trials for their products before charging a fee, some companies offer their products for free. Free preventive maintenance software is rare, and is sometimes less thorough than software that must be purchased, but it can be a good solution for a new or struggling business.

Often a company will offer the bare minimum of their software for free, and ask that the consumer pay for any upgrades. Again, this bare minimum could be enough for many businesses. Alternatively, it is often sufficient for a company to get free preventive maintenance software just for help with the scheduling of the work while they carry out the rest of the operations manually.

In addition, many preventive maintenance programs offer 30-day trials where the user can see if the software will match their needs. During this time, the user could see how the software works and try to manually duplicate its effects after the 30 days are finished. This is possible, but not recommended because the softwares purpose is to make peoples jobs easier. Trying to duplicate its processes may create more trouble than it is worth.

In many cases, CMMS programs are offered as shareware. With this option, the user must be careful to get authorized copies in order to avoid any harmful computer viruses and as well as costly copyright issues. However, if the consumer confirms that they have legitimate software, this can be a good option.

Whether a user should obtain free preventive maintenance software or pay for it will depend on the his or her needs. Either option can be viable, but large, complex organizations are probably better off buying the software.