Buy a ready-made product or have your own system built? We compare both approaches on process, integrations, ownership and cost, so you can judge for yourself what makes sense for your business.
Custom software or off-the-shelf? Owners and operations directors usually start asking this when the company has grown and its current tools begin to get in the way. The answer doesn't depend only on company size. What matters most is how far your process differs from the norm.
For standard work, off-the-shelf software is a sensible choice. You can get started quickly, and the vendor takes care of hosting and further development. For a smaller team with a standard process, it's often enough.
The trouble starts when your company works differently from what the product assumes. People fall back on spreadsheets, retype data from one program to another, and the monthly bill grows with every new hire.
Off-the-shelf software is built for a standard process and can only be configured within the limits the vendor sets. We build a custom system around how you actually work. It can, for example, read an order from an email and pre-fill it for review.
Off-the-shelf products often come with ready-made integrations for widely used tools; check the vendor's current offering to see which ones. We can connect a custom system to your inventory, ERP or accounting, as long as your software allows it.
With off-the-shelf software, you usually pay per user per month; the terms are in the current public pricing on the vendor's website. With your own system, you pay per month of work, with no per-user fees. That usually means paying more up front.
With off-the-shelf software, you're paying for the right to use it, and the code stays with the vendor. Check the vendor's current offering to see how you can get your data out. With a custom system, the code and documentation are yours from day one.
With off-the-shelf software, the vendor decides on pricing and changes. Your own system frees you from that, but someone has to look after it: you, anyone else, or us.
A custom system can bring together work that lives in separate places today, such as orders, inventory and jobs. It doesn't replace accounting, payroll or email; it just connects to them, as long as your software allows it.
We go through how you work today, what software you use and where data gets retyped by hand. If off-the-shelf software would be enough for you, we'll tell you.
We pick the smallest piece that delivers real value and give you the scope and price up front. The total number of months of work is always just an estimate.
We build the system in stages and keep showing you what's finished. The goal is a first working version within about 3 weeks. You order another month of work only if you want to.
After launch, you can run the system yourself or with anyone else. Hosting with us is optional, billed monthly, and can be cancelled with notice effective at the end of the following month.
Development
$1,900per month of work
Development is charged per month of work. A week of work comes to about $475 – a simple app is a few days of work, not weeks, and you know the price up front. A bigger system takes 2–3 months. No commitment, month to month.
Running it (optional)
The code and documentation are yours – you can use the software and deploy it yourself. Or we can help: we'll run and maintain it for you, worry-free – hosting, backups, monitoring and bug fixes. A small app is $199 per month, a larger app from $399 per month depending on complexity.
Bug fixes are included in running costs; new features are built as further development (same rate, price agreed up front).
Prices in US dollars, excl. sales tax. More about development and running costs
Typically when you're paying per user in several programs, they don't talk to each other and someone retypes data between them. Or when your process doesn't fit the software and people work around it in spreadsheets. Whether it pays off for you specifically has to be worked out from your own numbers.
If your work is standard, with no process of your own, and an off-the-shelf product fits you without changes, stay with it. Typically that's a smaller company with one tool that does what it needs. In that case, your own system would only add work and cost.
Not always. Off-the-shelf software usually starts with a lower payment, but you keep paying for it, often based on the number of users. Your own system mainly costs the work at the start, plus hosting if needed, with no per-user fee. Compare both options over several years ahead, using the current public pricing on the vendor's website for the off-the-shelf product.
We bill development at a rate per month of work; you'll find the current amount in the pricing on this page. Smaller projects take only part of a month and cost proportionally less. We give you the scope and price up front, and hosting with us is optional.
The code and documentation are yours from day one. You can run the system yourself or with anyone else, and another developer can extend it. Someone does have to look after it, but you get to choose who.
Yes. You can start with the smallest piece that delivers real value and keep your other programs running. Your own system can connect to them, as long as your software allows it. For a smaller company, one custom-built area may be all it needs.
We build every solution the same way: for exactly how you work, connected to what you already use, and you own the code and documentation.
How development with us works →Send us a few lines about how you do it today and what slows you down. We'll get back to you and set up a 30-minute call – no strings attached.