Custom software pays off when your process is what sets you apart from competitors, when your team retypes data between separate packages every day, or when an off-the-shelf package forces you to work in a way that's bad for your business. In every other case an existing package is usually faster and cheaper. And often the smartest choice is a combination: you keep the standard package and have a piece of custom software built around it. This article explains how to make that call, what custom software costs compared with licences, which risks to cover and how to start small.
The short version
- Standard where you can, custom where it counts. Buy accounting, email and payroll; have the process that makes you different built.
- Look at the cost over three years, not just the one-off build price or the monthly fee.
- A hybrid is often best: your existing package stays, and a client portal, dashboard or integration around it removes the manual work.
- Make sure the code and data are yours, so you're not tied to whoever built it.
When is a standard package the better choice?
For many tasks, excellent software already exists. An accounting package, a CRM or a no-code tool is available right away, maintained by the vendor and full of features thousands of businesses have already tested. Choose standard when:
- Your process is common. Sending invoices, logging hours, sending a newsletter: no need to reinvent the wheel.
- The package fits 90 percent and the last 10 percent doesn't cost you customers or hours.
- You need to start fast and don't yet know exactly what your process looks like.
- Regulation plays a big role, as with payroll, where a vendor keeps the rules up to date for you.
When does custom software pay off?
Custom becomes interesting once a standard package costs more than it delivers, in money or in time. These are the signs:
- Your process is your edge. If the way you plan, price or deliver is what sets you apart, you don't want to squeeze it into a package everyone else uses.
- Your team glues systems together. Data is retyped from one package into another, or everything runs through a spreadsheet only one person really understands.
- Licence costs grow with your team. With per-user pricing, every new employee costs more, even if they only use a small part of the package.
- The package dictates how you work. You adapt your way of working to the software instead of the other way round, and that costs customers or time.
- You need integrations that don't exist. The package doesn't talk to your other systems, or only through a workaround.
- You want to own your data, rather than depend on one vendor's prices and decisions.
The hybrid: standard with custom around it
It's rarely all or nothing. Often the smartest choice is to keep your accounting package, CRM or webshop platform and have a piece of custom software built around it:
- An integration that automatically moves orders, customers or invoices between systems.
- A client portal where customers see their status, documents or invoices themselves, fed by your existing systems.
- An internal dashboard that brings data from several packages together in one place.
- A calculator or configurator on top of an existing platform.
Glasfixer is a good example. The webshop runs on Shopify, but a custom price calculator lets customers order made-to-measure glass without a quote. Orders no longer have to be entered by hand, which saves 10 hours a week. The standard platform does what it's good at; the custom part does the rest.
Tip: for one week, write down which tasks your team does twice, retypes or keeps track of in a spreadsheet. That list is often the best starting point for custom software, and it immediately shows how many hours it costs you.
What does custom cost compared with a package?
With a standard package you pay continuously: a monthly fee, often per user, for as long as you use it. With custom software you mainly pay once for the build, plus hosting and maintenance. To compare the two fairly, calculate over three years:
- Package: licences times the number of users times 36 months, plus the hours your team loses to workarounds and manual work.
- Custom: the build, plus three years of hosting and maintenance, minus the hours you save.
Don't forget those hours. Ten hours of manual work a week is quickly worth more than the licence itself. As an indication for custom software, based on our own projects:
| Type | Indication | Example |
|---|---|---|
| MVP | €3,000 – €5,000 | One process, one type of user, to test whether it works. |
| With accounts and admin | €5,000 – €8,000 | A client portal or internal dashboard with login and an admin panel. |
| Extensive platform | €10,000 – €15,000 | Several roles, payments or integrations with other systems. |
After a free intake you get one fixed price and a fixed deadline. How these amounts are built up is explained in How much does it cost to build an app?; web applications fall in the same price ranges.
The risks of custom software, and how to cover them
The biggest risk of custom software isn't the technology, but dependency. You swap dependency on a package vendor for dependency on whoever built your software. You cover that with a few agreements up front:
- The code is yours. Put in writing that the source code and the data are your property.
- You have access to everything. Hosting, database and wherever the code lives, in your own company's name or with full access for you.
- There's documentation. So another developer can take over if that's ever needed.
- Mainstream technology. Software in a widely used programming language is easier to hand over than something only a handful of people can maintain.
- Maintenance is agreed. Custom software needs updates too. Agree up front who does them and what they cost.
What else to look for when choosing a development partner is covered in How to choose the right app development company.
Start small: one process, one first version
The biggest mistake with custom software is wanting to replace everything at once. Pick the one process that costs the most time or money, and have a first version built for that. If it works, you expand step by step. That way you learn what you really need, and you never risk a large project stalling halfway. How to scope such a small first version is explained in What is an MVP?.
Examples from our projects
DenHaagTax: bookings, rides and payments in one system
Taxi company DenHaagTax wanted to handle bookings more simply and efficiently. We built a custom booking system that brings together bookings, dispatching rides and payments. We A/B-tested the booking flow, keeping the version that worked best for users. Since launch, DenHaagTax has seen more bookings and lower operating costs.
Haagse Taxi: one platform for two brands
The owner of Haagse Taxi also runs the Haagse Taxi Centrale. A standard booking package per brand would have doubled everything. Instead we built one booking platform that both brands run on, each with its own website. Rates and bookings live in one place, and customers see their fixed fare up front.
Getmio: a platform that meets strict requirements
For crypto broker Getmio, one of the first with a Dutch licence, we built a custom broker platform. Together with a law firm we drew up a KYC protocol. With requirements like that, custom software is often the only way to get the process exactly right.
How we work
We build web applications from internal dashboards to client portals and SaaS MVPs, usually in 4 to 8 weeks from scope to launch. Once paid, the code is fully yours, as is your data. You get access to the code and hosting with documentation, and we integrate with the systems you already use, from CRM to accounting software. After launch you can come to us for maintenance and further development.
Torn between a package and custom software? In a free intake we look together at which process would gain the most, and whether a hybrid is enough. Read more about custom web applications, see our process or browse all our cases.