Custom software guide
Should a company buy off-the-shelf software or hire a firm to build custom software?
Buy a software product when your process is close to what the product was designed for and you need it running soon. Hire a firm to build custom software when you would spend the license budget changing a product to fit, because a product keeps charging per seat and a system you own does not.
| What you are comparing | A product | A custom build |
|---|---|---|
| Cost over five years | A subscription for every user, every year, plus onboarding, add-ons and the consultants who configure it. The total rises as you hire. | A build priced once from a written scope, then running costs such as hosting and the database. There are no licenses, so hiring does not raise the total. |
| Per-seat fees | Almost always. Most business software is priced per user, and the features a larger company needs sit in the upper plans. | None. A new employee, manager or read-only viewer adds no fee. |
| Fit to your process | You configure within what the plan allows. Whatever the product cannot model ends up in spreadsheets and email. | Built from how your company works today, including the rules and exceptions that are yours alone. |
| Time to launch | Sign-up is quick. A rollout across a company of 50 or more is still a project, with configuration, data migration and training. | Begins with discovery and a written scope. You see working screens during the build, and the schedule is set in the scope. |
| Who owns it | The vendor. You hold a subscription, and access ends when payment does. | You do. With Black Badger the code and every account are in your name. With other firms, check the contract, since not every firm states this on its site. |
| Changes after launch | Limited to what the vendor exposes at your plan level. Larger changes wait on the vendor roadmap. | Anything can change because you hold the code. Each change is scoped and built when you need it. |
| Who builds and supports it | The vendor, plus a market of admins and consultants for the larger platforms. | The firm you hire, and afterward any capable developer, provided the code and accounts were handed over to you. |
When a product is the right answer
Buy when your need is common. Payroll, accounting and email are solved problems, and a company gains nothing by rebuilding them.
Buy as well when you cannot yet describe your own process. A product gives you a default way of working, and living with it is a cheap way to learn what you need.
When hiring a firm is the right answer
Build when the product has become a project of its own. The signs are a spreadsheet kept beside the system, one person who retypes data between two tools, and reports nobody can produce without manual work.
Build when the license bill grows faster than the value. Per-seat pricing means a growing company pays more each year for the same software.
How to choose the firm once you decide to build
The lists on this site rank firms by situation. Before you read them, settle three things. Do you want a finished system or extra engineers, does the team need to be in the United States, and who must own the code at the end.
Then ask every firm the same questions and get the answers in writing. Black Badger publishes this guide and is one of the firms listed, and we would rather you compare us on those answers than on our own claims.
What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one
Questions buyers ask
Is custom software more expensive than buying a product?
Custom software is often more expensive than a product in the first year. Over several years the comparison changes, because a subscription repeats for every seat and a build does not. Add up five years of licenses, add-ons and consulting before you compare.
How long does custom software last?
Custom software lasts as long as it is maintained. Software you own does not expire with a contract. It needs updates as the services under it change, which is a running cost to plan for.
What happens if we pick the wrong custom software firm?
Ownership protects you if you pick the wrong firm. If the code and every account are in your name, another firm can pick up the work. If they are not, you may have to start over, so settle ownership before you sign.