What software costs in Kenya
The shapes of build project, and what drives the price.
Read moreComparison
Building custom software vs buying off-the-shelf
Should we buy an existing product or build our own?
We build custom software, so treat what follows accordingly — and then note that most businesses that ask us this should buy. Saying so costs us work in the short term and saves us projects that were never going to succeed.
The question is not which is better. It is whether the way you do this particular thing is a genuine advantage worth paying to preserve, or simply how you have always done it.
Side by side
| Â | Buy off-the-shelf | Build custom |
|---|---|---|
| Cost up front | Low — a subscription starts immediately | Higher — you fund the whole build |
| Cost over five years | Scales with users; can overtake a build | Front-loaded, then maintenance only |
| Time to working | Days or weeks | Months |
| Fit to your process | You adapt to the product | It is built around how you work |
| Who fixes it | The vendor, on their timetable | Whoever you choose, on yours |
| If the vendor raises prices | You pay, or you migrate | Not applicable |
| If your needs change | Wait for the roadmap, or work around it | Change it |
When each one is right
Choose buy off-the-shelf if
- A product exists that fits without changing how you work in any way that matters
- The function is not a differentiator — accounting, payroll, email, HR records
- You need it working this month
- Your volumes are modest enough that per-user pricing stays comfortable
- You do not want to be responsible for maintaining software
Choose build custom if
- The way you do this specific thing is genuinely why customers choose you
- No product fits without changing a process that works well
- Licence costs have started scaling badly against your headcount or volume
- You need it to work with systems no product will integrate with
- The data is sensitive enough that where it lives is a business decision
Our answer
What we would tell you
Buy where the function is common and the product fits. Nobody has ever won market share through a better in-house leave-request form, and a build there is money spent on something a subscription does adequately.
Build where the process is the advantage, or where you have outgrown what a product can bend to. The signal is usually not a feature you lack but a growing pile of spreadsheets and workarounds sitting alongside a product that almost fits.
The most expensive outcome is the middle: buying a product that nearly fits and then paying to bend it, year after year, until the customisation costs more than the build would have. If you are already there, count what the workarounds cost before renewing.
Related
Where to next
Application Development & Maintenance
How we build and maintain custom systems.
Read moreCase study: Texas SoluTech
A build that was right, with the reasoning and the numbers.
Read more
