Custom software or an off-the-shelf program: how to choose

Six criteria

Fit with your process

An off-the-shelf program has the vendor’s process. If yours looks the same, it is the cheapest option and there is nothing to discuss. If it differs in a few places, the workarounds begin: a “notes” field for everything, a spreadsheet on the side, a rule that “we never click that”.

The rule I use: if the ready-made program does most of your process and the rest happens outside it, you are paying for the program and for the workarounds at the same time. A custom system does the whole of it and nothing more.

Cost over time

An off-the-shelf program is a subscription, usually per user per month. With five people it is not much. With thirty people over three years it is a figure worth writing down next to the cost of a custom system. Add the staff time lost to workarounds.

A custom system is a one-off build, billed per module, meaning per self-contained part of the system, after you accept it. After that there is the server and upkeep, which I cover on the page how much custom software costs.

Dependence on the vendor

The vendor of a ready-made program can raise the price, change the features, withdraw the program, or be bought by someone who does. Stop paying and you lose access. A custom system is yours: the code, the documentation and every credential pass to you with each stage you pay for. You can change the developer; the system stays.

Data

In an off-the-shelf program your data sits with the vendor. Check before buying whether you can export it in full and in what format. In a custom system the data sits on your server or with a provider you pick yourself, and export to a spreadsheet is one button.

Changes in the process

Companies change. In a ready-made program you ask the vendor for a feature and wait until enough other customers ask for it too. In a custom system a change is work with a quote and a date in writing.

Connections to other programs

Ready-made programs connect to whatever the vendor planned for. If your accounting, courier or supplier system is not on their list, you are back to workarounds, and each program shows different figures. A custom system connects to what you need, including programs that have no ready-made connection at all. How that works is in the guide on connecting the programs in your company.

When to pick an off-the-shelf program

• The process is standard: invoicing, email, time tracking, a simple task list.
• The company has a handful of people and a subscription can cost less than a custom-built feature.
• You do not yet know what the process should look like. A ready-made program will show you what is missing, and you will build the custom system with that knowledge.

When to pick a custom system

The four situations where a custom system pays off more than a ready-made program are on the main page of the guide. One of them is a process that is your edge. That was the case at the kayak rental, where no ready-made booking system understood the van rule.

When to mix both

The best answer is often both. The ready-made accounting program stays, because it does accounting well and your bookkeeper knows it. The custom system does what the program lacks: job intake, production, a customer portal, and it exchanges data with the accounting program. You do not throw out what works. You add what is missing.

The same goes for payments and couriers. I do not build a payment provider, because Stripe or Przelewy24 do it better and cheaper. The custom system connects to them, and you see the payment next to the order.

What you get with a custom system and how the build runs is on the main page of the guide. If you want to talk about a specific program you use, describe in the form below what it does well and what it lacks. I will get back to you, including when the answer is “stay with what you have”.