Comparison
Off-the-shelf, configured, or custom: how to decide
This is usually framed as two options and it is really three: buy a product and use it as it comes, buy a product and configure it heavily, or build something. Most businesses should do the first. This page sets out how to tell which one you are, from a company that sells the third.
- Three options, not two
- The five-year sum
- We will tell you to buy
The three options side by side
| Off-the-shelf | Configured product | Custom build | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to running | Days | Weeks to months | Weeks to months |
| Upfront cost | Low or none | Licence plus setup fees | The build, quoted up front |
| Ongoing cost | Per user, per month, rising | Per user plus add-ons and integrations | Hosting and support only |
| Fits your process | You fit the product | Close, with compromises | Built to it |
| Who owns it | The vendor | The vendor | You, including the code |
| Cost of change | Wait for the roadmap | Reconfigure, sometimes rebuild | Quoted, then done |
| Risk if the supplier fails | You migrate under pressure | You migrate under pressure | You hold the code |
| Best for | A conventional process | Mostly conventional, one or two quirks | A process that is genuinely your own |
Start by assuming you should buy
For most business functions there is a mature product built by a company employing more developers than we ever will, sold at a price no bespoke build can approach because the cost is spread across thousands of customers. Accounting, payroll, email, storage, standard CRM and standard project management are all in that category, and building any of them from scratch would be difficult to justify.
The honest test is whether you can name the specific thing an off-the-shelf product will not do. Not that it feels clunky, not that the team dislikes it, but a concrete requirement it cannot meet. If you cannot name one, the problem is usually configuration, training or adoption, and all three are far cheaper to fix than a build.
We ask that question first in every software conversation we have, and a fair share of them end with us naming a product to buy. That costs us a project and saves the client a great deal of money, which is a trade we are happy with.
Where a build genuinely is the answer, the process is set out under custom software development.
The four signals that a build is genuinely warranted
One of these on its own rarely justifies it. Two or three usually do.
-
Your process is the competitive advantage
If the way you do the work is why customers choose you, forcing it into a standard product means becoming more like everyone else. That is the strongest argument for building, and it is rarer than people think.
-
The workarounds cost more than the licence
A product held in shape by three integrations, a spreadsheet and a weekly manual reconciliation is not really off-the-shelf any more. Add up what those cost in hours before comparing prices.
-
Per-user pricing has outgrown you
Subscriptions scale with headcount whether or not the value does. Ten users at forty pounds a month is close to twenty-nine thousand pounds over five years, and that number rises every time you hire.
-
Nothing joins up
Four products that each do their job and none of which talk to each other. Often the answer here is integration rather than a build, which is cheaper than either option in this table.
The comparison people forget to make
Buying is nearly always cheaper in year one and the gap is large enough that the decision looks obvious. The comparison worth making is over five years, with everything counted: licences at the headcount you expect to have rather than the one you have now, the add-ons that make the product usable, the integrations, the setup fees, and the hours your team spends on the workarounds.
Against that, a build has a large first-year cost and then hosting and support. The lines usually cross somewhere between year three and year five for a business of any size, and the crossing point moves earlier every time you hire somebody.
This is not an argument that building wins. For plenty of businesses the lines never cross, and the flexibility of being able to leave a product is worth real money. It is an argument for doing the sum with honest numbers rather than comparing a monthly fee against a project quote and stopping there.
Real figures and what moves them are in our guide to what custom software actually costs in the UK.
The middle option is where most projects go wrong
Heavy configuration is the option nobody chooses deliberately and most businesses end up in. It starts as a standard product, then a consultant customises it, then a plugin is added, then an integration, and three years later it is a bespoke system with none of the advantages of one.
It cannot be upgraded easily, it cannot be moved, only one consultancy understands it, and it still carries the per-user fee. If that description is uncomfortably familiar, the useful question is not whether to build. It is whether what you have is already a custom system that you do not own.
- Upgrades become risky rather than routine
- The configuration knowledge sits with one supplier
- You pay the licence and carry the bespoke cost
Get the sum done properly before deciding
The free review maps your process, counts what the current arrangement costs in licences and hours, and gives you a written recommendation with a fixed quote if a build is warranted.
Where the answer is to buy a product or fix a configuration, it says that instead, and you keep the findings either way.
Get in touch
Talk to us about off-the-shelf vs custom
A few lines is enough. We will tell you straight whether we can help, what it would cost and how quickly we can be there. No hard sell, and no follow-up sequence if you decide against it.
- We reply within one working day
- A straight answer, including when it is no
- Free process review available, before any money changes hands
Would rather just ring? 01623 354250, Mon–Fri, 9am–5:30pm.
Frequently asked questions
If the answer is not here, ask us. You will get a straight one, from someone who does the work.
Mon–Fri, 9am–5:30pm
Is custom software worth it for a small business?
Sometimes, and less often than software companies suggest. It is worth it when your process is genuinely your own, when the workarounds propping up a product cost more than the licence, or when per-user pricing has outgrown the value it delivers. If you cannot name the specific thing an off-the-shelf product will not do, buy the product.
How much cheaper is off-the-shelf software?
Much cheaper in year one, and the gap narrows over time. A per-user subscription grows with headcount while a build is a fixed cost followed by hosting and support. The lines commonly cross between years three and five, but only if you count the add-ons, integrations and workaround hours honestly.
What is the risk of building custom software?
That it costs more than expected, takes longer than expected, or solves a problem the business has stopped having by the time it ships. All three are managed the same way: a narrow first version that does one thing properly, a fixed price, and running it alongside what exists rather than replacing everything at once.
Can we start with off-the-shelf and build later?
Yes, and it is often the sensible path. Use a product, find out precisely where it fails you, then build the part that matters and integrate it with the rest. That sequence produces a much better specification than starting from a blank page.
What happens if our software company goes out of business?
With a product, you migrate under time pressure to whatever your data can be exported into. With custom software you hold the code and the data, so another team can pick it up. That is a real difference, and it is a bigger part of the decision than it is usually given credit for.