The five questions that decide it
Differentiation, fit, rate of change, integration, and exit, with the evidence to gather for each.
Free guide · Bespoke software
Build or buy? A straight way to decide before you spend.
Whether to build custom software or buy off-the-shelf is usually decided by whoever shouts loudest, the vendor with the demo, or the developer with the itch. This guide replaces both with a framework: five questions that settle it, a five-year cost lens for both sides, and the honest list of things you should never build. No jargon, no pitch.
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What is inside
A five-year cost framework for both sides
Build, run, change and exit costs, including the costs that vendors and developers prefer not to mention.
The "do not build this" list
The categories where bespoke is almost always the wrong answer.
The third option most comparisons miss
Buy the platform. Build the part that makes you different.
A ten-statement scorecard
You can put it in front of your leadership team this week.
Who it is for, and who it is not
It is for you if: you are a decision-maker who compares custom software with an off-the-shelf product, and you want to decide on evidence, not on the last demo you saw.
It is not for you if: you already signed, you compare two off-the-shelf products with each other, or you want a tutorial. This is a decision framework, not a shopping list. It does not always conclude "build". It regularly concludes "buy". That is the point of it.
Why trust it
- We build bespoke software for a living. We still tell prospects to buy off-the-shelf when that is the honest answer, because unnecessary software is expensive for everyone. The framework in this guide is the one we use in scoping calls.
- Airbus's absence rate halved, from 8% to 4%, after we replaced their manual tracking with a bespoke absence-management system.
Blacklight developed a bespoke solution which is clean and user friendly.