Build vs. Buy Calculator
Compare the 5-year Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of paying for off-the-shelf SaaS subscriptions versus building your own custom internal software.
Buying SaaS (Off-the-shelf)
25 users
$150/mo
Include Salesforce, Hubspot, Notion, or any specialized industry software.
Building Custom Software
$45,000
One-time upfront development cost.
$5,000/yr
5-Year Total Cost of Ownership
$225kBuy SaaS
$70kBuild Custom
Over 5 years, you will save
$155,000
by building custom software.
Custom Software Pros
You own the IP, no per-user fees, tailored exactly to your workflow, builds equity.
SaaS Pros
Zero upfront cost, instant deployment, maintenance handled by vendor.