Build vs. buy
Custom software or off-the-shelf? An honest way to decide.
Buy off-the-shelf when your process is standard and a tool already fits it. Build custom when the way you work is the advantage, or when your best people spend their week bridging tools that don’t talk to each other. Most owner-led companies end up with both: standard tools for standard work, and one custom system for the work that runs through the owner.
Updated
Side by side
| Off-the-shelf SaaS | Platform or ERP, configured | Spreadsheets & no-code | Custom system | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fits your workflow | You adapt to it | Partly, through configuration | Fully, until it breaks | Built around it |
| Time to start | Days | Months | Days | 1–2 months for a small build, up to a year for the largest |
| Cost shape | Per-seat subscription, for as long as you use it | Licences plus an implementation project | Cheap software, paid for in people’s hours | From $10,000 per build, plus hosting in your own accounts |
| Who owns it | The vendor | The vendor | You, scattered across files | You: code, data and infrastructure |
| Edge cases | Workarounds | Customization, often costly | Handled by hand | Written in as rules |
| Audit trail | Varies by tool | Usually strong | Weak | Every change traced |
| Best for | Standard work: email, payroll, accounting | Large, standardized operations | Early or one-off work | Work that runs through the owner or one critical person |
Buy off-the-shelf when
- Your process looks like everyone else’s in your industry.
- The tool fits without someone bridging the gaps every week.
- You’re happy to change how you work to match it.
Build custom when
- The way you work is why customers choose you.
- Approvals, estimates or reports wait on one person, often the owner.
- Your best people re-key data between tools, or rebuild the same spreadsheet every week.
- The work has to be provably right: validation, traceability, audit trails.
- You’ve configured a platform as far as it goes, and the real work still happens in Excel.
The usual answer: both
A custom system doesn’t replace your accounting package or your email. It connects to them. A WORTH system pulls from the spreadsheets, inboxes, accounting and tools you already pay for, and reconciles them into one source of truth. Standard tools keep doing standard work.
The custom part goes where the bottleneck is: the approvals, estimates, validation and reporting that wait on you. See three examples, or see what a build costs.
Common questions
Is custom software worth it for a $5–50M company?
When the bottleneck costs more than the build. If 15 hours a week of an owner’s time waits on them at $250 an hour, that’s about $93,750 a year at twice the speed. WORTH builds start at $10,000.
Will you tell me if I don’t need custom software?
Yes. If an off-the-shelf tool fits, I’ll tell you. Custom is for the work that doesn’t fit anything else.
Can a custom system work alongside the software we already use?
Yes. Connecting to the spreadsheets, inboxes, accounting and tools you already pay for is a normal part of the build.
Who owns a custom system?
With WORTH, you do. The code, data and infrastructure live in your accounts from day one, fully documented.
Every build starts with discovery
Not sure which side you’re on?
Tell me where your time goes. If an off-the-shelf tool fits, I’ll say so.
Is it possible? Find out