IT · 8 min
When to build software and when to buy it
Custom software is expensive to love. Buy when the problem is common. Build when the process is the business.
If fifty companies in your sector already do this with a known product, buying is the default. Your uniqueness is probably not the invoice screen.
Build when the workflow is how you compete, or when the product would force you to fake your process. Then custom is cheaper than a permanent fight with configuration.
Count operators, not only developers. A bought tool still needs owners, backups and an exit. A built tool needs the same, plus someone who can change it.
The cost of being stuck matters. Can you export your data. Can you leave. A cheap subscription with a hostage database is not cheap.
Hybrid is allowed: buy the commodity, build the edge, connect them with an API you control. Scope the seam as carefully as either side.
Bring this question to consultation if you are stuck between a vendor demo and a custom estimate. We will say 'buy' when that is the honest answer.