Custom software is priced in people-weeks, and clients rarely see the breakdown. Here is roughly where a mid-sized platform budget goes, based on our last several projects.
The split
- Discovery and design — around 20%. Flows, prototype, data model, written scope.
- Core build — around 50%. The features on the list.
- The unglamorous half of the build — around 20%. Permissions, admin tooling, exports, error states, email. Always underestimated.
- Launch and hardening — around 10%. Pipeline, monitoring, load, rollback rehearsal, handover documentation.
Year two is not free
Software that is being used changes. Budget something for maintenance — dependency and security updates, provider changes, the small features that arrive from real usage. A retainer of ten to fifteen percent of the build cost per year is typical.
When to buy instead
If your process is genuinely the same as everyone else's in your industry, buy the product that exists. Custom pays off where the process is your advantage, or where nothing on the market fits the shape of your operation without three integrations and a spreadsheet in the middle.