Free tool
Buy it, configure it, or build it?
Compare a ready-made product, a low-code platform and custom software on a three-year cost and a weighted scorecard. Any vendor, any price model, with the swing criteria that decide the answer.
Compare optionsFree, no sign-up Updated Method and sources Markdown version
Summary and how to use it
In short
Buy when the capability is not what sets you apart and a product fits most of the need. Configure a platform when the process is yours but the parts are standard. Build when the software is the difference customers pay for, you can maintain it, and a three-year cost comparison still favours it after counting upkeep, your own team’s time and the months before it delivers value.
Worked example
A 40-person wholesaler needs order intake. Buying a product costs $3,000 to set up plus 12 seats at $35 a month. Configuring a low-code platform costs $9,000 plus $300 a month. Building custom costs $30,000 plus $150 a month in hosting. Upkeep is 20% a year for the two built options, and the team spends 2, 3 and 4 hours a month on each at the $46.15 loaded rate. Over three years at a 10% discount rate, buying costs about $19,000, configuring about $27,000 and building about $56,000. On the default weights, configuring scores 76, buying 73 and building 72: a close call, so the tool flags differentiation, fit, cost and exit as the criteria to test before deciding.
How to use it
- 1Describe the three options
Enter the one-time cost, seats, subscriptions, upkeep and months to value for buying, configuring a platform and building.
- 2Weight the criteria
Set how much differentiation, fit, cost, time to value, capability, control and exit matter to you.
- 3Score each option
Rate each option from 1 to 5 on each criterion, with evidence from demos, quotes and references.
- 4Read cost and score together
Compare the weighted score with the discounted three-year cost and the month each option starts delivering.
- 5Check the swing criteria
See which criteria decide the result, and test those claims with the vendor or a prototype before signing.
Compare
Three options, side by side.
Use real quotes and price pages. Leave a cell at 0 if it does not apply. Costs are discounted over three years at the rate below.
Method
Seven criteria, scored 1 to 5.
Cost and time to value are scored for you: the lowest cost or fastest option gets 5, and the rest are scaled against it. The weighted score is the sum of score times weight, scaled to 100. A swing criterion is one whose weight, set to zero, would change the winner.
- 01Differentiation
Does owning this make you better than competitors?
Default weight 15% - 02Fit to requirements
How much of the need is met without workarounds. ISO/IEC 25010 calls this functional suitability.
Default weight 20% - 03Three-year cost
Scored automatically from the discounted total cost of ownership.
Default weight 20% - 04Time to value
Scored automatically from months to value.
Default weight 15% - 05Capability to run it
Do you have, or can you hire, the people to build, run and change it?
Default weight 10% - 06Control, data and compliance
Where data lives, security, audit and the ability to meet your rules.
Default weight 10% - 07Exit and lock-in
How easily you could change course in three years.
Default weight 10%
Sources
Where the numbers come from.
Each default and rule is traced to a published source, or labelled as practitioner guidance where no audited benchmark exists.
- ISO/IEC ISO/IEC 25010:2023, product quality modelUsed forFit and control criteria
Nine product quality characteristics: functional suitability, performance efficiency, compatibility, interaction capability, reliability, security, maintainability, flexibility and safety.
- Forrester Total Economic Impact methodologyUsed forThree-year discounted cost comparison
Benefits, costs and risk, discounted over the analysis period; most published studies use three years at 10%.
- Practitioner frameworks Build vs buy decision scorecardsUsed forThe seven criteria
Published decision frameworks agree on differentiation, fit, total cost, time to value, in-house capability, compliance and exit. No audited benchmark sets the weights, so the defaults are shown and editable.
- Practitioner guidance Maintenance planning figuresUsed forDefault upkeep for building and configuring
15 to 22% of build cost a year for stable systems, 30 to 40% where integrations or prompts change often.
Terms
What the terms mean.
- Total cost of ownership (TCO)
- Every cost of an option over its life: set-up, licences, seats, hosting, your own team’s time and upkeep, not just the price.
- Configure
- Building on a low-code platform or automation tool: your process, standard parts, faster than custom and with less lock-in than a closed product.
- Time to value
- Months from decision until the option is doing useful work. Value lost while waiting is a real cost.
- Differentiation
- Whether the capability is part of why customers choose you. Differentiating software is a candidate to own; commodity software is a candidate to buy.
- Lock-in
- How hard and costly it would be to leave: data export, contract terms, proprietary logic and retraining.
- Weighted score
- Each criterion score times its weight, summed and scaled to 100.
FAQ
Questions about build vs buy.
When should a company build software instead of buying it?
When the capability is part of why customers choose you, no product fits the core of the need, you have or can hire the people to run it, and a three-year cost comparison still favours building after counting upkeep, internal time and the months before it delivers value.
What is the middle option between building and buying?
Configuring a low-code platform or automation tool such as Airtable, Retool or n8n. You get your own process on standard parts, usually faster and cheaper than custom, with less lock-in than a closed product. It suits most internal operations software.
What costs do build vs buy comparisons usually miss?
Your own team’s time on selection, implementation and testing; upkeep when connected systems change; seats that grow with headcount; migration and exit costs; and the value lost in the months before a custom build is ready.
How should the criteria be weighted?
Weight differentiation and fit highest when the software touches what customers buy; weight cost and time to value highest for back-office tools. Agree the weights before scoring options, so the weights cannot be bent to fit a favourite.
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