Comparison
A practical decision framework for U.S. small businesses with 1–50 employees deciding whether to keep paying for SaaS that doesn't fit, switch to a different SaaS, or commission custom software.
SaaS wins when a product covers 80% or more of your needs with light configuration, when you need it tomorrow, or when the workflow is generic enough that someone has built it well already. Custom software wins when your workflow is the differentiator, when you’ve already tried 2+ SaaS products and none fit, when you’re paying for features you don’t use while still missing the ones you need, or when your team works around the system instead of with it. For U.S. small businesses with 1–50 employees, the break-even point is typically 18–36 months.
| Dimension | SaaS | Custom software |
|---|---|---|
| Time to start | Hours to days | 3–8 weeks |
| Upfront cost | $0–$2,000 | $8,000–$25,000 |
| Monthly cost | $20–$200/user/mo | $25–$200/mo (hosting + tools) |
| Cost at scale (50 users) | $5,000–$10,000/mo | $50–$500/mo |
| Customization | Configuration only | Anything you want |
| Maintenance | Vendor handles | You + a developer/retainer |
| Updates/new features | Vendor decides | You decide |
| Data ownership | Vendor (you can export) | You |
| Lock-in risk | High (workflow becomes vendor-shaped) | Low (you own the code) |
| Best for | Common workflows | Differentiated workflows |
Ask these 6 questions:
If 4+ answers point to custom, talk to us. If 4+ point to SaaS, save your money and configure SaaS better.
You don’t have to pick one. Most successful SMB stacks are SaaS for foundational tools (accounting, email, file storage, payment), SaaS for departmental workflows where it fits (HubSpot for marketing, QuickBooks for accounting), custom software for the workflows that are differentiated (your operations, your client portal, your internal admin), and workflow automation to connect everything.
Hosting + tools: $25–$200/month for SMB scale. Maintenance: optional retainer of $1,500–$3,500/month. Total monthly cost is usually similar to or below comparable SaaS, especially as team size grows.
Custom software grows with you. SaaS sometimes can't (every SaaS has a ceiling on how much customization it allows). If anything, SaaS is more likely to become a bottleneck than custom code.
Yes, when built and maintained properly. Modern hosting (Vercel, Supabase, AWS) gives SMB-scale custom apps the same uptime as enterprise SaaS.
SaaS vendors handle security as a service. Custom software requires you (or your developer) to handle it. For most SMB use cases, modern hosting platforms handle the heavy lifting (HTTPS, backups, access control), and we follow standard practices.
Almost never. Build the 1–3 things that are core to how you operate. Buy SaaS for everything else.
Often yes — and many do. The risk is that you build organizational dependence on a SaaS that becomes painful to leave.
Around $8,000. Below that, you're better off with SaaS, automation between SaaS products, or a focused internal tool.
