Bespoke software, or something off the shelf?

People come to us wanting a custom system more often than they need one. That is not a criticism — it is genuinely hard to tell from the inside whether your process is unusual or just familiar.

So here is the test we apply before quoting anyone for a bespoke build.

Does something already do this?

If an off-the-shelf product covers 80% of what you need for €30 a month, buying it is almost always right. Software you own is software you maintain, forever. That is a real cost and it does not appear on the quote.

We will tell you when we think this is the answer, even though it means we do not get the work.

Is the awkward bit actually the valuable bit?

The case for building something is usually not efficiency. It is that the awkward, non-standard part of how you work is your advantage — the thing competitors cannot copy from a product page. Software that encodes that is worth owning. Software that reimplements invoicing is not.

What happens when it breaks at 11pm?

This is the question that decides most of them. Custom software needs someone whose job it is to look after it. If that is a freelancer who might be on holiday, you have swapped a subscription for a single point of failure.

If it does make sense

Then the next question is scope, and that is where projects go wrong far more often than in the build. We run a free software review — you answer some questions about what you are trying to do, and you get an honest estimate of range and complexity before anyone talks about money.

You can also read more about how we approach bespoke development. Both of those are free and neither commits you to anything.