How much does bespoke software cost?
It depends on the size of the system: the number of screens, the rules behind them, the data to be moved and the other systems to connect. Small, well-defined projects such as replacing a spreadsheet or an Access database can be quoted at a fixed price. Larger systems are priced after the scope has been agreed.
Why there is no single figure
Bespoke software is priced by the amount of work in it, and that varies enormously. A tool that replaces one shared spreadsheet and a system that runs a whole company are both bespoke software. A single average for the two tells you nothing about either.
What can be said honestly is what particular kinds of project cost. That is why we publish price ranges for four of them.
What the published ranges tell you
Each package starts from something that already exists: a workbook, an Access database, or a system that needs a portal or a connection. That existing thing acts as the specification, which is why the work can be priced in advance. The fixed-price page explains how the scope and price are agreed.
If your project looks like one of the four, the range is a fair first estimate. If it is several of them together, or there is no existing system to work from, treat the ranges as a sense of scale and no more.
What makes a project cost more
Screens and reports. Each one has to be designed, built and tested. The count of those in real use is the best single measure of size.
Rules nobody has written down. Pricing rules, approval steps and exceptions that live in people’s heads or in spreadsheet formulas have to be found before they can be built.
Data in poor condition. Duplicates, missing links between records and free-text fields used for several purposes all take time to resolve.
Connections to other systems. A system with a documented API, meaning a published way for one program to exchange data with another, is simpler to connect to than one without.
Permissions. Two roles are simple. Customers with several sites, each with their own internal roles, are not.
An unsettled scope. In our view this is the largest cost of all. Work that changes direction after it has started is paid for twice.
Getting to a figure for your project
For a rough range before you speak to anyone, the software development cost calculator asks six questions and shows a price range with a breakdown by phase. It runs in your browser and nothing you enter is sent to us.
A real quote needs a written scope. For larger systems we agree what the software must do, the assumptions and the exclusions, and then quote a fixed price against that document. If a packaged product would do the job for less, we will say so. Our bespoke software page describes how a build runs.
Related questions
Is bespoke software more expensive than an off-the-shelf product?
At the start, usually yes. A packaged product spreads its development cost across many customers and charges a subscription for each user. Bespoke software costs more to build and has no charge per user, so the comparison depends on how many people use it, for how long, and how well a packaged product fits the way you work.
Can we have a fixed price before the scope is written?
No, and a supplier who offers one is guessing. A fixed price is only as good as the scope behind it, so the scope, assumptions and exclusions are agreed in writing first.
What costs continue after the software is delivered?
Hosting and support. Both are monthly costs and sit outside the price of the build, so ask for them to be quoted at the same time.
What can we do to keep the cost down?
Decide what the first version has to do and leave the rest for later. Drop the screens and reports nobody uses, and name one person who can make decisions, because waiting for answers is a common cause of overruns.
Want the answer for your system?
Tell us what the software does and what you are trying to decide. We will reply with a straight answer and what we would need to know to be more precise.