Subscription Apps vs Custom Build: The Real Cost Comparison 

Subscription apps look cheaper at first 

The advantage of subscription apps is that you can get started fast and do not have to pay for design, development and testing.

Most SaaS products charge a monthly or yearly subscription fee. Some charge per user, and others charge a higher tier for features, storage, integrations or support.  

Actual subscription cost may include: 

• Per user or per seat charge. 
• Extra seats as the team grows. 
• Purchased add-ons for reporting, automation, or integration. 
• Premium support charges. 
• Data migration and implementation. 
• New employee training. 
• Time spent to bring data in and out of disconnected systems. 

The Hidden Cost of Subscription Apps 

For example, an eight-person team spends £350 a month on 6 software products. The annual price is £4,200. The team might also use time-consuming tasks including copying the customer data from one system to another or checking duplicate data and cleaning up order invoices. 

If one employee spends two hours a week transferring data between the CRM and project management system, a gap that system integrations can close, that’s more than 100 working hours a year wasted performing that single process. This includes spreadsheet management, manual reporting, and staff, and the cost increases steeply. 

For example: 

• Six subscriptions: £4,200 a year. 
• Seven hours of manual work each week. 
• Internal employment cost: £25 per hour. 
• Workaround cost: about £9,100 a year. 
• Approximate total: £13,300 a year. 

Custom Builds Need more Money Upfront 

Custom development apps need more upfront investment, as you are paying for discovery, user experience design, and development, testing and hosting setup, and security work before the system is live. 

Cost will vary based on number of users, integration options, security needs, and workflow complexity.  

• Requirements for workshops. 
• Technical architecture. 
• Interface and user experience design. 
• Mobile or web development. 
• Integration with existing systems. 
• Quality assurance and user acceptance testing. 
• Deployment to production. 
• Documentation and staff training. 

You also need to budget for maintenance. A custom system requires security updates, monitoring, bug fixes, backups, and changes when services are changed, and APIs change. 

Flexibility affects the long-term cost of custom software 

A prebuilt platform is built to cater for multiple businesses, and therefore you’ll have to align your processes around the features available. If you extend it with other tools or manual labour it can become a bit expensive. 

The approach to custom software is different. You build the system but in accordance with how your team is currently operating, you then stack features on top as the need arises. This type of integration can be helpful for business owners who have a certain set of workflows, with all the approval processes, and across multiple systems requiring data to be shared. 

When a Subscription App Makes Sense 

Choose a subscription product when: 

• You have less users on your team. 
• Your workflow is the same as the software’s normal features. 
• No special approvals or calculations are required. 
• You want the supplier to be responsible for upgrades and infrastructure. 
• It is important to try out an idea before investing more. 

If the application controls an important process, review its export options, service terms, security documentation, and pricing structure before you commit. 

When a Custom Build Earns its Place 

Start by making a list of all the software subscriptions your company pays for in all departments. Choose custom if:

• Your team relies on three or more tools on one workflow. 
• Staff make repeated efforts to transfer the same information across platforms. 
• You have critical spreadsheets that you are unable to use your software to manage. 
• As you scale, per-user pricing also rapidly increases. 
• Specific integrations, permissions or approval rules are required. 
• You require more control of data, reporting or future changes. 

Do not compare one year’s cost with five years of savings 

Many build or buy arguments fail at this point. A business receives the detailed quote and compares this to the subscription fees for one year. 

This makes it appear as though the subscription service is more affordable. Rather, develop two basic, five-year models. 

Your subscription model 

Record: 

• Existing subscriber rates 
• Expected user growth 
• Any extra applications that may be required. 
• Higher pricing tiers 
• Integration costs 
• Manual processing done by staff 
• Technology assistance and ongoing support 
• Expected changes to the business 

You custom-build model 

Record: 

• Discovery and development 
• Design and testing 
• Hosting 
• Security and maintenance 
• Support 
• Future features 
• Integrations 
• Migration from existing systems 

This way, you can easily compare the total cost of ownership instead of a monthly invoice and a development proposal. 

Conclusion: Choose the software model that fits your business 

Choosing between subscription apps, custom-built software, and a hybrid approach depends on your business needs, budget, and long-term plans. Subscription apps are viable for businesses with standard workflows, while custom-built can make more sense when specialised processes are needed. If normal tools look and evaluate whether custom mobile app development or a centered integration layer are better for the long term. 

The right choice should be based on the total cost of ownership, operational efficiency and how well the software supports your future needs. If you are evaluating some best options, RVS Media’s software development service includes development of bespoke applications, integration, legacy modernisation and service, so that you can review the software problem and determine what should be built. 

Before taking a decision on Subscription Apps vs. Custom-Build, speak to us about your options and see where custom-building makes sense as a commercial decision.