Neither choice is always right. The honest comparison looks at fit, total cost over several years and how much control you need.

When buying wins

If a product already does what you need, buy it. You get a working tool quickly, shared improvements and support, at a predictable monthly cost.

When building wins

Building can be the better answer in these cases.

  • Your process is unusual and gives you an edge
  • Per user fees grow faster than your team
  • You need the system to connect to many others
  • You want to own the data and the code

Compare over three years

Add licence fees, extra users, customisation, support and the cost of staff working around gaps. Compare that with the build cost plus hosting and care.