Ask five software companies what custom software costs and you'll get five numbers that are hard to compare, because each one prices a different thing. Before you compare quotes, it helps to know what actually drives the price, how the payment models differ, and which costs show up after launch.
What drives the price
The size of the build matters less than people expect. These do more to move the number:
- How many kinds of users there are. A tool used only by your office is simpler than one where your staff, your customers, and your suppliers each see something different.
- What it has to connect to. Pulling from or writing to your accounting system, EMR, payment processor, or shipping carrier is often the slowest part of the job.
- What comes in on paper. Faxes, PDFs, and scanned forms have to be read and turned into data before the software can use them.
- How many exceptions there are. "Usually we do X, except for these three customers" is where most of the time goes.
- What happens when it breaks. A tool that takes orders all day needs monitoring and backups that a back-office report does not.
The three ways software companies charge
Fixed bid. One price for a defined scope, usually with a deposit up front. You know the number in advance, but anything outside the scope becomes a change order, and the price assumes everyone understood the job correctly on day one.
Time and materials. You pay for hours as they're worked. It's flexible, but you carry the risk if the job takes longer than planned.
Monthly rate. The build is folded into a monthly fee that also covers running and changing the software. You pay nothing large up front, and the company that built it stays responsible for keeping it working.
The costs that come after launch
The build invoice is not the whole cost. Every piece of custom software also needs:
- Hosting, backups, and security updates.
- Someone to fix it when a connected system changes or something breaks.
- Changes as your business changes. Software that never changes turns back into a spreadsheet within a couple of years.
With a fixed bid or time and materials, these usually come later as a separate support contract, or from whoever you can find once the original team has moved on. Ask for them in writing before you sign.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Is there a deposit, and what do I get if we stop halfway?
- What is included after launch, and what does a change cost?
- Who hosts it, and who gets the call when it goes down?
- Do I own the code and the data?
How Wirestack charges
We use the monthly model. There is no deposit, no fixed bid, and no separate build fee: the build is priced into one monthly rate, locked for 48 months. Hosting, uptime, backups, and maintenance are included, and every month includes development hours for changes and small features.
Two examples of what that covers: software for home health agencies that handles referral intake, coding help, and inbound calls, and a supply ordering system for a supplier serving hospices, live with 21 hospice accounts.
If you want a real number for your own project, tell us what's broken. We'll tell you whether we're the right fit and what it would cost per month.