"Custom software" describes projects ranging from a simple internal tool used by five people to a multi-module enterprise platform with complex integrations. Getting a useful cost estimate requires being specific about which of those you're actually asking about.
The Four Things That Actually Drive Cost
Number of user roles: software used the same way by everyone is simpler than software with different permissions, views, and workflows for different roles (admin, manager, staff, customer).
Integration complexity: connecting to your existing ERP, accounting software, or legacy database is usually where the real engineering effort goes, more so than the user interface itself.
Business logic complexity: approval chains, pricing rules, scheduling logic, and calculations specific to your business take real design and testing time, especially for edge cases.
Data volume and reporting needs: software handling large datasets or generating complex custom reports requires more backend architecture than simple CRUD interfaces.
Realistic Price Ranges
A single internal tool solving one workflow for one team typically runs $5,000-$15,000 and takes 6-8 weeks. A departmental system with multiple roles and reporting typically runs $15,000-$50,000 over 2-4 months. A multi-module platform spanning your organization, with deep integrations, typically starts around $50,000 and can run considerably higher depending on scope.
Fixed Price vs Time and Materials
Fixed-price quotes work well when requirements are clear and well-scoped upfront, you know exactly what you're getting and for how much. Time and materials (billing for actual hours worked) suits projects where requirements are expected to evolve significantly as you learn from early usage. Most of our engagements start fixed-price for a clearly-scoped first phase, then move to a flexible retainer for ongoing iteration.
Come to a discovery conversation with your current process mapped out, even roughly, the biggest driver of an inaccurate quote is a vendor guessing at requirements that weren't clearly defined upfront.
What We Build
We provide fixed-scope quotes after a discovery phase, broken into phases so you can start with the highest-impact piece, see our Custom Software Development page for our full process and pricing guidance.
