How Much Does Custom Software Development Cost?

Custom software development typically costs between $15,000 and $150,000+, with most small-business projects landing in the $20,000–$60,000 range for a focused, genuinely useful tool. The spread is enormous because "custom software" covers everything from a single internal dashboard to a full multi-user platform. The price you're quoted depends almost entirely on scope, and the number you should care about isn't the build cost, it's the total cost of ownership. Here's the real breakdown.

Why custom software prices vary so much

A quote of $15,000 and a quote of $120,000 can both be honest, because they're describing different amounts of work. Custom software pricing tracks four things: how many features you need, how complex they are, how many users and how much data it must handle, and how much integration with your existing systems is required. A tool that connects to nothing and serves five people is a fraction of the cost of one that syncs three systems and serves five thousand.

What drives the cost up

• Number and complexity of features. Every screen, workflow, and rule is build time. Scope is the single biggest lever on price.
• Integrations. Connecting to your CRM, payment processor, or accounting system adds real work, every external system is its own small project.
• Users and scale. Software for 10 internal users is far cheaper than software that must stay fast and reliable for 10,000 customers.
• Security and compliance. Handling sensitive data (health, financial, personal) raises the bar, and the cost, for good reason.

The hidden costs most people forget

The build quote is only the first number. Real ownership includes:

• Maintenance and updates, usually 15–25% of the build cost per year
• Hosting and infrastructure, ongoing monthly cost that scales with usage
• Support and bug fixes after launch
• Your team's time specifying, testing, and adopting the tool

A trustworthy partner walks you through all of this upfront, the same way a good developer gives you an itemized website quote instead of one mystery number. If a software quote is a single figure with no breakdown, that's a red flag.

Can a small business afford custom software?

Often, yes, but only when it's the right call. The test isn't "can I afford the build," it's "is the cost of not having it bigger than the cost of building it?" If your team loses 20 hours a week to manual workarounds, that lost time has a dollar value that can dwarf a one-time build. If it doesn't, an off-the-shelf tool is almost always the smarter move. We walk through that decision in detail in build custom software or buy off-the-shelf.

How to keep the cost down without cutting corners

• Start with the smallest version that solves the real problem. Build the core, prove it works, then expand. This is how you avoid paying for features you don't need yet.
• Get an itemized, phased quote, not a lump sum. Phases let you control spend.
• Confirm you own the code and data, always.
• Match the build to the actual need. The same vetting from hiring any developer applies here.

The bottom line

Custom software costs $15,000–$150,000+ depending on scope, but the smarter framing is total cost of ownership over a few years, build plus maintenance plus hosting plus your team's time. For the right problem, it pays for itself. For the wrong one, an off-the-shelf tool wins.

If you want an honest, itemized estimate, and a straight answer on whether you even need custom software yet, tell us what you're building. We respond inside one business day, and we'll tell you to keep your existing tools if that's genuinely the better call.