The real cost of off-the-shelf software (it's not what you're paying)

When a business signs up for another SaaS tool, the calculation is usually simple: €X/month for the subscription. That's the number that gets approved.

It's also the least significant number.

The hidden costs

Workaround time. Every feature that doesn't quite fit gets a workaround. Workarounds are undocumented, hard to transfer between employees, and require maintenance when the software updates. A two-hour monthly workaround at €50/hour is €1,200/year — not on any invoice.

Training churn. Every new employee needs to learn the tools. Generic SaaS tools have arbitrary interfaces built for the median user. Custom software has an interface built for how your business actually works. The difference in onboarding time is often measured in weeks.

Vendor lock-in. When you've built your operations around a SaaS tool, changing becomes painful. The vendor knows this. Pricing increases by 20–30% every few years. You have no leverage. Your data is in their system.

Feature gaps. The feature you need is "on the roadmap." This means it's either never coming or coming in a form that doesn't match what you actually need. Every month you wait is a month you're operating below potential.

The calculation to make

Add up what your team spends on workarounds each month. Add training time for new hires. Add the subscription costs across all your tools. Then ask: at what point does custom software become cheaper?

For most businesses running more than 5 people, that point is sooner than expected.

The alternative

Software you own has none of these costs. No training cliff for new features because features work the way your team thinks. No lock-in because the code is yours. No workarounds because the software was built for your workflow.

The subscription fee was always the wrong number to focus on.