Custom vs Ready-Made CRM: When Custom Development Pays Off

Not every business needs a custom CRM. If your process is standard, a ready-made subscription CRM or our ready-made Telegram mini-CRM at €350 will do. A custom system at €1 000–2 000 (bot-based) or €3 000–5 000 (with a web admin panel) makes sense when your process has non-standard stages, you need your own roles or integrations, or your data has to live on a specific server.

Three paths and what they cost

When a ready-made CRM is enough

HubSpot, Pipedrive, Firmao and similar tools are ready-made subscription services: instead of ordering development, you use an existing product. We don't compare their pricing or features here; check those on the services' own websites. A ready-made CRM is a sensible choice if:

• your workflow stages match what the service does out of the box;
• the roles and access rights it already has are enough;
• it already supports the integrations you need;
• you're fine with your data being stored by the service provider;
• you need to start right away, not after a month of development.

If all of this describes you, paying for development makes no sense.

When our ready-made Telegram mini-CRM is enough

Between a subscription service and custom development there is a middle option: our ready-made mini-CRM in Telegram. It handles the work with requests: an operator creates a request, an administrator assigns a free technician, the technician updates the status, and statistics for any period are calculated automatically.

• €350 — mini-CRM in Telegram;
• €500 — the same plus an Android app: SMS to clients on every status change and the client card on screen during an incoming call;
• from €100 — changes for your business;
• installed on the day of purchase.

The mini-CRM case study shows how it works for a home appliance repair service with 10 technicians: 0 lost requests and 45 fewer hours of routine work a month.

When a custom CRM pays off

Custom development is worth considering if at least one of these applies to you:

• Non-standard stages. A request goes through statuses and rules that don't fit a ready-made service without workarounds.
• Your own roles. Operators, administrators, technicians and clients see and do different things, and those rights need to match your team.
• Integrations. Requests have to come in from Telegram, a website form and email, and data has to flow into your other systems.
• Data on a specific server. The system runs on a PostgreSQL database on a server with regular backups, and where exactly it is hosted is decided by your requirements.

You can start small: a small custom solution based on a bot costs from €350, a full bot-based system €1 000–2 000, and a CRM with a web admin panel and a bot for quick access €3 000–5 000. Development takes up to a month, and solutions we build come with a 12-month warranty. More on the CRM, ERP and bots page.

Ready-made vs custom CRM: comparison

Calculate the cost over 3–5 years

Comparing only the first payment is misleading. Work out the total cost over the whole period you plan to use the system: setup, hosting and support. For a ready-made CRM, that's its price for your team over the same years; for your own system, the one-off price plus monthly payments.

Our monthly payments: hosting on our server is €8.50 a month (€8.50 × 12 = €102 a year, regular backups included), and optional priority support is €50 a month (€600 a year). Here is the 3-year calculation if the solution runs on our server:

With priority support, add €1 800 for 3 years (€50 × 36). Over 5 years, hosting comes to €510 (€8.50 × 60).

What to prepare to get a price

• what we're automating: requests, documents, reports or something else;
• who will use the system: just you, your team or your clients too;
• what to integrate with: websites, email, other systems, Telegram;
• your industry;
• timeline and budget; if the budget isn't set yet, just say so.

All prices and timelines are on the Pricing page.

FAQ