For a single team, the software removes duplicate entry and speeds up work, but the business can still continue without it. There are few dependencies, limited maintenance, and low real criticality.
How much does custom software cost?
What really changes the price of custom software?
Custom software cost mainly depends on the level of responsibility the product must assume: business rules, roles, approvals, integrations, data migration, security, compliance, and maintenance.
The software must replace duplicate entry, support real workflows, connect to the company stack, and remain reliable after go-live.
If the topic starts from Excel, Access, or a handcrafted back office, the custom business software development page gives the right frame for the first scope.
Why does central software cost more?
Price rises when the software must stay online, be monitored, be fixed quickly, and stay connected to the rest of the company stack.
When the software becomes critical, you need reliable connections, alerts, quick interventions, and proper incident follow-up. If it stops, operations, production, or sales slow down immediately.
Why do business rules drive the price up?
Price mainly depends on the rules, exceptions, documents, and calculations to handle, not on screen count.
A simple flow stays predictable: few steps, few edge cases, and fewer boundary tests. The software is faster to scope, build, validate, and evolve.
The more approvals, references, options, documents, calculations, or Excel and PDF exports you have, the more cases the software must frame. That is where build work, testing, and maintenance rise quickly.
Why do integrations take budget?
Connecting software to an ERP, a CRM, or external APIs means handling errors, updates, and continuity.
When the software works alone, data stays in the same tool and the scope is easier to control. There are fewer states to sync and fewer technical breaking points.
With SAP, Odoo, HubSpot, Power BI, or supplier APIs, you must define which data is authoritative, how exchanges update, recover from errors, and remain monitored.
Why does legacy history increase cost?
Budget changes when you need to bring over rows, files, and formats teams already rely on.
A new project starts faster: there is no history to clean, no files to migrate, and no sensitive migration to prepare. The effort mainly goes into future usage and product structure.
As soon as you need to bring over tens of thousands of rows, files, and heterogeneous formats, you need mapping, checks, standardization, and testing. Migration becomes a real part of the project.
Why does security change the budget?
The security level depends on the data, the access model, and the requirements imposed by your clients or your systems.
For a simple tool, standard sign-in, clear roles, and separated environments are often enough. The need stays moderate as long as data and access remain lightly sensitive.
SSO, MFA, fine-grained rights, action history, GDPR, or client requirements add scoping, build work, and testing. These topics quickly become structural when the software touches the core of the company.
Why does maintenance matter after launch?
Cost continues after the build. It depends on the level of support, monitoring, and responsiveness expected.
A low-criticality tool can live with a few fixes and small evolutions. Support stays light as long as an outage blocks neither revenue nor daily operations.
If an outage blocks the business, you need alerts, monitoring, backups, clean deployments, and shorter response times. Maintenance becomes a real business continuity constraint.
Where does your project sit?
Price mainly changes with the role software plays inside the company. This view helps place a project on a simple progression, from Excel to a central tool the business depends on.
If the topic is mostly about connections with an ERP, a CRM, or business APIs, the API, ERP, and CRM integration page completes this view well. If you already start from an existing product, the existing product takeover page helps frame migration, recovery, and reset costs.
| Progression | Excel | Mini internal tool | Business software | Connected application | Central platform | Business ERP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What is it for? | Track and improvise | Organize one team | Digitize a process | Make information flow | Steer the business | Run the core system |
| Who uses it? | 1 person or a small team | One team | Several departments | Departments + leadership | The whole company | Company + partners |
| What it replaces | Nothing, it complements | Files and emails | Excel + manual work | Several separate tools | Part of the information system | The core of operations |
| Business complexity | Simple | Simple workflow | Approvals and exceptions | Several workflows | Multi-site or multi-entity | International, critical rules |
| Existing systems and history | A few files | New project or little history | Excel, documents, recent history | Legacy base + documents | ERP, CRM, large history | 20 years of history |
| Digital ecosystem | None | Standalone | 1 or 2 tools to connect | CRM, ERP, APIs | Several key systems | Real-time flows |
| Impact on the company | Comfort | Time savings | A more reliable process | Activity coordination | Strategic tool | Business stops without it |
| Maintenance | Almost none | Small evolutions | Regular support | Maintenance + monitoring | Structured operations | Continuous operations |
| Example | Support spreadsheet | Mini back office | Support or document management | Production tracking or supervision | Client portal or internal platform | Business ERP or group platform |
| Indicative budget | Already in place | 4 000 € to 8 000 € | 8 000 € to 18 000 € | 15 000 € to 30 000 € | 30 000 € to 60 000 € | 60 000 € and more |
* Indicative ranges.
Why Koragence?
Transparency, our priority in your project
Our client workspace and methods provide full transparency on your project: roadmap, remaining tasks, current step, documents, specifications, meeting notes, invoices, and shared feedback. Everything stays visible and dated.
Our estimation method
We first frame the business, scope, budget, and roadmap before development.
01 - Understand your business
We analyze your current operations, the processes to digitize, and your business needs.
02 - Define an initial scope
We define together the first project scope, including the business and technical specifics to cover.
03 - Estimate the project
We estimate the budget, timeline, main risks, and possible development phases.
04 - Build the specification together
We plan the features, technical choices, and roadmap of the project.
Examples of projects already delivered
Lennon JeaugeyCo-founder and President of Good is Merch
The platform gives us a solid operating base to handle more volume without losing quality. It is a real growth tool, useful every day.
Commercial & document platform
80%less management time
Estimated reduction in the time spent on client and document management thanks to a more structured operating base.
Théo ChartierFounder and President of Onctuo
We needed a tool able to manage a fleet of self-service machines. Koragence structured a clear, robust platform we can rely on every day.
Supervision business software
90%less analysis time
Estimated reduction in the time spent analyzing machines and sorting incidents thanks to a clearer supervision base.
Frequently asked questions:
Most serious first projects for an SME fall between €15,000 and €40,000, then rise as soon as you need to manage multiple roles, workflows, integrations, and real maintenance.
Also worth exploring:
Custom business software development
To frame a business workflow, roles, approvals, and the first product priorities.
Web applications and SaaS
For multi-account products, portals, extranets, and broader application foundations.
API, ERP, and CRM integration
To connect SAP, Odoo, HubSpot, Power BI, or business APIs without creating a breaking point.
Existing product takeover
To restart from a product already live, a history to migrate, or a project that needs to be reset cleanly.
Application maintenance
To frame run operations, monitoring, incidents, and evolutions after go-live.
Fractional CTO
To frame roadmap, providers, technical trade-offs, and hiring when software becomes strategic.
Let’s discuss your project:
We can discuss your needs free of charge and explain clearly how we can help, with no obligation.
