Published estimates from development firms put a custom CRM at roughly $30,000 to $200,000 to build, while off-the-shelf CRMs such as Salesforce and HubSpot charge a monthly fee for each user. For most small teams, an off-the-shelf CRM is the right place to start. It's quick to set up, cheap to try and good at the standard sales pipeline. A custom CRM starts to make sense when your work carries on long after the sale, and the parts your software doesn't cover still live in spreadsheets, Word documents and inboxes.
We build bespoke CRMs and back-office systems, so we have an obvious interest in this question. That's why the figures below are published market prices from named sources rather than ours, and why there's a section on when you shouldn't build at all.
What does custom CRM development cost?
Software development firms that publish their estimates put a custom CRM in the tens of thousands of dollars at the simple end and well into six figures at the complex end. Purrweb, a development company, puts custom CRM development at $30,000 to $200,000. It prices a basic system with contact management, a pipeline and reporting at $30,000 to $60,000.
Cleveroad, another development firm, estimates $50,000 to $80,000 and upwards for a small or medium-sized CRM with the essential features. For a system with more integrations and heavier customisation, it suggests $100,000 to $150,000 and upwards.
| What's being built | Published estimate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Basic CRM with contacts, a pipeline and reporting | $30,000 to $60,000 | Purrweb |
| Small or medium-sized CRM with the essential features | $50,000 to $80,000+ | Cleveroad |
| CRM with more integrations and customisation | $100,000 to $150,000+ | Cleveroad |
| Each integration with another system | $1,500 to $2,500 (basic) up to $6,000 to $10,000+ (complex) | Purrweb |
| Moving your existing data across | $3,000 to $15,000 | Purrweb |
| Maintenance each year | $5,000 to $20,000+ | Cleveroad |
These are typical market prices from two firms that sell custom development, not our prices. Both work in US dollars and base their figures on hourly developer rates, which vary a lot by location. Purrweb lists typical hourly rates of $80 to $120 in Western Europe and $100 to $180 in the US, so the same specification can be priced very differently depending on who builds it.
The biggest variable in both estimates is scope. Every extra role, screen and connection to another system adds time, which is why the integration and data migration lines matter as much as the headline figure.
What does an off-the-shelf CRM cost?
Off-the-shelf CRMs charge per user, per month, so the cost grows with your team rather than with your requirements. At the time of writing, Salesforce lists its Starter Suite at €25 per user per month and its Pro Suite at €100 per user per month, billed annually. Its Core edition, the next tier up, is €195 per user per month, billed annually.
HubSpot lists Sales Hub Starter at $20 per seat per month, though a lower introductory price was on offer at the time of writing. Professional is $100 per seat per month, or $90 on an annual commitment, plus a required one-off onboarding fee of $1,500. Enterprise is $150 per seat per month with a $3,500 onboarding fee.
Those numbers look small next to a build, but they come round every month. Ten people on Salesforce's Pro Suite come to €12,000 a year at list price. Ten on HubSpot Professional come to $10,800 a year on an annual commitment, before the onboarding fee. Check the tier you'd actually need, because the entry price rarely includes the automation and reporting that made you look in the first place.
Custom CRM or off-the-shelf: when building your own makes sense
The price comparison matters less than the fit. Off-the-shelf software is built around a standard sales pipeline, and most of it handles that well. The case for building comes from everything your business does before and after a sale that the software doesn't cover.
Your work carries on after the sale
An events job doesn't end when the client says yes. It runs on through venue sourcing, quoting, staged invoices, registrations and the door on the night. Off-the-shelf CRMs didn't fit that for Precise Events International, so we built them a CRM of their own that follows each event from the first enquiry to check-in. Four live client events have already run their registrations and door check-ins through it.
The same details get typed in more than once
Retyping is the clearest sign that your tools don't fit. At Precise, an accepted quote now becomes an invoice with the details already filled in. For Foresight Global Recruitment, we put companies, candidates, placements, contracts and invoices in one system, and invoices go directly into Xero, so the accounts are never kept twice.
Your process still runs on paper, Word and spreadsheets
Longford Fireplaces & Stone Solutions was quoting in Word and invoicing in carbon-copy books, with no single customer list. We built them a back-office system where customers sign quotes online, the drawing office gets its own login without seeing the money, and invoices flow into the accounts. Staff now quote, order and invoice from one place.
Your industry has rules that generic tools get wrong
Irish garages charge VAT at the reduced 13.5% rate on repair work, but Revenue puts items such as tyres and batteries at 23% even when they're fitted during a repair. Generic invoicing tools tend to get that wrong, so the job system we first built for JTK Motors applies the right rate to each line itself. It has since become MotorWorks, garage management software other independent garages can use.
You want the systems running before the first customer
A new business can build its admin around a system from day one instead of retrofitting it later. PurpleTree HR launched with a custom CRM that handles lead qualification, client onboarding, document generation and time tracking, so every lead has been tracked since the day the consultancy opened.
When off-the-shelf is the better choice
Buy rather than build if your process is mostly a standard sales pipeline and the main job is keeping track of contacts, deals and follow-ups. Buy if you need something working quickly, or if nobody on your team has time to help shape a new system. A well-configured off-the-shelf CRM with your website forms connected to it covers a lot of small businesses perfectly well.
Building also means owning the upkeep. Cleveroad's maintenance estimate is a reminder that software needs hosting, security updates and small changes for as long as you use it, and that cost belongs in the comparison from the start.
Questions to answer before you decide
- Where does a job go after the sale? List every step from the first enquiry to the final invoice, then mark the steps your current tools don't cover.
- How often is the same information typed in? Count the times a customer's details move from an email to a spreadsheet, a quote, an invoice and the accounts.
- Who needs to see what? Precise's team has ten roles, each seeing only what it needs, and Longford's drawing office sees drawings without any of the figures.
- Which systems does it have to talk to? Accounts software, email, your website forms and payments are the usual ones, and each connection adds cost.
- What will each option cost over five years? Multiply the per-seat fee by your team size and by 60 months, then set that against a build plus yearly maintenance.
- Who will own the software and the data? In Ireland, the Intellectual Property Office says copyright in commissioned work stays with whoever created it unless the contract says otherwise, so agree ownership in writing before a build starts. When we build software for a client, the code and the data belong to the client's business.
If the answers point towards building, that's what our bespoke CRM projects involve. We map how your team handles a job today, then build the system around that rather than around a generic idea of your industry.
Key takeaways
- Published estimates from development firms put a custom CRM between $30,000 and $200,000, depending mostly on scope, integrations and who builds it.
- Off-the-shelf CRMs cost less up front but charge per user every month, so work out the cost over several years for your actual team size.
- Building makes sense when your work carries on after the sale, when details are typed in more than once, or when generic tools get your industry's rules wrong.
- Buying makes sense for a standard sales pipeline, a small team or a need to be running quickly.
- Budget for maintenance every year, and agree in writing who owns the software and the data before any build starts.
Weighing up a custom CRM?
If you're deciding between another software subscription and a system built around your team, book a free 20-minute call. We'll talk through how an enquiry moves through your business today and which route we'd take, even when that's an off-the-shelf CRM.
Prices are the publishers' own figures at the time of writing. Software pricing changes often, so check the linked pages for current rates.