Compare 5-year total cost of ownership of building custom software versus buying an off-the-shelf SaaS solution.
Build Costs
$
$
Buy / SaaS Costs
$
$
Internal Team
hrs
$
Requirements
3/5
Off-the-shelf OKHighly custom
3/5
Don't careCritical
3/5
Small & stableHyper-scale
Verdict — 5 Year
Buy / SaaS saves ₹1.2L
SaaS is cheaper over 5 years at this scale
5yr Build TCO
₹1.9L
5yr Buy TCO
₹66K
TCO Over 5 Years
6m
1yr
2yr
3yr
4yr
5yr
BuildBuy
Fit Score
Build fit17/28
Buy / SaaS fit19/28
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Suggested Approach
Start with an off-the-shelf tool to validate your workflow. Build custom only once you hit the limitations. Custom wins on control and customisation; SaaS wins on speed and initial cost.
Decided to build?
Darebyte builds custom software at the cost of many SaaS subscriptions — with full code ownership and no lock-in.
