"Should we just buy SaaS for this?" is the most common question we get on scoping calls. Here is the framework we use to answer it — fast.
The trap
Most build-vs-buy debates start in the wrong place. They start with feature comparisons: this SaaS has X, the custom build would do Y, the spreadsheet does Z. By the end of the spreadsheet, the team is exhausted and reaches for whatever they already pay for.
That is fine for low-stakes tools. For anything close to your operating model, it leaves you running someone else's playbook.
The three questions
Use these in order. The first one that gets a clear answer usually settles it.
1. Is this workflow a source of competitive advantage?
If the workflow is how you win — the way you dispatch, the way you price, the way you onboard a customer, the way you quote — generic SaaS will dilute it.
Generic tools enforce the median way of doing this. If your edge is being non-median, generic tools are corrosive.
2. Is the off-the-shelf tool already 80% of the way there?
If a SaaS exists that does most of what you need and the gap is cosmetic, just buy it. A custom build to recreate 80% you can already pay for monthly is almost never worth it.
The honest version of this question is: "Will I still be customizing this thing two years in to fight the template?" If yes, you are not in 80%-territory.
3. How much will the gap actually cost you?
Not in features. In dollars and hours. Run the numbers on:
- Manual workarounds you'd have to keep running
- People you'd have to hire to maintain those workarounds
- Lost revenue or refunded customers from the gap
If the cost of the gap, over three years, is meaningfully larger than the cost of a custom build, it is no longer a debate.
The middle path most people miss
Build-vs-buy is rarely binary. Some of our most useful engagements look like this:
- Buy the boring 80% (auth, billing, permissions) from a foundation
- Build the 20% that is actually you
- Glue them together with care
This is what you will hear us call a "configured custom" engagement — closer to a Customer Enterprise App than to either pure SaaS or a from-scratch build.
How to decide today
If you can answer all three questions in 10 minutes, you don't need a workshop. Pick the answer.
If you can't, let's talk. We do this sort of decision with founders and ops leaders for a living. A short email is enough to start — tell us the workflow and we'll send back our honest read.