How much does a custom ERP cost?
It's the question almost everyone starts with, and the one almost nobody answers. Ask for a quote on a custom ERP and you'll get one of two replies: a bare "it depends", or a form so a salesperson can call you. We publish our rate on our website, so we can do something unusual in this industry: actually answer.
Why nobody answers this question
Because no two ERPs are alike. One that tracks cases for three people and one that runs purchasing, inventory, invoicing and commissions for forty have nothing in common, even if both are called "ERP". Giving a fixed number before knowing the scope forces the vendor into one of two things: padding it upwards (you overpay) or giving an optimistic figure that gets renegotiated as soon as the real scope shows up. That's why we're wary of fixed project prices, and we say so in writing.
What can be said
A fixed total being smoke doesn't mean nothing is fixed. In our case, two things are: the rate, a single hourly rate that is the same for every profile, and the minimum commitment, one delivery a month (40 hours of work). Both are published on our rates page. What varies is how much progress you make each month, and that isn't set by a salesperson: you decide it, based on what your cash flow allows.
With those two numbers you can already do the math that almost no vendor lets you do: you know what the minimum month costs, you know what doubling the pace costs, and you know the meter stops when you say so. No lock-in and no fine print.
What drives the cost
This is the useful part: the factors that make an ERP more or less work. It isn't a price list per process (that would mean going back to the made-up number); it's the list of questions we'll ask you, and the one you should take to any vendor.
How many processes it covers. Handling only case management is not the same as running the whole business: customers, documents, invoicing, reports. Every process means screens, rules and testing.
Whether it has to connect with what you already use. Email, invoicing, industry portals, third-party systems. Each integration depends on what the other side offers: some take a day of work, others are a whole piece of the project.
What data has to be migrated, and what shape it's in. The ten-year-old spreadsheet with color-coded cells that mean things is real work: someone has to figure out what each color means, clean up duplicates and decide which history is worth bringing into the new system. The tidier the starting point, the fewer hours go here.
How many people will use it, and with what permissions. Three people who see everything is one thing; different roles with different access, approvals and a record of who changed what is another.
Where it has to work. Only at the office, or also on the phone of whoever is showing a property or visiting a client. The second doesn't double the project, but it isn't free either.
You don't have to build it all at once
The answer to "I don't have the budget for all of this" isn't to give up: it's to start with one module. You identify the process that hurts the most (cases, customers, invoicing), build that one, and expand once it's paying off. The budget follows the value: each expansion is decided with the previous module already working, not on paper. And since we work with deliveries every two weeks, the first part is up and running within the first month. The first module has an extra benefit: it's the cheapest way to test whether your vendor delivers what they promise, before trusting them with the rest. What stretches the schedule and what shortens it is in how long it takes to build a custom ERP.
What about an off-the-shelf ERP? The honest comparison
An off-the-shelf ERP runs on a monthly license and is cheaper up front: there's no development to pay for. If it covers 90% of what you do, it pays off, and our advice is to buy it. A custom ERP makes sense in the opposite case: when the way you work is the business, and adapting to the processes the off-the-shelf product ships with would cost you exactly what sets you apart. It isn't about which one is better, but about which one fits what you do. We go into it, with Odoo and SAP as examples, in custom vs off-the-shelf ERP: how to decide.
What an ERP project with us looks like
It starts by listening: what eats up your hours, what can't fail and where you want to be in two years. After that, we work in two-week cycles, with a demo at the end of each one, and each cycle is paid in advance. Two weeks in, you already see a first part working with your vocabulary and your cases.
How we approach custom ERP development for each type of business is on its page, and the rate per profile is on our rates page.
What to ask any vendor before signing
Whether it's us or someone else, these four questions separate a good hire from a bad experience: if the price is fixed, what exactly happens when the scope changes (and it will)? Who owns the code and the repository from day one? What documentation is delivered, and when is it written, during development or on the last day? And what happens if you stop working together: can you carry on with another team without starting from scratch?
A serious vendor answers all four without getting uncomfortable. Our answers are published on the custom ERP page. And if you'd rather have numbers for your specific case, tell us how you work today and we'll reply within one business day with an honest read: which modules, in what order and at what monthly dedication.