{"head":{"title":"Should I Build or Buy Software? A Simple Test | OceanLab","description":"Buy software for problems many companies share; build when the workflow is what sets you apart or no product fits. How to compare total cost over time.","canonical":"https://oceanlab.in/questions/should-i-build-or-buy-software"},"crumbs":[{"name":"Home","path":"/"},{"name":"Questions","path":"/questions"},{"name":"Should I build or buy software?","path":"/questions/should-i-build-or-buy-software"}],"question":"Should I build or buy software?","answer":["Buy when the problem is common and an existing product fits your process well enough, such as accounting, email or a standard CRM. Build when the workflow is what makes you different, when no product fits without heavy workarounds, or when per-seat or per-use fees grow faster than the cost of owning it."],"sections":[{"heading":"A simple test","body":[],"bullets":[["Is this workflow part of how you win customers? If yes, lean build."],["Does a product cover most of what you need without changing how you work? If yes, lean buy."],["Will licence or usage fees grow sharply with users or volume? Compare the ",{"href":"/glossary/total-cost-of-ownership","text":"total cost of ownership"}," over several years."],["Do you need control over data, hosting or compliance that products do not offer? Lean build."],["Do you have, or can you hire, people to run and change it after launch? If not, lean buy."]]},{"heading":"The middle path","body":[["Most systems mix both: buy the commodity parts, like login, payments, email and analytics, and build the part that is specific to you on top. Another common path is to start with a product, learn what you really need, then build once the workarounds cost more than the build."]],"bullets":[]}],"faqs":[{"question":"Is building always more expensive?","answer":"Up front, usually. Over time it can be cheaper if licence fees scale with your growth or the product forces costly workarounds."},{"question":"What about AI tools: build or buy?","answer":"Buy general assistants. Build when the AI must use your own data, follow your process or run inside your product."},{"question":"What hidden costs does buying have?","answer":"Integration work, customisation, training, price rises and the cost of switching later."}],"terms":[{"href":"/glossary/total-cost-of-ownership","label":"total cost of ownership"},{"href":"/glossary/mvp","label":"MVP"},{"href":"/glossary/ai-agent","label":"AI agent"}],"tools":[{"href":"/tools/build-vs-buy","label":"Build vs buy","detail":"Free tool"},{"href":"/tools/crm-build-vs-buy","label":"CRM build vs buy","detail":"Free tool"},{"href":"/tools/erp-tco","label":"ERP TCO","detail":"Free tool"},{"href":"/tools/internal-tool-roi","label":"Internal tool ROI","detail":"Free tool"}],"links":[{"href":"/glossary/saas","label":"SaaS","detail":"Glossary"}],"related":[{"href":"/questions/how-to-avoid-vendor-lock-in","label":"How do I avoid vendor lock-in?","detail":"Question"},{"href":"/questions/how-to-measure-ai-roi","label":"How do I measure AI ROI?","detail":"Question"},{"href":"/questions/how-to-migrate-off-no-code","label":"How do I migrate off no-code?","detail":"Question"},{"href":"/compare/ai-agent-vs-workflow-automation","label":"AI agent vs workflow automation","detail":"Comparison"},{"href":"/compare/rag-vs-fine-tuning","label":"RAG vs fine-tuning","detail":"Comparison"},{"href":"/glossary","label":"Glossary","detail":"Every term, in plain words."}],"sources":[],"legal":false,"updatedAt":"2026-10-25"}