What a custom CRM costs
7 min read
Short answer
A first version of a custom CRM for a small or mid-sized company usually costs between €2,000 and €10,000, depending on how many processes it covers and how many systems it has to talk to. Only genuinely complex systems go above ten thousand — several roles, invoicing, stock, a few integrations at once. Here is what sits inside those numbers.
01What you are paying for
The price of custom software is almost entirely the price of time. There is no licence to be made once and sold a hundred times, so you pay for the days it takes to think through, build and test every screen and every rule.
In practice it splits four ways:
- 01Mapping the process — days rather than weeks, but it cannot be skipped. Without it you build on assumptions.
- 02The data model and permissions — who sees what and who may change it. On a CRM this is a bigger share of the work than people expect.
- 03Screens — every list, filter, detail view and form is a measurable piece of work.
- 04Integrations — each external system is its own small project, because its API sets the terms.
02What drives the number up
Not the number of users. A system for five people and one for fifty cost about the same if they do the same thing.
Exceptions drive the price. When a process has ten rules and each has three “but for this customer we do it differently”, those thirty exceptions have to be written down and tested somewhere. That is usually the difference between the bottom and the top of the range.
The other one is connecting to systems never designed to be talked to. Accounting software with a proper API is a few days of work. The same software when all you can get out of it is a CSV export is two weeks and a fragile result.
03What it costs to run
Hosting and a database for a system this size cost tens of euros a month, not hundreds. The real recurring line is maintenance and change: budget 10–20% of the build cost per year if the system is meant to change as the company does.
If it is not meant to change, do not pay a retainer. For a small company, paying for a change when you actually need one is often cheaper.
04When it is the wrong call
When you run an ordinary process in an ordinary way. If any of the off-the-shelf products fits you as it is, buy it. For five people, €50 per user per month is still cheaper than anything built.
At today's prices that line has moved: custom pays off as soon as the ready-made thing has to be bent so far that half the company works around it anyway, or when the process that makes you different from your competitors simply does not fit inside it.
05Getting to a real number
Take the one process that hurts most and count the hours your company spends on it in a month. Multiply by what an hour of that person's time costs. That is the ceiling on what removing it is worth per year.
Then ask for a quote on that one process rather than on “a CRM”. The number will be lower, comparable between suppliers, and something you can actually decide on.
Frequently asked
- How much does a custom CRM cost for a small business?
- A first usable version for a small or mid-sized company is typically €2,000 to €10,000. Only genuinely complex systems with several roles, invoicing and integrations go above that.
- Is a custom CRM more expensive than an off-the-shelf one?
- More expensive up front, often cheaper to run. Off-the-shelf is paid monthly per user forever; a custom system is paid for once and then costs hosting and changes.
- How long does it take to build a custom CRM?
- The first part that genuinely runs is usually live within six weeks. A full system takes three to nine months depending on scope, but it is deployed piece by piece rather than all at the end.