Business software · 3 min read
Custom software costs: how to compare UK quotes
There is no reliable single price for custom software without a defined scope. Cost depends on workflows, permissions, integrations, data migration and the level of testing and support required. Ask suppliers to price the same small first release and separate setup costs from ongoing costs.
By Raja Wahab, Co-founder, Fixby Studios · Published · 3 min read
Why a headline price is not enough
A customer portal showing documents is a different project from a portal that calculates prices, takes payments and controls approval permissions across several companies. Both might be described as a simple portal. Screen count alone does not capture the work behind it.
Fixby website package prices are not software project quotations. Bespoke business software needs an assessment of the actual workflow and its dependencies; this guide does not publish a fabricated market average.
The main cost drivers
| Driver | Question to answer before quoting |
|---|---|
| Business rules | What happens on rejection, cancellation or a correction? |
| Access | Which records can each user read or change? |
| Integrations | Are the required operations supported by the existing tools? |
| Migration | How clean is the data and how much history must move? |
| Reliability | What must still work during an outage? |
| Handover | Who operates and maintains the finished system? |
Build a comparable quote request
Give each supplier the same process description, sample data, user roles and acceptance criteria. Ask them to list assumptions, exclusions and third-party charges. A supplier who flags uncertainty is often providing a more useful quote than one who hides it inside a single total.
Request a separate price for discovery if the workflow is unclear. Its output should be something usable: a mapped process, tested assumptions and a scoped first release, not just another sales presentation.
Model the first year and the following years
Use this structure: setup and migration + development and testing + staff training + annual hosting, licences and support. Keep optional enhancements separate so you can see the cost of operating the agreed version.
As a purely illustrative calculation, a £12,000 build plus £2,400 annual running costs costs £14,400 in year one and £19,200 over three years before further changes. These are example inputs, not Fixby prices or a market estimate.
What to do if the quote is too high
Reduce the first release to one useful end-to-end process. Keep manual approval where automation is not essential. Reuse existing tools where they fit. Do not remove permissions, backup recovery or critical testing simply to make the headline smaller.
Before agreeing, ask how changes are priced, what counts as a defect and what happens when a dependency changes. Those answers make a quote much easier to trust.
Sources
Raja Wahab is co-founder of Fixby Studios, a Huddersfield studio building websites, SEO, social media and business software for small, owner-managed businesses across West Yorkshire.
Next step
Let's get your business seen.
Get a free Blueprint with a clear plan, honest pricing and no jargon.
Tell us which task takes too much time and we'll assess a focused software or automation project. Business software and automation
Prefer to talk it through? Contact Fixby Studios, email info@fixbystudios.co.uk or call 07737 067552.