When to build software and when to just buy it

Every growing company hits the same question at some point. Do you build a piece of software yourself, or pay for something that already exists? Get it wrong and you either waste a year rebuilding something that already works, or you get stuck with a tool that can't do what you actually need.

Build the things that make you different

If something is the reason customers choose you, build it. If it's something every company needs but nobody picks you for, like payroll or email, buy it and move on. A lot of teams do this backwards. They spend months on their own billing system while running their actual product on a tool that was never meant for it.

Look at the real cost, not the price tag

Buying isn't free once you add up setup, moving your data over, and how hard it is to leave later. Building isn't free either once you count the years of maintenance and the features you'll keep adding. Put both on the same five-year timeline before you decide.

When you really can't tell, buy something cheap to learn the problem first. Once you understand it well enough to do better, then think about building.