Custom business software cost: the guide for SMEs
How much does custom business software cost for an SME? French market price ranges in 2026, what makes the budget go up or down and how to start small.
The cost of custom business software often worries small and medium-sized companies, wrongly: a tool built for your team does not necessarily cost more than years of subscriptions to software that fits poorly. Here are the budgets seen on the French market in 2026, what makes them vary, and how to limit the risk.
Budgets seen in 2026
Market studies agree: the vast majority of SME projects fall between €10,000 and €80,000, with a median budget of around €20,000 to €30,000 (La Fabrique du Net, Lonestone).
| Type of project | Examples | Indicative market budget |
|---|---|---|
| Simple internal tool | Case tracking, business form, dashboard | €10,000 to €25,000 |
| Business application | Custom CRM, back office, client portal | €25,000 to €60,000 |
| Full application | Several user profiles, many integrations | €60,000 and above |
These are orders of magnitude: only a scoping of your need gives a precise figure.
What makes the price vary
Two factors weigh more than all the others:
- the complexity of your business rules: calculations, approvals, special cases, access rights;
- integrations: connection to your accounting, your ERP, your existing tools.
Next come the number of user profiles, the volume of data to migrate, and whether you need a mobile or offline version.
By contrast, the number of screens matters less than people think: ten simple screens cost less than a single screen that concentrates all the complexity of your business.
The cost after go-live
An application lives: it is fixed, hosted and evolves with your business. The same sources estimate annual maintenance at 15 to 25% of the initial cost, so a tool built for €30,000 represents roughly €4,500 to €7,500 a year. This item should be in your budget from the start.
Custom software or an off-the-shelf product?
Custom is not always the right answer. An existing product is fine if the way you work is standard and you accept adapting to the tool.
Custom becomes worthwhile when:
- your team makes up for the limits of its tools with Excel files;
- you re-enter the same data in several pieces of software;
- you pay per-user licences that rise every year;
- the way you work is an advantage you do not want to align with everyone else's.
Start small: the first useful version
The best way to control the budget is not to build everything at once. Start with the function that wastes the most time for your team, put it in their hands, then add to it.
This approach has three benefits: a limited first investment, feedback from real users before going further, and a useful tool within a few weeks rather than several months.
In practice
Before asking for a quote, list your team's repetitive tasks and the time spent on them each week: that figure tells you whether the investment is justified.
Tell us what you need: we will come back to you with a free estimate within 48 hours. You can also read about our custom business software service or, if you plan to sell the tool, our guide to the cost of a custom SaaS.
What we offer SMEs
We first build the tool that solves your most time-consuming task, and the rest follows at the pace of your cash flow. Each stage is priced separately.
Describe the task you want to automate: the estimate is free and reaches you within 48 hours, to compare with the budgets in this article.
To go further: Digital agency in Paris