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How custom software actually gets priced

Pricing
September 24, 2026

Why two quotes for the same thing look nothing alike

Same request, three suppliers, three numbers, sometimes one three times the other. It's natural to assume someone is overcharging. In most cases the explanation is far more mundane: the three aren't quoting for the same thing.

One has included interface design, another assumes you'll bring your own. One has planned to migrate the data from the system you use today, the other treats it as out of scope. Some include six months of support and some bill every intervention from the day after delivery. The total, read on its own, tells you very little. What counts is what's underneath.

So the first piece of advice is also the simplest. Ask for a quote broken down into line items and compare the line items, leaving the totals alone.

Where the number comes from

Screens matter less than people think. What moves the bill is five variables.

The first is the number of different cases to handle, meaning the exceptions more than the features. "Order management" can be one linear flow, or fifteen variants depending on the type of customer, the country, the payment method and three historical rules nobody ever wrote down. From the outside the two versions look the same, and the second costs many times the first.

Then there are integrations. Every external system that data comes from or goes to is a small project of its own, with documentation to understand, credentials to obtain and behaviour you only discover once you connect. With a well-documented system we're talking hours. With an older-generation management system that exposes a proprietary file format it can turn into weeks.

The third variable is the data you already have. Bringing clean data into the new system is dull but predictable work. Twenty years of archive with duplicates, fields used in different ways over time and codes that don't add up is archaeology, and has to be estimated as such.

Who will use the software, and where, matters too. A tool for five people in an office has different requirements from one used by two hundred operators on tablets in a warehouse, and permissions, performance and tolerance of mistakes all change.

Finally, the level of polish. An internal system can have a bare-bones interface, a product for end customers can't. Both choices are legitimate. What matters is making them knowing how much they weigh.

Where the undeclared costs hide

Bad faith is rare. They're items nobody discussed that resurface once the project is under way, when negotiating is harder. These are the ones to check one by one:

  • design, which if it's missing from the quote is either something you do yourselves or something that turns up on an invoice later;
  • data migration, asking whether it's included and on what volume it was estimated;
  • changes along the way, because it needs agreeing up front what counts as a clarification and what counts as a new request, and how it gets approved;
  • the test environment, a place to try things without touching real data, which if it isn't planned either doesn't exist or is paid for separately;
  • training for the people who'll use it, because a system nobody knows how to use can't be considered delivered;
  • support after delivery, the item that varies most from one supplier to another and the one that weighs most over the following five years;
  • ownership of the code, which has to be in writing. Code, database and infrastructure access must be yours.

We include six months of support after delivery, with urgent tickets handled within 24 hours and on-call cover 7 days a week. We mention it because it's exactly the kind of item to check in any quote on your desk. Always ask what happens the day after delivery, for how long and on what terms.

Fixed price or time and materials

Both work, in different situations.

A fixed price makes sense when the scope can be defined. It gives you predictability and moves the risk onto the supplier, who prices that in by adding a safety margin. For a first project it's the right model, because trust still has to be built and you need a number to reason with.

Time and materials suits a scope that is bound to change, as in a phase of continuous development. It costs less because you're not paying for the uncertainty margin, but it needs trust and real visibility into what's being done.

The mistake to avoid is a fixed price on a scope everyone knows is vague. It ends in a contractual argument halfway through the project, which wastes both sides' time and damages the relationship.

How to make three quotes comparable

There's a method that needs no technical knowledge. Write the list of things the system has to do yourselves, in plain language and in order of importance, and send the same list to everyone. Each supplier has to reply item by item, stating what's in scope and what's out, and listing the assumptions they've made.

The assumptions are the most interesting part to read, because they show who has understood the problem. If a supplier writes "we assume customer master data arrives already de-duplicated", they've looked at your data. One who writes no assumptions at all probably hasn't thought about the project yet, and will do that thinking later, at your expense.

Finish with two questions that are the same for everyone. What happens if we change a priority halfway through? And what happens the day after delivery? The answers will show you the difference between suppliers far better than the price. A quote, in the end, is a list of things someone commits to doing, and those are what you compare.

Frequently asked questions

Why are quotes for the same software so different?

Because suppliers usually aren't quoting for the same thing. One includes design, another data migration, another six months of support. To compare them you need quotes broken down into line items, compared row by row rather than on the total.

What does the cost of custom software depend on?

Mainly on five variables: how many cases and exceptions have to be handled, integrations with other systems, the state of the data you already have, who will use the software and in what conditions, and the level of polish required. The number of screens counts for much less. Two projects that look identical from the outside can cost very different amounts.

Which hidden costs should you check in a software quote?

Design, data migration, handling of changes along the way, a test environment, training, support after delivery and ownership of the code. It's almost never bad faith, they're items nobody discussed that resurface once the project is under way. Ask about each one whether it's included.

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Ultimo aggiornamento: 24 settembre 2026

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Last updated: 24 September 2026

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English translation for convenience. The Italian version prevails in case of discrepancy.

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