What does bespoke software actually cost?

It is the first question on nearly every call, usually phrased carefully so it does not sound rude. Let me save you the diplomacy.

Someone put it to me plainly once: if this is what we want, then how much would it cost roughly? Fair question. Here is the shape of the answer.

The ranges I actually see

A single well-defined tool — one process, one team, no integrations — tends to land in the low thousands. A phase of a proper operating system, with a couple of integrations and real users, is usually five figures. Anything described to me as "and then it could also…" three times in one meeting is not a project yet, it is a wish, and the number will be wrong whatever I say.

Why I will not guess on the first call

Because the number is not driven by what you want. It is driven by how much ambiguity is left when we start building.

Two clients ask for "a quoting system". One has a documented pricing structure and one person who owns it. The other has four salespeople who each price differently and disagree about who is right. Same words. Wildly different builds. If I quote on the words, one of us loses money and it damages the relationship either way.

The question underneath

Somebody once asked me, two years out: is 55k a good investment or a bad investment? That is the real question, and it is a better one than "what does it cost".

You can answer it yourself before you speak to anyone. Take the process. Estimate the hours it eats each week across everyone who touches it. Multiply by a loaded hourly rate. Multiply by 46 working weeks. That annual figure is the thing any quote should be measured against.

If the build costs more than the first year of the problem, be sceptical. If it costs a fraction, the conversation gets much simpler.