How much does bespoke software cost in the UK?

A first tool that takes one job off your team usually costs a few thousand pounds. A platform that runs a whole process usually runs to tens of thousands, built in stages. What moves the number is a handful of things you can see in advance.

Roughly what it costs

The cheapest sensible start is one tool that takes one job off your team, kept small enough that the price is obvious before you commit to anything larger. A whole-process platform is delivered in stages, with each stage in use before the next is priced. These are typical ranges, not quotes: the real figure comes from the first conversation.

At The Plough in Harborne the first piece was a single hiring assessment. The rest followed once it was in use, each scoped on its own.

What moves the number

1. How many systems it connects to. Every link to a booking system, accounts package or inbox has to be built, tested and kept working.
2. How many kinds of user. Separate screens for staff, clients or members, each seeing only what they should, multiply the work.
3. How many rules. Every "unless" and "except when" in the process adds build and testing time.
4. How clean the data is. A tidy export is a short job. Five years of inconsistent spreadsheets is a long one.
5. How much already exists. If an existing platform does most of the job, you only pay for the gap.

The number of pages, the colour scheme and the size of your company barely move it.

How we price it

Each stage has a fixed price, agreed before we start and set against what the job costs you now in hours, subscriptions and mistakes. A monthly retainer is there if you want the system run and improved for you, but it is optional. The code and the data are yours either way.

Where to start

Write down the job you most want gone, who does it and how many hours a week it takes. That one line is the start of an honest quote, from us or from anyone.