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What does custom software development cost? Almost entirely what the scope demands: how many tasks the software takes over, how many kinds of users work in it, which software it talks to and how sensitive your data is. A first phase around one task usually costs a few tens of thousands of euros; a full platform grows in phases. That is why you will not find an honest price per screen or per month anywhere. What you can do: start small, agree a fixed price per phase and expand once the first part works.
Agencies in Belgium charge 50 to 150 euros an hour; how that compares with your own market is in developer rates by country. So the price of software is mainly hours, and hours follow from scope. How we approach it: custom software. If you are weighing teams across Europe, see nearshore software development. Before you sign, run the twelve checks in how to choose a software development company and start from our software development contract template; UK buyers will find their own angle in bespoke software development for UK companies.
Custom software cost, block by block
Every software quote counts the same thing: work. And the work follows from what you ask. Seven blocks decide how much.
| Block | What it is | What makes it more expensive |
|---|---|---|
| The core | Screens and rules for your own process: a planning board, a case file, stock | Many exceptions and rules in your work |
| Users and roles | Who sees and may do what | Customers, drivers or an accountant who log in too |
| Data migration | An import from spreadsheets or an old package, with a report | Messy files, duplicate customers |
| Integrations | With your accounting, email or a partner's software | Closed software without a good API |
| An app on the phone | For people on the move | Two native apps instead of one web app |
| Reports and export | PDFs for customers, overviews for the accountant, a customs report | Legal formats with strict rules |
| Security | Two-factor login, encryption, backups, audit log | Sensitive data such as national ID numbers or payroll |
A web app is cheaper than two apps in the stores; the difference is in app development cost. To run these sums on your own modules, use the software development cost calculator.
How scope stacks up
What you have built
- The core: your own processThe screens and rules for the task that costs you most time.
- Users and rolesWho sees and may do what: office, driver, customer, accountant.
- Migrating your dataAn import from Excel or your old package, with a report of what came over.
- IntegrationsWith your accounting, your email or a partner's software.
- An app on the phoneFor people on the move, as a web app or in the stores.
- Reports and exportOverviews for your accountant or customs, PDF and Excel.
- SecurityTwo-factor login, encryption, backups and an audit log.
Every block is work, and so price. Together they make the scope.
How the DA Logistics platform grew
- The startFuel under the Kader B scheme
- 12 July 2026New version with planning board and fleet
- 27 August 2026Driver app in three languages
- 15 September 2026One core, also for a second carrier
Not everything at once: around fuel, the whole office grew in, from planning and fleet to staff, payroll and costs.
Worked example: a first phase in hours and euros
A transport company with twenty drivers wants its planning out of Excel: a weekly planning board, drivers and vehicles in it, conflicts that stand out, and a PDF for the drivers. No app and no integrations in this phase. We use an example rate of 85 euros an hour, inside the Belgian market range. Before VAT; the hours are an example, not a quote.
| Part of phase 1 | Hours | Amount at 85 euros an hour |
|---|---|---|
| Workshops and fixing the scope | 16 | 1,360 euros |
| Screen design | 30 | 2,550 euros |
| Core: planning board, drivers, vehicles, conflicts | 140 | 11,900 euros |
| Users and roles (office, planner) | 20 | 1,700 euros |
| Importing the current spreadsheet | 24 | 2,040 euros |
| PDF export for drivers | 16 | 1,360 euros |
| Security, backups, testing | 40 | 3,400 euros |
| Phase 1 | 286 | 24,310 euros |
Phase 2, a driver app as a web app, and phase 3, a link with fuel or accounting, follow later, each with its own scope and price. So you never pay for everything at once, and after phase 1 you know what it delivers. A template to write down your scope: the software requirements template. The same 286 hours at a London or Munich agency rate cost noticeably more; at a nearshore team in Eastern Europe often less, see best countries to outsource software development.
What custom software saves you
The price of software only means something next to what it delivers. So count the hours first. If five people each spend three hours a week retyping data from one file into another, that is fifteen hours a week, or about 700 hours a year. At 40 euros an hour in wage cost, that is about 28,000 euros a year. Then come the mistakes: an expired work permit nobody saw, a delivery invoiced twice, a planning clash.
| What you measure | Example | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Hours retyping and searching | 15 hours a week x 46 working weeks | 690 hours |
| Wage cost of those hours | 690 hours x 40 euros | 27,600 euros |
| Mistakes that cost money | 1 duplicate or missed invoice a month of 400 euros | 4,800 euros |
| What the current work costs | 32,400 euros |
A first phase of 24,310 euros that removes half of that work pays for itself in about eighteen months. If the sum does not work, start smaller, or choose a package. Recognise your work in a spreadsheet bursting at the seams? Read replace Excel with software.
Building in phases, with a price per phase
- Pick the biggest time sinkWhich task costs your team the most hours each week, or makes the costliest mistakes? Phase one starts there, not with everything at once.
- Fix the scope of that phaseWhich screens, which users, which data and which integrations. What is not included is written down too.
- Agree a fixed priceA scoped phase can be priced up front. You know what you pay, and the builder carries the risk of his own estimate.
- Use it and see what it deliversOnce phase one runs daily, you see what it saves and what is still missing. That beats any list written in advance.
- Plan the next phase on what you learnedThe next module, an app for people on the move, a portal for your customers. Each phase with its own scope and price.
Custom or a package, over five years
For standard work such as invoicing or a simple CRM, a package is almost always cheaper: you share the build cost with thousands of other customers and pay per user per month. A comparison for 15 users, before VAT:
| 5 years, 15 users | Odoo Standard | Odoo Custom | Custom build |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licences year 1 | 15 x 19.90 x 12 = 3,582 euros | 15 x 35.90 x 12 = 6,462 euros | 0 euros |
| Licences years 2 to 5 | 15 x 24.90 x 48 = 17,928 euros | 15 x 44.90 x 48 = 32,328 euros | 0 euros |
| Implementation (example) | 8,000 euros | 15,000 euros | 35,000 euros in phases |
| Keeping custom modules up to date with new versions (example) | 0 euros | 4,000 euros | 0 euros |
| Hosting and upkeep (example) | included | included | 9,000 euros (150 a month) |
| Total after five years | 29,510 euros | 57,790 euros | 44,000 euros |
Odoo prices with the first-year discount. A package wins when your work fits it. Custom wins when your work does not fit the package, when you pay per user for a lot you do not use, or when you have to stitch several packages together. Every extra user makes a package more expensive; custom does not. The trade-off is also covered in build vs buy software and Odoo or custom software.
What you pay after delivery
| Item | What it is | How it is usually charged |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Server, database, backups | Monthly, usage-based |
| Maintenance | Updates of components, security, monitoring | A fixed monthly or yearly amount |
| New features | What you ask for after the first phases | Per phase or per job, priced up front |
| Support | Your users' questions, small fixes | Part of maintenance, or by the hour |
With custom software you usually do not pay per user, so more users do not make the platform more expensive by themselves. Do ask whose name the code, server and data are in.
Mistakes that make software expensive
- Everything at onceA full platform in one phase is the biggest cost mistake. You pay for things you would later do differently.
- A vague scope at a low hourly rateIt often ends up more expensive than a higher rate with a sharp scope.
- Forgetting the importMoving your data out of spreadsheets or an old package is often more work than expected.
- No owner on your sideWho decides about the software at your company? Without that person every phase slips.
- No plan for after deliverySoftware lives; budget upkeep from day one.
Platforms we built
- fuel stops in the DA Logistics platform on 3 August 2026
- 1,182
- trips in the platform on the same date
- 668
- tests across 117 files guard the code
- 1,396
- employees in the Business Centrum Excel import, tested on their real file
- 971
Questions about custom software cost
How much does custom software cost?
It depends on scope: how many tasks, users, integrations and data the software handles. In our example a first phase around a planning board costs about 24,000 euros at an example rate of 85 euros an hour. A full platform grows in phases on top.
How much does custom software cost per month?
After the build you pay hosting, upkeep and the features you ask for, often 100 to a few hundred euros a month for hosting and upkeep. With custom software you usually do not pay per user, so more users do not make it more expensive by themselves.
Is custom software more expensive than a package?
Almost always at the start, not always over five years. In our example for 15 users, Odoo Standard costs about 29,500 euros over five years, Odoo with Studio and API about 57,800 euros and custom about 44,000 euros. If your work fits the package, choose the package.
How long does custom software development take?
A first phase around one task takes weeks, not years. A full platform grows in phases: at DA Logistics, planning board, fleet and a driver app were added within a few months, each on top of what already ran.
Is it cheaper to outsource software development to another European country?
Often, if the rates there are lower than at home, as Belgian rates are compared with the UK, Germany or the Nordics. The saving holds only with a sharp scope, a fixed price per phase, overlapping hours and code and data in your name.
Who owns the software when it is finished?
You set that in the contract. Ask that the code becomes yours on payment or that you get an unlimited licence, and that the server and your data are in your name, so another developer can take over if ever needed.