Answers
What's the difference between SaaS and bespoke software?
Short answer
SaaS is a finished product rented by many customers at once, usually priced per user per month. Bespoke software is built for one business and typically paid for as a one-off build plus a flat running cost. SaaS is faster and cheaper to start; bespoke fits exactly and doesn't get more expensive as you hire. The right choice depends on how unusual your process is and how many seats you need.
Side by side
The differences that actually matter in practice:
- Time to start. SaaS: today. Bespoke: weeks to months.
- Cost shape. SaaS: low to start, rises with headcount, never stops. Bespoke: higher up front, flat afterwards.
- Fit. SaaS: you adapt to the product. Bespoke: the product is built around you.
- Change. SaaS: you request a feature and wait, or you don't get it. Bespoke: you commission it.
- Risk. SaaS: the vendor could raise prices, change direction, or be acquired. Bespoke: your supplier could disappear, which is why data export and ordinary technology choices matter.
- Lock-in. Both have it. SaaS locks you to a platform; bespoke locks you to a supplier unless you own the data and the code is written in something common.
A straightforward way to decide
Write down your process end to end. Trial two or three SaaS products against it properly — not a demo, an actual fortnight of real work. Then count the places you had to invent a workaround.
None or one: buy the SaaS. Several, and the workarounds involve a spreadsheet holding real business data: that spreadsheet is the specification for a bespoke build, and you already know the shape of it.
It doesn't have to be all one or the other
The most common sensible answer is a mix. Keep SaaS for the solved problems — accounting, payroll, email, document storage — and build bespoke only for the operational core that makes your business different. That keeps the build small and the running cost low.
This is also how our own products came about: GlassM8 and AggM8 started as one business's bespoke problem and became products because the trade turned out to share it. If a product already exists for your trade, buying it beats building it.
Related questions
Is bespoke software always better than SaaS?
No. If a product does the job well at a price you don't mind, buying it is the better decision — you get it today and someone else maintains it. Bespoke wins on fit and on cost at scale, not automatically.
Can bespoke software be delivered as SaaS?
Yes — that's how we deliver ours. You get your own subdomain, your own database and your own admin, hosted and maintained by us, on a flat monthly fee. Bespoke describes who it was built for; SaaS describes how it's delivered.
What happens to bespoke software if the developer disappears?
That risk is managed by owning your data outright, taking regular exports, and insisting the system is built on mainstream, well-documented technology so another developer can pick it up. Ask about all three before you commit.
Still not sure what you actually need?
Tell us how your business runs and we'll tell you straight — including when off-the-shelf software would serve you better than anything we'd build.