Project management guide
Should a company buy project management software or build a custom system?
Buy a project management platform such as Asana when your projects look like most projects and you want teams working in it soon. Build a custom system when your people keep the working plan in spreadsheets beside the platform, because over five years the platform keeps charging per seat and a system you own has no license fee.
| What you are comparing | A product | A custom build |
|---|---|---|
| Cost over five years | A per-seat fee every year for every user, at the plan a company of 50 or more needs, plus the upper tier when you want portfolios, single sign-on or higher quotas. The total grows with headcount. | One build, priced in a written scope, and after launch the running costs of hosting, database and email. There are no licenses, so hiring does not raise the bill. |
| Per-seat fees | Yes. Every platform on our lists charges per user or per seat, and several ask for a quote once you pass a certain size or need the top tier. | None. A project manager, a field lead, a client and an executive who only reads reports all sign in without adding a fee. |
| Fit to your process | You fit your projects to the tool. Boards, grids and task lists are general shapes, and what they cannot hold ends up in spreadsheets beside them. | Built from the way your projects run, including your stages, approvals, cost tracking and the reports leadership asks for. |
| Time to launch | A team can start almost at once. A company-wide rollout still takes planning, with permissions, integrations and training to settle first. | Starts with discovery and a written scope, and the schedule is set in that scope. You see working screens during the build. |
| Automation and integration limits | Counted by plan on most platforms. Vendors publish monthly automation quotas and API rate limits, and the higher allowances sit on the higher tiers. | No quotas set by a price list. The system runs the rules you need and connects to the other systems named in the scope. |
| Outside users | Depends on the vendor. Some include guests from a certain plan and some charge for anyone who edits. | Clients, contractors and suppliers each get a login that shows only their part, with no fee per person. |
| Who maintains it | The vendor maintains the platform. Your admin maintains your boards, automations and permissions inside it. | Any competent developer. Black Badger writes the code to be read and extended, and every account is set up in your name. |
When buying project management software is the right answer
Buy when your projects are tasks, owners and dates, and the main problem is that nobody can see them in one place. Every platform on our main list solves that, and a company can be working in one quickly.
Buy as well when your process is still changing. A platform lets you try a way of working and change it again later. A build rewards a process that has settled.
When building a custom project management system is the right answer
Build when the platform has become one of several places the project lives. The signs are a budget workbook beside the board, a status report assembled by hand every week and one person who knows how it all connects.
Build when limits are setting your process. If you have redesigned an approval chain to stay inside an automation quota, or left people out to save seats, the tool is deciding how you work.
How to compare the cost of a subscription with a custom build
Compare five years instead of the first invoice. For the platform, take the per-seat price of the plan you need and multiply it by your seat count and by five years of billing. Then add the upper tier you expect to grow into and the time your admin spends on it.
The custom figure is a build plus running costs. Black Badger does not publish a price, because it depends on what the system must do and what it must connect to. A written scope gives you the number to set beside the platform total.
What a custom build involves, and how to ask about one
Questions buyers ask
Is custom project management software more expensive than a platform?
Custom project management software is often more expensive than a platform in the first year. A subscription repeats for every seat every year and a build does not, so the comparison shifts as headcount and years add up. To decide, put both five-year totals side by side.
Can a custom system connect to the tools we already use?
Yes, a custom system can connect to the tools you already use. Most builds connect to the accounting, CRM and file storage already in place. Integrations are named in the written scope, so you know what will talk to what before work starts.
What happens if we outgrow the custom system?
If you outgrow the custom system, you change it. Because you own the code, a new department, a new report or a new approval step is a scoped addition and not a plan upgrade.