The Real Question
"Build vs. buy" is the wrong framing. The real question is: "Is this a common problem that a vendor has solved, or is this specific to how we operate?"
If it's common, buy. If it's specific, build.
When to Buy
There are off-the-shelf tools for recruiting (screening resumes), accounting (expense categorization), customer support (ticket routing), and dozens of other workflows.
These tools are mature. They're reliable. They integrate with your other software. They're usually cheaper than building something custom.
Buy when:
- The workflow is standardized across industries
- You don't need much customization
- A vendor has already solved it well
- Speed to deployment matters more than perfect fit
Example: Email categorization is a solved problem. There are off-the-shelf tools that do it. Buying makes sense.
When to Build
Your business operates differently than most. Your workflows, your systems, your data — they're specific to how you run things. A generic tool doesn't fit.
Build when:
- The workflow is unique to your business
- You need deep integration with your systems
- Off-the-shelf options require significant workarounds
- The long-term value of ownership justifies the build cost
At Dig Solutions, we built custom agents because how we manage clients is specific to us. Our reporting format, our data sources, our quality standards — those are ours. A vendor tool would require us to change how we work.
The Build Trade-Off
Building custom is more expensive upfront. $10,000-$40,000 depending on complexity. But you own it. You control it. It integrates exactly the way you need.
Buying off-the-shelf might be $500-$2,000 a month. Cheaper short term. But you're locked into the vendor's decisions. If they change the product, your workflows change. If they go out of business, you're in trouble.
The question: Over three years, which costs less and gives you more control?
The Hybrid Approach
Here's what a lot of companies get wrong: thinking it's all-or-nothing. You can buy some tools and build others.
You might buy email management software but build a custom reporting agent. You might buy a recruiting tool but build a custom candidate research agent. Each decision is independent.
The companies I've worked with that do this well treat each workflow separately. They ask: "For this specific problem, what's the best solution?" Sometimes it's buy. Sometimes it's build. Often it's both.
One More Thing
When you're evaluating a vendor tool, ask: "What happens if I want to change this later?" If the answer is "You're kind of stuck with how it works," that's a red flag. If the answer is "You can customize it easily," that's good.
Control matters in the long run.