When a business decides to invest in software, it must choose whether to build it entirely from scratch or use a platform that provides functionality out of the box.
Each of these options comes with their costs and considerations. The table below compares building a project on Insites against building the same required functionality from scratch in a bespoke software solution.
You must document all the requirements, including mock-ups, process flows, all possible fields, error handling and user interactions.
The included functionality is already documented. You only need to define your project's custom elements.
You will need to develop every piece of functionality, including ones that might be easy to forget (e.g., user management and permissions, site maps, site search).
Insites includes an ever-expanding range of core functionality that you do not need to develop. Instead, focus and budget on custom workflows or business logic that is specific to your business.
You must test every built process to ensure it behaves exactly as expected.
Insites uses an automated test process for all included functionality. Tests only need to be carried out for the custom aspects of your project.
You will need a dedicated resource to manage the software you build. This can be outsourced; however, as the project becomes more custom/specialist, the cost of maintenance increases.
Insites is responsible for ensuring the system's reliability. If you choose a Combinate™ Management Plan, we will handle all updates and minor fixes to keep your project running smoothly.
Custom software can take many months to build. This lead time makes it difficult to know if the decisions that you make now are correct.
Implementing Insites in a matter of days allows you to refine what you need and remove uncertainty quickly.
You must define all systems you will integrate with to handle your business functions (sending emails, collecting payments, monitoring traffic, etc.).
Insites includes many out-of-the-box integrations, including emails, SMS, online payments, and analytics. You can also add custom integrations via the powerful API.
Bespoke projects mean that you take on all risks associated with the project.
Insites removes the risks from large parts of the project by giving a known and predictable output in a faster time.
Custom software projects can be unpredictable and take a long time to complete. Documentation and requirement gathering alone can be more than 1 month of effort.
Insites can be up and running in a matter of days. You can start adding custom requirements in small increments and see the results of your work much faster.
To commence work on a project, you will typically need to pay one-third to 50% of the total cost. As the project's overall cost will be higher, the upfront costs can be high.
Insites charge a Licence Fee for access to the Platform. We charge a customization fee to configure the Platform to your business. This cost is much lower than building all of the software from scratch.
You will need to pay the total cost of maintaining the software, which includes security patches, upgrading infrastructure and ensuring the platform runs smoothly. This is before you pay the fee for any future features or improvements you want to see in the software.
As part of the Insites License Fee, you will receive regular maintenance updates for your software version. If you choose a Combinate™ Management Plan, we will handle all updates and minor fixes to keep your project up to date. You can then focus more of your budget on building features or improvements that you want to see.
We chose to build our website on Insites due to its flexibility, out of the box features and integrations. The ability to customize every part of our website and client portals has helped our business like no other platform beforehand.
I've worked with many software platforms and built numerous integrations, however Insites has changed the game by having all of the necessary tools in the one platform. The developer experience is second to none and my clients love using it as well.
Switching to Insites has revolutionized our agency. We no longer have to spend precious time setting up and managing complex backend infrastructure. The pre-built functionalities and seamless integrations have significantly accelerated our development cycles.
Working with Insites has been an absolute game-changer for our business. The platform allows us to get to market faster than ever before. Multiple departments are leveraging the power and flexibility of the platform and we are exploring other areas of the business that can benefit from this great technology.
Choosing Insites to create our painter and builder portal was one of the best decisions we made. The platform has allowed us to create a unified mobile app and web portal with centralized data and user management. We love that the platform is constantly releasing new features and listening to our feedback.
Try Insites for as long as you like with our free starter plan and free staging instances.
Then purchase a production instance when you are ready to go live.
