Custom Built vs Off-the-Shelf Apps: 8 Things You Need to Know Before Making a Decision

Sometimes, you need a new app to get work done. Whether that app is organizing data, helping you write things, crunching numbers, or performing any other function, it can mean the difference between growth and stagnation.

When searching for apps, you can get a developer to make something custom, just for you. You can also opt for a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) app. In that case, you buy the app, install it, and run it. No direct interaction with a developer is necessary.

So, which should you choose?

That answer, as always, depends on the scenario. To make an informed choice, you need to see where each model shines and why. To help you, these eight considerations will let you know what you’re getting into with each choice.

1. Everyone Uses Off-the-Shelf

Literally everyone in every industry uses COTS software to some degree. Microsoft Word is a classic example. Plenty of other examples include CRM software, communications apps, and even TurboTax.

Thinking in these terms, it’s easy to see the value of off-the-shelf (OTS) apps. They’re designed to do specific things, and mainstream apps tend to perform very well. That’s how they become so popular.

There are many cases where an OTS app will do what you want effectively. If the cost and performance are right, the debate ends immediately. You can get the OTS solution and enjoy the benefits.

Custom application development really exists to fill roles and tune solutions that OTS apps don’t already cover sufficiently.

2. Off-the-Shelf Apps Provide Advantages

Considering the popularity of OTS apps, they must provide at least some advantages, right?

It turns out that most of those advantages stem from popularity and scale.

For instance, popular OTS apps have tons of users. Chances are, if you have a problem, someone else has faced and solved that problem already. A quick Google search will show you countless troubleshooting, tutorials, and more. That volume of information adds value to the app.

Additionally, OTS apps usually have transparent pricing. In the majority of cases, you will see monthly prices based on tiers of service. It’s perfectly clear what you get in each tier and how much it costs.

Granted, there are other ways to do pricing, and prices are always subject to change, but it’s usually easy to estimate long- and short-term costs with OTS apps.

Lastly, OTS apps have a very short time to deliver. They’re already developed. You just have to pick one, install it, and use it. When time matters more than anything else, OTS apps shine.

3. Custom App Advantages Are Unique

There are plenty of reasons to choose OTS apps that provide the features and values you need. Yet, custom apps have their place, and much of their value ties to uniqueness.

It all stems from the customization concept.

You seek out custom apps to get solutions specific to your business. No other organization has your custom app. In fact, it probably wouldn’t serve them as well even if they did.

This means your app provides genuinely unique advantages within your industry. You can use the app to steer into your strengths or aspects of your niche. It reinforces the elements of your organization that help you stand out and provide unique value.

4. Customizing Apps Is a Process

This might be the most important thing to remember. When you solicit a custom app, the sales pitch usually goes like this. “We design apps all the time. We’re good at this. It will take this long and cost this price.”

The actual process then takes a different amount of time with a changed price.

This doesn’t happen because developers are trying to scam you. The expectations they set are built on their real experience and expertise. App customizing happens to be an unpredictable business.

It’s similar to building a house. The builder has made hundreds (possibly thousands) of houses. Yet, unexpected weather or other issues still throw the build off schedule, and the final price is never identical to the initial quote.

Unexpected issues do arise with app customization. It will impact the schedule. It might also impact pricing.

On top of that, most developers will never say to your face the primary source of changes: you. As you go through the process with them, you will inevitably learn a lot, and that often leads to changes in what you want. Those changes come with consequences.

With all of that considered, if you go into app development with a somewhat nebulous journey in mind, it reduces frustrations and can even help you get a better final outcome.

5. Security Cuts Both Ways

If you have an app made by a world-leading developer, you can expect certain things in terms of security. The floor of your security expectations are relatively high, and reasonably so.

On the other hand, these major developers probably are not offering to customize security systems for your business practices, and security needs vary by organization and industry. A healthcare office has to prioritize HIPAA. Meanwhile, a tile store has different security priorities.

Especially when compliance is a concern, custom application development has the freedom to help you maintain compliance as a priority. Successful developers can customize any amount of security policies and practices, giving you a higher security ceiling, even when compared to software giants. As a matter of sound practice, security should be included in the design of app development.

6. Both Provide Value

Figuring out the ROI on an app is tricky business. On average, OTS apps are cheaper out of the box and get up and running very quickly. You start reaping rewards faster, and that’s good for the bottom line.

At the same time, custom apps maintain every potential to provide more value over time, but it’s not guaranteed.

When you're considering custom apps, it’s important that you focus on the specific ways they can drive value. Is it simplifying a workflow? You can estimate the cost savings. Is it shoring up a compliance issue? It’s saving you the cost of whatever fine you are avoiding.

When you think in these terms, the custom option is only the better option when you can clearly see how it will provide more value than the OTS alternative.

This can be a bottom-line decision.

7. Custom Support May Surprise You

Support experiences will vary. No matter what you choose, support is a bit all over the place.

You already saw how mainstream apps provide value through volume. You can Google the answer to most of your questions.

With a custom app, presumably, you are the only one in the world using this exact software. Yet, many custom apps come with custom support too, and it often outshines OTS support.

The short version is that custom apps usually provide their own support, meaning they directly train support specialists, and those specialists often have good access to developers. The level of expertise at the support level is much higher than OTS support that might be outsourced to people with no direct affiliation to the developers.

8. Integration Favors Customization

The last major point ties into integration. It’s nice when your new app can freely draw data from other apps you already use, send information around, and generally play nicely with the other stuff you use.

OTS apps usually have perfect integration up to a point, and no integration past that point. To generalize, they usually work very well with operating systems, but they often struggle to seamlessly work in concert with other apps (unless you get all of your apps from the same ecosystem).

Custom application development can shatter such barriers. Good developers make integration a primary consideration from the beginning. They look at the apps you use and how to use them. The customization in your app often focuses on integrating with your existing ecosystem, and you get better results. Even if you’re looking to automate an isolated area of operation within your organization, careful consideration of how the new application will fit into your entire organization – building upon a foundation, with each part achieving its individual purpose while contributing to others as needed.

Integration alone often helps custom apps in terms of long-term value.

(image credit: Kevin Ku | Pexels)