Affordable custom software for UK SMEs

Custom doesn’t have to mean expensive. By focusing on a small pilot and real outcomes, UK SMEs can get a useful system without risky budgets.

Typical costs

Pilots often start around £600–£3,000. Ongoing care (hosting, updates, small improvements) is optional and typically from £175/month.

What affects cost?

  • Scope: number of forms, lists, dashboards.
  • Integrations: Shopify, Amazon/eBay, accounting, etc.
  • Data migration: cleaning/linking existing spreadsheets.
  • Permissions & audit: complexity of roles and logs.

Ways to keep it affordable

  1. Start small: pick one process that saves the most time.
  2. Reuse patterns: standard layouts, components and tables.
  3. Automate later: build the forms and reports first; schedule jobs in phase 2.
  4. Weekly demos: catch changes early before they get expensive.

What you get in a starter pilot

  • Login & roles
  • 2–4 clean forms with validations
  • Lists/tables with search & filters
  • CSV export and a simple dashboard

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FAQ

Is custom better than off-the-shelf?

If you’re bending your process to fit a generic tool—or living in spreadsheets—custom can be cheaper long-term.

Can we stay under £1,000?

Often, yes—for a focused pilot without heavy integrations.

What if we need mobile?

We build responsive UIs; offline or native can be a later phase.

Related: Replace spreadsheets with a web app · How we build small systems fast