Insights
Practical guides on the costs, co-funding economics, and ownership model behind replacing expensive per-seat tools with your own system — written by the team at Rollout IT.
A bespoke build costs £35k–£60k. That is too much for one company to absorb alone. Split across five firms with the same use case it becomes a fraction — and the founding cohort gets locked-in pricing, roadmap input, and a revenue share on every customer who joins after them.
Build vs buy is the wrong frame. The real question in 2026 is whether you want to rent a tool forever or own the outcome once. For certain tools the answer is clear — and the economics have shifted dramatically.
Per-seat pricing looks predictable until headcount grows and the vendor raises rates in the same quarter. After five years of SaaS rent most teams own nothing — no data rights, no exit plan, and a bill that has quietly doubled.