What does a CRM cost for ten users over three years: buy, connect or build?
Most firms asking what a custom CRM costs already pay for one, per user, every month. It doesn't quite fit, so someone retypes the same customer into the CRM, the accounts software and an inbox folder. There are three ways out: keep buying, connect what you have, or build your own. Here is each one priced for a team of ten over three years, from prices the firms publish. We wrote this and we sell the connecting and bespoke options, so our prices are in it.
Buy
Salesforce's UK price list has Starter Suite at £20 a user a month and Pro Suite at £80, the second billed annually. Ten users for 36 months comes to £7,200 on Starter or £28,800 on Pro. We use these two tiers as a cheap and a dearer example; other CRMs sit around them.
Connect
Keep the subscription and add a two-way link to your accounts, inbox and website forms. Our CRM and job software integration is from £1,450 for a two-way sync. Three years then comes to £8,650 on the £20 tier or £30,250 on the £80 tier. Support is optional and agreed before work starts.
Build
Softomate publishes a 10-user example: £25,000 to £40,000 to build plus £200 to £600 a year for hosting. It totals that at £25,600 to £41,800 over three years, with an optional care plan from £499 a month. Magora puts a UK build at £40,000 to £120,000 plus £2,000 to £4,000 a year for hosting: £46,000 to £132,000 over three years. Our own bespoke CRM starts from £6,950, but that's a starting price for a scope agreed in a discovery sprint, not a ten-user example, so it isn't in the sum.
On Salesforce's £20 tier, buying is the cheapest route by a long way, and connecting it with our two-way sync adds a one-off £1,450. On the £80 tier, the bottom of Softomate's build range comes in under three years of buying, before its care plan. Add the care plan and the build costs more than both.
So the build question is mostly about seats times price per seat. Softomate's own break-even example makes the same point at a larger scale. For a team of 20 to 40 users, it sets a £60,000 build against a £4,000-a-month licence and breaks even at 15 months.
What do developers charge to build a custom CRM?
Developers' published prices for a custom CRM build start at about £10,000 and run past £350,000. The firms that publish them don't agree on what a small system costs. Dotsquares puts a bespoke small-business CRM at £10,000 to £25,000, while TekRevol starts its CRM range at £60,000.
| Firm | Published build price | First version | Upkeep it states |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dotsquares | £10,000 to £25,000 for a UK small-business CRM; £50,000 upward for enterprise | 2 to 4 months for a startup MVP | 15 to 20% of build cost a year |
| Magora | £40,000 to £120,000; an MVP from £10,000 | First release in 6 to 8 weeks | Retainer from £12,000 a year, plus hosting at £2,000 to £4,000 a year |
| Softomate | £15,000 to £35,000 for a focused CRM, up to £120,000 to £350,000+ for the largest | 8 to 14 weeks for the focused tier | Care plan from £499 a month, optional |
| TekRevol | £60,000 to £200,000 | Not stated for a CRM | Not stated in its CRM row |
| Team Seven | No fixed price; in US dollars, $120,000 to $200,000 for a focused CRM at a US or UK agency | 12 to 20 weeks for a focused CRM | 15 to 20% of build cost a year |
| Logica (us) | Connection from £695, two-way from £1,450; a bespoke CRM from £6,950 after a £495 discovery sprint, credited in full | A connection can take days | Optional support, agreed before work starts |
Each firm's figures are from its own page, checked 6 November 2026. Ask each one whether its figure includes VAT. Ours are from our published price list.
The ranges are wide for the same few reasons on every page. They are how many systems the CRM talks to, how many teams and permission levels it serves, and how much old data comes across. Softomate prices each integration at £1,500 to £5,000 on top of the base build. A CRM wired into five other tools costs far more than one that stands alone. It's also why we fix a bespoke CRM's price only after a £495 discovery sprint.
Can you connect the CRM you already pay for instead?
Connecting means your current CRM stays and a small piece of software moves data between it and everything else. That piece is what we build. New enquiries from your website and inbox land as contacts, won deals reach your accounts as invoices, and job status flows back. Nobody has to change how they work.
HubSpot and Pipedrive both publish an API that makes this possible. HubSpot documents its APIs openly, and Pipedrive says its API and extension points "cover the majority of our core product's functionality". Check your plan before you count on it. Salesforce's UK price page shows its Web Services API as missing from some editions, and as $25 a user a month extra on another.
This is the route the build cost guides leave unpriced. A CRM or job software integration from us starts from £695 for a one-way feed and from £1,450 for a two-way sync. The price is fixed before work starts.
A customised CRM is a bought one changed through its own settings and add-ons; a custom CRM is software written for you. Connecting leaves your CRM as it is and links it to your other tools. Our index of which UK business software has an API shows whether yours can be connected at all.
Still retyping between your CRM and your other tools? Book a free audit call and we'll tell you whether connecting it is enough.
Do you need a custom CRM at all?
A custom CRM earns its cost when several of these are true of your business. If only one or two are, buy a CRM or connect the one you have.
- You pay for a lot of seats and use a small part of what the plan includes.
- The way you win and run work is your edge, and the CRM forces it into someone else's stages.
- The same data is retyped between three or more systems, and no ready-made connection covers one of them.
- You need rules the vendor won't add: who sees which customer, sign-offs, a full audit trail.
- Your CRM has no API, or charges extra for one.
- You want your data in a database you own, with no fee per seat.
- Someone will own it after launch, with a budget for upkeep every year and not only for the build.
If you're unsure, scope it before anyone quotes a build. Our discovery sprint costs £495 and is credited in full against the build. If the question is who should build it, our guide to hiring a developer, a contractor or an agency sets out what each route costs.
How long does a custom CRM take to build?
A first working version of a custom CRM takes from about six weeks to five months at the firms above. Magora advertises a first release in 6 to 8 weeks and Softomate 8 to 14 weeks for its focused tier. Team Seven says 12 to 20 weeks for a focused CRM, and Dotsquares 2 to 4 months for an MVP. A connection we build between two tools you already run can take days.
Moving the data takes time of its own. Customers, open deals and history come across from exports. The old and new systems usually run side by side until the team trusts the new one. Ask whether that is in the quote.
Which costs don't appear on a custom CRM build quote?
Upkeep every year
Dotsquares puts support and maintenance at 15 to 20% of the build cost a year, and Magora's retainer starts at £12,000 a year. A build with no upkeep budget slowly stops matching how you work.
Hosting
Small for a small system and larger for a busy one: £200 to £600 a year in Softomate's 10-user example, £2,000 to £4,000 at Magora.
Each integration
Every tool the CRM talks to is extra work. Softomate budgets £1,500 to £5,000 for each one.
The data protection contract
Whoever hosts or runs your CRM handles your customers' personal data for you. The ICO says "whenever a controller uses a processor, there must be a written contract (or other legal act) in place". Ask for that contract, and ask where the data will be stored.
Subscriptions you keep anyway
A build rarely ends every bill. Email, accounts and phone systems stay, so count only the CRM seats you'd actually stop paying for.
Ownership and exit
Ask who owns the code and the hosting account, and what you get if the developer stops trading. A CRM you can't hand to another developer is a subscription under another name.
Quick answers
Is a custom CRM cheaper than Salesforce?
A custom CRM is rarely cheaper than Salesforce for a team of ten: three years of Starter Suite at £20 a user a month is £7,200. Softomate's own ten-user build comes to £25,600 to £41,800 over the same three years.
What is the difference between a custom CRM and a customised CRM?
A customised CRM is a bought one changed through its own settings and add-ons, while a custom CRM is software written for you. Connecting is a third route, and the one we price from £695: your CRM stays as it is and is linked to your other tools.
Does a custom CRM need a data processing contract?
A custom CRM that someone else hosts or runs needs a written contract with them, because the ICO says there must be one whenever a controller uses a processor. Ask where the data will be stored, too.
Who owns a custom-built CRM?
Settle who owns a custom-built CRM's code and hosting account before the build starts, and what you get if the developer stops trading. Ask for both to be in your business's name, so another developer can take it on.