Salesforce charges $165/user/month. HubSpot's Sales Hub is $90/user/month. For a 10-person team: $10,800-19,800/year, forever. Custom CRM: $15,000-50,000 once. The math matters.
When Off-the-Shelf Wins
Your process is standard. Lead → Qualified → Proposal → Negotiation → Closed. If your sales process fits this template, Salesforce or HubSpot will work well and cost less than building.
You need it this week. Off-the-shelf deploys in days. Custom development takes 2-5 months.
Team is small (under 10 users). Below this threshold, subscription cost is manageable and building custom doesn't pencil out.
You need ecosystem integrations. Salesforce has 3,000+ native integrations. HubSpot has 1,500+. Custom CRM starts with zero.
When Custom CRM Wins
Your process is genuinely unique. Multi-stage approvals, complex commission structures, industry-specific workflows (legal matter management, construction project tracking, healthcare compliance). Off-the-shelf bends badly here.
You need deep integration with proprietary systems. Legacy 1C, industry software, custom ERP. Building connectors for these in Salesforce is often more expensive than building the CRM itself.
Team is large (50+ users). Subscription cost at scale: Salesforce Enterprise at $165/user × 50 users = $99,000/year. Custom CRM at $40,000 payback in 5 months.
Data sovereignty. Healthcare, government, finance - data can't leave your servers. SaaS CRM is a non-starter.
You want to move fast without per-seat pricing. Adding users to custom CRM costs nothing.
The Hidden Costs of Off-the-Shelf
- Implementation/configuration: $5,000-30,000 (often more than a year's subscription)
- Custom development on top of platform: $150-300/hour (Salesforce developers are expensive)
- Training: every person who joins needs onboarding
- Lock-in: migrating out of Salesforce is a multi-month project
What a Custom CRM Actually Costs
| Scope | Cost | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Simple pipeline + contact management | $8,000-15,000 | 6-10 weeks |
| Full CRM with automation + reports | $15,000-35,000 | 3-5 months |
| Enterprise with integrations + mobile | $35,000-80,000 | 5-9 months |
The Decision Framework
- Will you use less than 30% of features in Salesforce/HubSpot? → Custom
- Do you have 30+ users? → Run the 3-year cost comparison
- Does your workflow fit standard pipeline stages? → Off-the-shelf
- Do you need deep proprietary system integration? → Custom
- Do you need it in 2 weeks? → Off-the-shelf
Discuss your CRM requirements →
Aunimeda builds business automation solutions - Telegram bots, WhatsApp bots, CRM integrations, and custom automation workflows.
Contact us to automate your business. See also: Business Automation, Telegram Bot Development, WhatsApp Bot Development