Quiz: Should I Buy Software or Build It Now? | Learn

1. What changed to make custom internal software viable for small and mid-sized businesses?

AI-assisted development dropped build costs to roughly a year of the subscription being replacedDevelopers became dramatically cheaper to hire full timeSaaS vendors raised prices so much that any alternative looks cheapOpen-source software made most business tools free

The build side of the equation collapsed by an order of magnitude. A tool that drew a six-figure quote in 2023 now costs about what one year of the subscription it replaces costs.

2. Which of these is a case where buying software still beats building it?

A weekly internal report you currently assemble by handA customer follow-up tracker matched to your sales processPayment processing, where certification and fraud liability are the productA scheduling tool for your field crews

Anything that moves money carries liability, banking relationships, and certification requirements you do not want to own. Payments, compliance-certified systems, and ecosystem products remain buy decisions.

3. In the rule "commission workflows, subscribe to infrastructure," what counts as infrastructure?

Any software the business uses every daySystems that are the same for every business and carry liability or network value, like payment rails and tax enginesWhatever tool has the highest monthly priceAnything hosted in the cloud rather than on your own hardware

Infrastructure is generic across businesses and carries liability or ecosystem value you cannot replicate privately. Workflow encodes your specific process, and that is where custom tools fit best.

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