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Flintholt

Calculator

What do your apps really cost?

One figure: what you pay each month for the apps you'd replace. We'll show what that comes to over the years against having your own built — and the budget it would justify, so you know what a quote is worth before you ask for one.

What you spend now

Only the apps your own software would take over. Anything you would keep either way — your accounts package, say — leave out; it costs the same whichever way you go.

Just so we know what the number is for. It changes nothing.

Everything you would stop paying for, added up.

If your bill creeps up

Another person, another app to plug a gap.

Left at zero unless you say otherwise.

What having it built would cost

Start from what we charge, then change it to whatever you have been quoted — ours or anybody else's.

Yours to change. A real figure means a free quote.

New features you would ask for later are quoted separately.

Then £100 a year to host it, and the £25/month care plan if you want it— counted here every year, including the first, whose hosting actually comes free with a build. Counting it anyway keeps these figures from flattering us.

The answer

£180 a month — £2,160 a year on what you would replace

Over 5 years, owning comes to about £5,300 less than renting. Owning costs more to begin with, and catches up in year 2.

Renting on
£10,800
Having it built
£5,500

Your build budget

£8,800

Carry on spending what you already spend, and you could put up to £8,800 into a build over 5 years and still be no worse off than renting. Owned software starts at £3,500, so there is real room in that.

Running totals, year by year
End of yearRenting onBuilt for youDifference
Year 1£2,160£3,900-£1,740
Year 2£4,320£4,300£20
Year 3£6,480£4,700£1,780
Year 4£8,640£5,100£3,540
Year 5£10,800£5,500£5,300

Anything you would keep either way is left out of both sides.

Email me this breakdown

The figures, the assumptions behind them, and a link back to this page with your numbers in.

The breakdown comes either way, and we only see your figures if you tick the first box. Tick the second and we'll send a separate email to check it was you. How we use your details.

Questions

Before you trust a calculator.

Why does owning cost more at the start?

Because the software has to be built before you can use it, and that is paid for up front. After that it is £100 a year to host it and £25 a month for the care plan if you want it - counted here every year - rather than a bill that grows every time you add a person or a tool. Whether that ever works out cheaper depends on your figures, which is the point of putting them in.

What is the "build budget"?

What you could spend having something built and still be no worse off than carrying on with your apps over the years you picked. It is worked out from what you already spend, less what owning costs to keep running. If that figure comes out below what owned software starts at, the page says so - that is the case for staying where you are.

When should I just keep renting?

When your apps bill is small and not growing, or the app you use does something genuinely hard that you would never pay to have built. If the calculator says renting stays cheaper, believe it - we would rather you kept your money than bought something that does not pay for itself.

What isn't in these sums?

Your time helping us understand how you work, and switching over. VAT, unless the figures you enter include it. And the other side of it: the hours your own software saves when it fits how you actually work, which rarely shows up on any bill. The build cost is an example until we have quoted for what you need - a quote is free.

Where do the example figures come from?

They are the small-business example from our article on renting against owning, split into typical apps. They are an illustration, not a survey of anybody’s prices - replace them with what you actually pay.

What happens to my email address if I ask for the breakdown?

We send you the breakdown and don't keep your address or your figures. Two boxes change that, and both start unticked: one sends us your figures so we can get in touch about them, and the other asks for occasional emails - which only starts once you've clicked the link in the email that follows. Every email we send has an unsubscribe link.

Want a real number instead of an example?

Tell us which apps you'd like to stop paying for. A free half-hour call, and a fixed quote if it's worth doing - or an honest 'keep renting' if it isn't.

Get a quoteor call 01444 371468