Salesforce. HubSpot. Pipedrive. These platforms have dominated customer relationship management for 20 years. And for a lot of companies, they make sense. But something has changed.
SaaS CRM subscription costs rise every year. The features you need are often in the higher-tier plan. And AI has completely transformed what it costs to build custom software. What used to take 6 months to build now takes 6 weeks.
So the question isn't "can we afford a custom CRM?" anymore. It's become "do we actually need Salesforce?"
What you're really paying for with Salesforce
⚠️ The real annual cost of a SaaS CRM
Salesforce Sales Cloud: $165 to $330 per user per month. For a team of 10, that's $19,800 to $39,600 a year in licenses alone. Add the extra modules (CPQ, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud), implementation by a certified consultant ($15,000 to $50,000), team training, and custom integrations. The total 3-year cost for a mid-sized SMB often exceeds $150,000.
What AI changed
Two years ago, building a custom CRM with a sales pipeline, client records, interaction history, and dashboards took 4 to 6 months of development. It was reserved for companies with big budgets.
Today, AI tools let our developers move 3 to 5 times faster. A feature that used to take 3 days to code now takes less than one. The code produced is better, better documented, and easier to maintain.
Concretely, a functional CRM with the key features can be built in 6 to 10 weeks for a budget between $12,000 and $35,000. The comparison with Salesforce becomes a lot more interesting.
Salesforce vs. custom CRM
| Salesforce / HubSpot | Custom Oriana CRM | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $165 to $330 per user | $0 (hosting only) |
| Upfront cost | $15,000 to $50,000 (impl.) | $12,000 to $35,000 (dev.) |
| Features | Standard, sometimes too broad | Exactly what you need |
| Data | With the vendor | With you, 100% |
| Evolution | Limited by the platform | Unlimited, based on your needs |
| Support | Tickets, documentation | Direct access to the team |
| Timeline | Available immediately | 6 to 10 weeks |
Costs vary depending on team size and chosen features. This comparison is based on a team of 5 to 15 people.
When to keep Salesforce
- ✓Your team is already trained and adoption is excellent. Migrating would cost more than it saves.
- ✓You have complex integrations with other Salesforce tools (Pardot, Service Cloud) that work well.
- ✓Your sales process is standard and Salesforce's base features cover 95% of your needs.
- ✓You're part of a large group that mandates Salesforce as the corporate standard.
- ✓You need specific certifications or compliance that Salesforce already guarantees.
When to switch to custom
- ✓Your Salesforce bill exceeds $2,000 a month and you're not using 40% of the features.
- ✓You have processes very specific to your industry that generic CRMs handle poorly.
- ✓You need deep integrations with in-house software or legacy systems.
- ✓Your team complains the CRM doesn't match how they actually work.
- ✓You want to control your customer data without relying on a US vendor.
- ✓Your startup budget is tight and a high monthly subscription creates too much pressure.
What we hear often
💡 Client testimonial
"We thought we were too small for a custom CRM. Turns out it's exactly built for teams like us. Our team of 6 uses the CRM every day. No one asks for training. And we don't pay anything monthly anymore."
The decision isn't universal. Some companies are absolutely right to stay on Salesforce. Others have been paying for years for features they don't use, in a tool their team tolerates rather than enjoys.
If you want to run the numbers for your situation, we offer a free 30-minute consultation. We'll look at your current usage together and tell you honestly whether a custom CRM would make sense for you.
