In 2022, having a software application for your business is an unofficial prerequisite to sustaining yourself in the industry. You need a powerful application to streamline the tasks performed by your employees and provide better services to your customers. However, when you plan to get an application for your business, it is important to choose the right approach for the same.

There are two major ways in which you can provide your business with a software application – by building a custom software application or buying an off-the-shelf application. The major difference between custom software and off-the-shelf software is that the former is a built entity while the latter is a purchased entity.

Let us dive a little deeper into the two approaches to understand their differences.

What Is Custom Software Development?

Custom software development is the process of developing a business-specific application from scratch. It involves creating software that is unique for your organization and does not exist before it is developed. Custom software development services involve analyzing the requirements of your business, coming up with a unique concept for building an application and developing the application based on these aspects.

Custom software is tailored according to the business models and preferences of your organization. Instead of you having to mold your processes for the application, you can mold the application according to your processes.

What Is Off-the-shelf Software?

As the name suggests, off-the-shelf software refers to a software application that is purchased by an organization according to its needs. Here, you buy a pre-built application that suits your business objectives without having to build it yourself.

An off-the-shelf software application is often built using the standard best practices that suit most businesses. One of the biggest disadvantages of off-the-shelf software is that instead of tailoring it according to your processes, you may need to mold your processes to suit the application your team works on.

Custom Software Vs Off-the-shelf Software: A Detailed Comparison

Now that we are thorough with the difference between custom software and off-the-shelf software, let us compare the two with the help of some key parameters:

Cost Of Development

The cost of custom software development is usually higher as compared to the cost of purchasing an off-the-shelf software application. This is because custom software development involves building your application from scratch and provides you with complete ownership of the same.

Moreover, while the cost of developing a custom software application is high, it also allows you to tailor the platform as per your business needs to earn a greater ROI. This often makes it worthwhile for businesses to spend more money on building custom software.

Customization And Scalability

In the age of digitization, every business is willing to build a software application that can be customized and scaled as per its needs. Custom software development provides you with complete control of your application and facilitates seamless customization. It allows you to add new features and modify the existing ones as per your needs, preferences, and convenience.

When an application is customizable, it also becomes highly scalable. Custom applications can be scaled easily according to your needs and circumstances. While off-the-shelf applications help you make certain changes to suit your business needs, they are not too customizable as they are already developed before you purchase them. When you have not been in charge of development from scratch, it becomes difficult to customize and scale your application well.

Guarantee Of Outcome

As a custom software application is unique to your business, there aren't many previous references for the same. Here, a specific application is built from the very beginning for the first time. Therefore, there is no guarantee of outcome. While you may create wireframes and prototypes, you cannot be 100% sure that the application would provide you with the desired outcome. This makes it important for a business to work with a capable custom software development company.

On the other hand, an off-the-shelf software application gives you the guarantee of the outcome as it uses practices that are tried and tested in the industry. While the functionality of these applications may not always be in sync with your business requirements, you can be assured that you will get the desired outcome if you use the applications right.

Freedom Of Options

Custom software applications provide businesses with a lot more options as they are entirely in control of building them. With custom software development, you can choose to add a variety of new and different tools or features to your application that you feel may work in your favor. You will face little to no hindrances here as you are the sole owner of the applications.

Off-the-shelf applications do not provide you with this freedom of options. They limit you with what you can do as they are pre-built and provide you with tools and features that are already created. While you can tweak some of its functionality, an off-the-shelf application is fairly rigid and does not allow you to make any changes to it.

Meeting The Competition

If you want to sustain yourself in the market in 2022, you must meet your competition fiercely and stay ahead of the curve. With custom software development, you can manage to create your niche in the market as the application you build would be unique. This makes it difficult for your competitors to create the same functionality and provide the same experience to the end-users.

On the other hand, there is little scope for staying ahead of your competitors with off-the-shelf applications. As these applications are pre-built, they would offer the same functionality to every business that purchases them. This way, if your competitors purchase the same applications, it would prevent you from standing out from the clutter.

Custom Software Vs Off-the-shelf Software: Which Is A Better Option?

If you want to have greater control over software development and want to build an application that can be tailored according to your business needs, you should go for custom software development. However, if you want to play safe and implement a software solution that is built using proven best practices, you can get yourself an off-the-shelf software application.