An off-the-shelf CRM is the right choice when the process is standard and the team is small. Custom earns its place when the process is genuinely unusual, or when per-seat licensing grows faster than the team does.
Most companies believe their sales process is special. Usually it is standard, with different names on the stages. A practical test: write the process out as steps. If it reads "lead → contact → proposal → deal", a ready-made system will fit.
Off-the-shelf CRM is priced per user. With five people that is cheap. With twenty-five it is a serious monthly cost that never ends. A custom system inverts it: a large cost up front, then only support. The crossover point depends mostly on team size, and it can be worked out in advance rather than discovered.
Two things push companies to build their own: local specifics - waybills, invoices, Georgian accounting software - and unusual permissions, where who-sees-what follows a complicated rule. If you need both, bending a ready-made system often costs more than building one that fits.
It is not a choice between two options. Often the best move is to keep the ready-made CRM and build what it lacks around it - the website integration, the automatic documents, the local paperwork. That is the cheapest route when the real problem is not the CRM but the manual work surrounding it.
Write the process down and total the subscription over three years. Standard process and a small team: buy. Otherwise, ask first whether automation around a ready-made system would be enough.
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