The verdict in three sentences
For a mid-sized company managing 1,500 to 6,000 contracts, a custom app (35,000 to 65,000 EUR excl. VAT, 3 to 4 months) costs less over three years than CLM software billed at 25,000 to 80,000 EUR a year. The payback comes first from auto-renewal alerts: a single missed notice date on a lease or a software license often costs 20,000 EUR or more. A CLM still makes sense if you need advanced drafting assistance and a ready-made multilingual clause library right away.
Off-the-shelf CLM, custom app or shared folders
In many legal departments in Paris, London or New York, contracts live in shared folders with a hand-maintained deadline spreadsheet. The problem only shows when a 3 or 6-month notice period has passed and nobody saw it.
| Criterion | Off-the-shelf CLM | Custom app | Shared folders + Excel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | 10,000 to 30,000 EUR (deployment) | 35,000 to 65,000 EUR | 0 EUR |
| Annual cost | 25,000 to 80,000 EUR in licenses | 6,000 to 12,000 EUR (maintenance, hosting) | Lawyer time |
| Notice and renewal alerts | Yes | Yes, set per contract type | Manual, forgotten |
| Approval workflow | Standard | Mirrors your delegations | |
| E-signature | Built in (add-on) | Yousign or Docusign integrated | Outside the process |
| Hosting | Often outside your jurisdiction | Your choice (EU, UK, US) | Internal server or cloud |
| Time to go live | 2 to 4 months | 3 to 4 months | Immediate |
CLM licenses are usually priced per user (60 to 150 EUR a month) plus deployment fees. Beyond 25 to 30 users, including procurement, HR and sales, the annual bill quickly exceeds 50,000 EUR (about 54,000 USD).
Modules of a contract management app
| Module | Function | Indicative 2026 budget |
|---|---|---|
| Contract repository | Record, parties, amounts, documents, versions | 7,000 to 12,000 EUR |
| Key data extraction | AI reading of dates, notice periods, renewal clauses | 6,000 to 12,000 EUR |
| Alerts and deadline calendar | Reminders at D-180, D-90, D-30, escalation | 4,000 to 8,000 EUR |
| Approval workflow | Routing by amount, type and entity, audit trail | 7,000 to 12,000 EUR |
| E-signature | Yousign or Docusign integration, archiving | 3,000 to 6,000 EUR |
| Legacy migration | Import and indexing of 1,500 to 6,000 contracts | 4,000 to 9,000 EUR |
| Dashboards | Commitments, renewals, risk per supplier | 4,000 to 6,000 EUR |
Typical plan: 3 weeks of scoping with legal and procurement, 8 to 10 weeks of development, 2 to 3 weeks of migration and acceptance testing. AI extraction pre-fills the fields, and a lawyer validates each record before go-live.
What a missed deadline costs
| Situation | 2026 example | Estimated cost |
|---|---|---|
| Software license auto-renewed | 3-year SaaS contract not terminated | 20,000 to 120,000 EUR |
| Commercial lease | Notice not served on time | 1 to 3 years of rent committed |
| Oversized maintenance contract | Renewed at indexed price, no renegotiation | 5 to 15% annual overspend |
| Unclaimed supplier penalty | Claim window expired | 5,000 to 50,000 EUR |
| Lawyer time spent searching | 2 hours a week per lawyer | 9,000 EUR a year per lawyer |
Mini case study
Helen, general counsel of a services group in London, manages 3,500 contracts with 5 lawyers and 25 business users. CLM option: 20,000 EUR of deployment plus 50,000 EUR a year, or 170,000 EUR over three years. Custom option: 50,000 EUR of development plus 9,000 EUR a year, or 77,000 EUR over three years. Last year, two missed renewals cost her 46,000 EUR. By avoiding these losses and freeing 2 hours per lawyer per week (45,000 EUR a year for the team), the app pays back in under 8 months.
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FAQ
Can our existing contracts be imported automatically?
Yes, AI extraction reads the PDFs and suggests dates, notice periods and amounts. For 3,500 contracts, allow 2 to 3 weeks with human validation, at 90 to 95% accuracy before review.
Where is the data hosted?
In the region you choose: France, the UK or the US, with encryption. Sovereign cloud options (such as SecNumCloud in France) add 20 to 40% to hosting costs.
Which e-signature should we integrate?
Yousign and Docusign are the most common, from 1 to 3 EUR per envelope depending on volume. Integration costs 3,000 to 6,000 EUR.
How long until we are live?
Allow 3 to 4 months, including 2 to 3 weeks of legacy migration. Deadline alerts can be active from week six.
Can the app grow into a full CLM?
Yes, a clause library, template-based drafting or online negotiation can be added in packages of 5,000 to 15,000 EUR.
Let's scope your project. Share your contract volume, contract types and approval chain: we price an app between 35,000 and 65,000 EUR, delivered in 3 to 4 months. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
