The verdict in three sentences
Below SGD 600,000 in annual revenue, an off-the-shelf coworking SaaS remains the rational choice, commission included. Above 5 sites and roughly SGD 1.2 million, a 3 to 6% commission on every booking costs more over 4 years than an owned platform built for SGD 50,000 to 110,000. The real upside is not only the commission you stop paying: it is connected access control, automated member billing and full ownership of your customer data under Singapore's PDPA.
What a coworking SaaS really costs you
Coworking management software earns money in two ways: a subscription per site or per member, and a commission on meeting rooms and day passes booked online. For a 5-site operator in Singapore, the bill typically looks like this (2026 order of magnitude):
| Cost line | 2026 range | What drives the price |
|---|---|---|
| Platform subscription | SGD 450 to 1,350 per month | Number of sites, active members, modules |
| Booking commission | 3 to 6% of revenue booked online | Direct channel or marketplace, volume |
| Card processing | 3.4% + SGD 0.50 per transaction | Local or international cards, PayNow |
| Access control integration | SGD 80 to 220 per month per site | Badge, QR code, smart lock |
| Add-on modules | SGD 150 to 600 per month | Accounting (Xero), e-signature, analytics |
| Customisation | Very limited | Branding, booking flow, pricing rules |
The trap is growth: the commission tracks your revenue. The fuller your rooms, the more you pay, while the service you receive stays exactly the same. An operator growing from SGD 900,000 to 1.8 million doubles its software bill for identical software.
What an owned platform includes
A custom platform bundles everything an operator uses daily, with your pricing rules and your brand. The essential modules for 5 sites:
- Real-time booking for meeting rooms, private offices and hot desks, with pricing by time slot, member tier and off-peak window.
- Connected access control: NFC badges, temporary QR codes for visitors, door access tied to the booking and revoked when it ends.
- Member billing: monthly plans, room credits, recharges for printing and coffee, automated dunning, GST-compliant invoices.
- Member portal on web and mobile, community directory, events.
- Dashboards: occupancy per room and per hour, revenue per square metre, member churn.
A realistic timeline is 4 to 6 months: a first release covering booking and billing in 10 to 12 weeks, then access control and member migration. Access control is the hardest part, because it depends on the hardware already installed (Salto, Kisi, Nuki or generic readers).
4-year total cost: the table that decides
Assumptions: 5 sites, SGD 1.3 million annual revenue with 60% booked online, average commission 4.5%, owned platform at SGD 80,000, typical Singapore agency rate.
| 4-year cost line | SaaS with commission | Owned platform |
|---|---|---|
| Initial build | SGD 0 | SGD 80,000 |
| Subscription or hosting | SGD 43,200 (900 per month) | SGD 14,400 (300 per month) |
| Commissions (4.5% of SGD 780,000 per year) | SGD 140,400 | SGD 0 |
| Access control software | SGD 34,000 | Included |
| Maintenance and upgrades | Included | SGD 36,000 (9,000 per year) |
| Card processing | Same | Same |
| 4-year total | SGD 217,600 | SGD 130,400 |
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The gap reaches SGD 87,200 over 4 years, with break-even around month 26. If revenue grows 10% a year, the gap exceeds SGD 105,000, because the commission grows with you while the platform cost stays flat.
If you are open to a development team based in Dakar, Kolonell's grid for custom web applications is 4,000,000 to 7,000,000 FCFA (6,100 to 10,670 EUR) for a mid-size application and 7,000,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA (10,670 to 22,870+ EUR) for a complex platform with access control, with maintenance at 75,000 or 120,000 FCFA per month (114 or 183 EUR).
Mini case study
Wei Ling is COO of a 5-site coworking operator in Singapore: 2,100 square metres, 410 members, 26 meeting rooms. In 2025 the group billed SGD 1.25 million, of which SGD 740,000 was booked online. Their software takes a 5% commission and charges SGD 1,000 per month.
- Current annual cost: 740,000 × 5% = SGD 37,000 in commissions, plus SGD 12,000 subscription, plus SGD 9,000 access module, a total of SGD 58,000 per year.
- Owned platform: SGD 85,000 to build, then SGD 12,600 per year for hosting and maintenance.
- Annual saving once live: 58,000 − 12,600 = SGD 45,400.
- Payback: 85,000 ÷ 45,400 = 1.9 years, about 23 months.
Wei Ling also gains a commercial lever: a 30% off-peak rate on rooms between 2 pm and 5 pm, impossible to configure in the old tool, lifts occupancy on that slot from 45 to 59%.
FAQ
At what revenue does an owned platform pay off? As a 2026 order of magnitude, the threshold sits near SGD 750,000 of revenue booked online per year. Below that, a minimum build of SGD 50,000 takes more than 4 years to recover.
Can we keep our existing access control hardware? In about 80% of cases yes, if the locks or readers expose an API (Salto KS, Kisi, Nuki). Allow 2 to 4 weeks of testing per hardware type before go-live.
How do we migrate 400 members without disruption? Both systems run in parallel for 2 to 4 weeks, plans are imported, then badges are switched site by site over a weekend.
Who owns the code and the data? The contract must assign the source code rights and hand over the repository. Member data stays under your control, hosted in Singapore or the region, which keeps PDPA compliance straightforward.
Can we still sell through coworking marketplaces? Yes, the platform can sync availability with 1 or 2 marketplaces. You then pay commission only on the bookings they actually bring, often 10 to 20% of volume.
Let's scope your project. Send us your number of sites, access hardware and current software, and we will scope a platform deliverable in 4 to 6 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.
