The verdict in three sentences
A custom business management platform in Amsterdam in 2026 is budgeted between 35,000 and 80,000 EUR, structured into modules at 8,000-15,000 EUR each, and delivered in 4 to 6 months. Add a maintenance contract of 8% of the project per year to keep it alive. Over a 3-year horizon, custom becomes competitive against a vertical solution or Odoo as soon as your processes leave the standard track.
Cost per module and overall budget
A business platform is never a monolithic block: you build it module by module, which lets you prioritize and spread the investment. Here are 2026 orders of magnitude for an SME.
| Module | Typical scope | Cost (EUR) | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client management (light CRM) | Records, history, segmentation | 8,000 - 12,000 | 3-4 wk |
| Project management | Tasks, planning, time tracking | 10,000 - 15,000 | 4-6 wk |
| Invoicing & quotes | PDF generation, reminders, VAT | 9,000 - 14,000 | 4-5 wk |
| Stock / catalogue | Products, movements, alerts | 8,000 - 13,000 | 3-5 wk |
| Dashboard & permissions | KPIs, roles, exports | 6,000 - 10,000 | 2-4 wk |
| Foundation & deployment | Auth, infra, CI/CD, QA | 7,000 - 12,000 | 3-4 wk |
An SME rarely starts with every module. A realistic initial scope (clients + projects + invoicing + foundation) lands around 40,000-52,000 EUR. You then add stock or reporting modules when usage justifies it, smoothing cash flow.
Custom vs Odoo: the real 3-year TCO
The question is not the purchase price but the total cost of ownership (TCO). A market solution looks cheaper up front, then per-user licenses, paid modules and integration work pile up.
| Item (3 years) | Custom | Odoo / vertical solution |
|---|---|---|
| Initial build / integration | 45,000 EUR | 18,000 EUR |
| Licenses (15 users) | 0 EUR | 26,000 EUR |
| Additional paid modules | 0 EUR | 9,000 EUR |
| Customization / specific dev | included | 22,000 EUR |
| Maintenance / support (8%/yr) | 10,800 EUR | 12,000 EUR |
| 3-year TCO | 55,800 EUR | 87,000 EUR |
Custom wins here because the SME's processes are atypical and the user count is high. Conversely, for 100% standard needs with fewer than 5 users, the market solution stays more rational. The tipping point is generally beyond 10-12 users with specific processes.
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Mini case study
Claire, CFO of an industrial SME in Amsterdam (28 staff), runs quotes, workshop planning and invoicing across five shared Excel workbooks. She estimates 6 hours/week lost to re-keying and errors, i.e. about 270 hours/year at a loaded cost of 42 EUR/h: 11,340 EUR/year of pure waste.
She invests 46,000 EUR in a custom platform (clients + projects + invoicing + foundation), plus 3,680 EUR/year of maintenance. From year one, the productivity gain covers maintenance and amortizes part of the build. Full return on investment estimated at 4.3 years on time savings alone, not counting fewer invoicing errors (worth 8,000 EUR last year).
FAQ
Why not stay on Excel if it works? Excel caps out as soon as several people edit at once: errors, lost versions, no traceability. The hidden cost (re-keying time, invoicing errors) often exceeds 10,000 EUR/year for a 25-30 person SME.
How long before go-live? An initial scope of 3-4 modules ships in 4 to 6 months, with a first usable version by month 3. We deploy module by module so teams are never blocked.
What does 8% maintenance cover? Fixes, version upgrades, small enhancements and support. On a 46,000 EUR project, that's about 3,680 EUR/year, to budget from the start.
Can you migrate our existing Excel data? Yes, importing clients, products and history is part of the project. Budget 2,000 to 5,000 EUR depending on how clean the source files are.
Is custom always more expensive than Odoo? No: up front yes, but over 3 years the TCO flips as soon as you exceed 10-12 users with specific processes, as the table above shows.
Let's scope your project. List your 3 priority modules and your user count, and we'll quote a platform deliverable in 4-6 months with a compared TCO. 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.
