The verdict in three sentences
A custom client portal (documents, tickets, invoicing, tracking) costs in 2026 between 25,000 and 70,000 EUR for a London services SME, with a 3-to-5-month timeline. The budget is justified by a 30-50 % drop in repetitive support requests, often the equivalent of 0.5 to 1 full-time role. Then budget an annual maintenance of 15-20 % of the initial cost for security, evolutions and hosting.
How much a custom client portal costs in 2026
The price mostly depends on the number of modules, the level of integration (SSO, ERP, invoicing) and GDPR requirements. Here are the 2026 orders of magnitude seen on the London market.
| Scope | Key features | Timeline | Budget EUR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential portal | Auth, document space, notifications | 2-3 months | 25,000 - 35,000 |
| Standard portal | + support tickets, invoice history | 3-4 months | 35,000 - 50,000 |
| Advanced portal | + SSO, online payment, dashboard | 4-5 months | 50,000 - 70,000 |
| Complex custom portal | + ERP connector, approval workflows | 5-7 months | 70,000 - 110,000 |
The day rate of a qualified team (senior dev + lead + UX) sits between 500 and 700 EUR in 2026. A standard portal therefore represents about 60 to 90 person-days.
ROI: what the portal saves
The portal pays for itself by cutting manual tasks. The table below quantifies the impact for an SME receiving 400 support requests per month.
| Item | Before portal | After portal | Annual gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support requests / month | 400 | 220 (-45 %) | -2,160 requests |
| Time per request | 12 min | 8 min | — |
| Handling cost / year | 32,000 EUR | 12,900 EUR | 19,100 EUR |
| Manual document sending | 6 h/wk | 1 h/wk | 6,500 EUR |
| Annual maintenance (18 %) | — | -8,100 EUR | -8,100 EUR |
| Net year 1 | — | — | ~17,500 EUR |
With an initial investment of 45,000 EUR and a net gain of about 17,500 EUR/year, the return on investment sits around 26 months, after which the portal becomes an operational profit center.
Mini case study
Claire runs a 35-person IT services SME in London. Her clients call on average 400 times a month to retrieve an invoice, a contract or the status of a ticket. She invests 45,000 EUR in a standard portal (documents + tickets + invoicing + SSO), delivered in 4 months.
After 6 months, calls drop to 220/month. Valuing agent time at 0.55 EUR per minute (loaded cost), annual savings reach ~19,100 EUR on support, plus 6,500 EUR on document sending. Minus maintenance (8,100 EUR/year), the net gain is ~17,500 EUR. The portal is amortized in a little over two years, while improving client satisfaction.
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FAQ
Why not take an off-the-shelf SaaS portal at 50 EUR/month?
A SaaS works if your needs are standard. As soon as you want to connect your ERP, your invoicing rules or a branded design, custom becomes profitable beyond 30-40 users. SaaS costs little up front but locks you in and charges per user.
How much is annual maintenance?
Budget 15 to 20 % of the initial cost per year, i.e. 6,750 to 9,000 EUR for a 45,000 EUR project. It covers security, updates, hosting and an evolution reserve.
Is the portal GDPR compliant?
Yes, it is built in from the design stage: EU hosting, consents, access logs, right to erasure. A custom portal is often more compliant than a stack of scattered SaaS tools.
Can SSO be added later?
Yes, but it is cheaper to plan it from the start. Adding SSO (Google, Microsoft, OpenID) afterwards usually costs 3,000 to 6,000 EUR versus 1,500 to 3,000 EUR if scoped at kickoff.
What is a realistic timeline for a first launch?
A standard portal ships in 3 to 4 months. A useful MVP (auth + documents) can be delivered in 6 to 8 weeks, then iterate on tickets and invoicing.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your modules (documents, tickets, invoicing, SSO), your number of users and your indicative budget, and we will frame a costed scope. 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.
