The verdict in three sentences
A custom customer portal in London costs between €25,000 and €70,000 in 2026 depending on the number of modules and how deeply it integrates with your existing tools. The MVP (authentication, dashboard, documents, notifications) ships in 10 to 14 weeks at a day rate of €500 to €700. Return on investment comes from a measurable drop in support tickets (-30 %) and the time your teams stop spending answering the same questions.
What drives the budget
The price of a portal depends mainly on the functional scope and the connections to your systems (CRM, ERP, billing). Here is a 2026 order of magnitude for a London-based services SME.
| Module | Description | Indicative cost (€) | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authentication & SSO | Secure login, password reset, SSO (Google/Microsoft) | 4,000 – 8,000 | 1.5 wk |
| Client dashboard | Summary view, KPIs, shortcuts | 3,500 – 6,000 | 1 wk |
| Document space (DMS) | Upload, versioning, secure download | 5,000 – 10,000 | 2 wk |
| Request tracking | Tickets, statuses, history | 6,000 – 12,000 | 2.5 wk |
| Email/SMS notifications | Automatic alerts, reminders | 3,000 – 6,000 | 1 wk |
| CRM/ERP integration | API, real-time sync | 8,000 – 20,000 | 3 wk |
| Admin & roles | Back-office, access management | 4,000 – 8,000 | 1.5 wk |
A tight MVP (3-4 modules) starts at €25,000; a full portal with deep integrations climbs toward €70,000.
Recurring costs and TCO
Beyond the build, budget for running costs. These are 2026 estimates for a moderate-traffic portal (a few hundred active users).
| Item | 2026 range | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud hosting | €80 – 250/month | Depending on load and redundancy |
| Corrective maintenance | €400 – 900/month | Fixes, security, dependencies |
| Enhancements (managed dev) | €500 – 700/day | On demand, in batches |
| SSL certificate / domain | €0 – 150/year | Often included |
| Monitoring & backups | €60 – 180/month | Monitoring, daily backups |
Over three years, the total cost of ownership of a €40,000 build lands around €55,000 to €70,000, hosting and maintenance included.
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Mini case study
Nadia, CIO of an IT services SME in London (45 staff, 300 B2B clients) was receiving about 220 support emails per week, 60 % of them repetitive (order status, invoices, documents). She invests €38,000 in a portal: dashboard, DMS, request tracking, CRM integration.
Result after four months: -30 % tickets, i.e. 66 fewer requests per week. At an average of 12 minutes per request and an internal cost of €35/hour, the saving is 66 × 0.2 h × €35 = €462/week, or ~€22,000/year. The investment pays back in under 20 months, on top of client satisfaction and freed-up sales time.
FAQ
How long until a usable first portal? Expect 10 to 14 weeks for a 3-4 module MVP. A broader scope with ERP integration can reach 18 weeks.
Can I start small and extend later? Yes, and it's recommended. We ship a core (auth + dashboard + documents) around €25,000, then add modules in batches of €5,000 to €12,000.
Is SSO with Microsoft 365 expensive? No, SSO integration runs €4,000 to €8,000 and spares your clients a new password, which sharply increases adoption.
Who hosts the data? We favour European cloud hosting (GDPR) at €80-250/month, with daily backups and encryption at rest.
How do I measure ROI? We instrument the portal from day one: logins, tickets avoided, documents downloaded. You track the support decline month by month.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your priority modules, your indicative budget (€25,000-70,000) and your target date, and we'll frame a realistic MVP. 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.
