The verdict in three sentences
For a public body processing 1,800 grant applications a year, a custom grant management application costs EUR 120,000 to 250,000 excl. tax through public procurement and rolls out in 8 to 12 months. Specialised SaaS solutions, at EUR 25,000 to 60,000 a year, remain cheaper over five years if your programmes are standard. Custom is justified when integration with the finance system, document management and the elected council's approval cycle accounts for most of the time lost today.
Three options to take grants online
Before issuing a tender, compare the three routes available in 2026 honestly. Our benchmark comes from French local authorities; the equivalents for an Ontario municipality are noted in brackets.
| Criterion | Free government form platform | Specialised grants SaaS | Custom application |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Free | EUR 15,000 - 30,000 of configuration | EUR 120,000 - 250,000 excl. tax |
| Annual cost | EUR 0 | EUR 25,000 - 60,000 | EUR 25,000 - 45,000 (support and hosting) |
| Digital ID sign-in (FranceConnect, provincial sign-in) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-department review | Basic | Configurable | Tailored |
| Council approval and resolutions | No | Partial | Complete, tied to committees |
| Finance system interface | Manual export | Standard connectors | Dedicated connector |
| Sovereign hosting (SecNumCloud, Canadian residency) | Government-hosted | Vendor-dependent | Chosen by the public body |
| Time to go live | 1 to 3 months | 3 to 6 months | 8 to 12 months |
For a small call for proposals, the free platform is enough. At 1,800 applications spread across some fifteen programmes, with cross-department review, its limits show quickly.
The budget of a custom solution, package by package
Here is a 2026 order-of-magnitude breakdown, consistent with either a simplified procurement or a full tender depending on total contract value and duration.
| Work package | Scope | 2026 range (EUR excl. tax) |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and workshops | Programme mapping, applicant and staff journeys | 10,000 - 20,000 |
| Applicant portal | Digital ID sign-in, business registry check, documents | 25,000 - 50,000 |
| Review | Scoring grids, multi-department opinions, applicant exchanges | 25,000 - 50,000 |
| Approval cycle | Committee preparation, resolutions, notifications | 15,000 - 30,000 |
| Payment and monitoring | Finance system interface, evidence, disbursements, audit | 15,000 - 35,000 |
| Reporting and open data | Dashboards, publication of grant data | 10,000 - 20,000 |
| Accessibility | Accessible design, audit, accessibility statement (RGAA in France, AODA and WCAG in Ontario) | 8,000 - 15,000 |
| Security and hosting | Sovereign hosting, security accreditation | 7,000 - 15,000 |
| Testing and migration | QA, open file migration, staff training | 5,000 - 15,000 |
| Total | 120,000 - 250,000 |
Two obligations shape the scope: publishing grant data (mandatory in France above EUR 23,000, common practice for Ontario municipalities) and accessibility compliance, which must be proven by an audit and a published statement.
Staff time, the real issue
Software cost should be compared with the time grant officers spend. The orders of magnitude below are observed in public bodies of comparable size.
| Indicator | Paper and email | Configured SaaS | Integrated custom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Review time per application | 5 h | 3.8 h | 3.2 h |
| Incomplete applications at submission | 40% | 15% | 10% |
| Submission to notification | 4 to 6 months | 3 to 4 months | 2.5 to 3.5 months |
| Re-keying into the finance system | Full | Partial | None |
| Preparing a council committee | 3 days | 1.5 days | Half a day |
Mini case study
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Helen, CIO of a municipality in the Toronto area, compares a SaaS at EUR 40,000 a year with EUR 20,000 of configuration (EUR 220,000 over five years) and a custom solution at EUR 180,000 plus EUR 25,000 of support and EUR 12,000 of sovereign hosting a year (EUR 365,000 over five years). The gap is EUR 145,000, or EUR 29,000 a year. Custom saves 0.6 h more per application: 1,800 x 0.6 = 1,080 hours, or 0.67 FTE on a 1,607-hour basis, valued at EUR 45,000 fully loaded, about EUR 30,000 a year. Break-even is reached by a whisker: the choice will rest on data sovereignty and finance integration, not cost alone.
FAQ
Do we need a full tender?
It depends on the total contract value over its lifetime, support included. Below the formal procurement threshold (around EUR 220,000 excl. tax for French local authorities), a simplified procedure is enough, shortening procurement to 2 or 3 months.
Is digital ID sign-in enough for nonprofits and businesses?
Digital ID identifies the person. For the organisation, add a business registry check, which avoids 10 to 15% of incomplete applications on administrative documents.
Why require sovereign hosting?
Applications contain financial and personal data, and public policy pushes towards qualified or in-country offers. The premium over standard cloud stays modest, about EUR 4,000 to 8,000 a year at this volume.
How much does the accessibility audit cost?
A full audit of an application of this kind costs EUR 5,000 to 10,000 excl. tax. It must be repeated after each major release and feeds the accessibility statement.
Can we migrate applications from the old tool?
Yes, starting with open files, often 400 to 600 mid-year. Closed files can be archived read-only for EUR 3,000 to 6,000 excl. tax.
Let's scope your project. Share the number of programmes, your finance system and your hosting constraints: we will help you scope the perimeter, the procurement budget estimate and the rollout schedule. 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.
