Free ROI Calculator

Is Custom Software Worth It For Your Business?

Move the sliders below to see - in plain numbers - how quickly a software project pays for itself through time saved and errors eliminated.

Time is money

Every hour your team spends on manual tasks (data entry, email follow-ups, reports) is an hour not spent on growing the business.

Software pays it back

Custom software automates those tasks. The cost of building it is a one-time investment; the time it saves compounds every year.

ROI = your profit

ROI (Return on Investment) tells you: for every $1 you spend on software, how many dollars do you get back in saved costs?

Step 1

What do you want to build?

Choose the type of software that matches what you need. Not sure? Pick "Custom Software" - it covers most situations.

Step 2

Tell us about your team

Think about the people who will use this software day-to-day.

How many people will use it?

Count everyone who currently does the manual work this software would replace - could be 2 salespeople or an entire operations team.

10 people

💡 Even a team of 2–5 people can see strong ROI if they're spending significant time on manual tasks.

Hours saved per person per week

Estimate how many hours each person currently spends on the task this software replaces. For example: manually entering orders into a spreadsheet = maybe 3 hrs/week per person.

5 hrs/week

Your team would save 50 hours every week - that's 325 working days per year freed up for higher-value work.

Average hourly cost per team member

This is the total cost of an employee per hour - salary + benefits + overhead. A $50k/year employee costs roughly $25/hr. For a quick estimate: Annual salary ÷ 2,000 = hourly rate.

$35/hr

💡 Rough guide: Junior staff ~$15–25/hr · Mid-level ~$30–50/hr · Senior/manager ~$60–100+/hr

Step 3

What's your rough budget?

This is your one-time investment in building the software. The calculator will show you how long it takes to earn this back.

Your Results

Annual Labour Saved

This is how much you're currently paying your team to do work that the software would handle automatically. It's not extra cash - it's time redirected to revenue-generating work.

$104,650

per year, every year

Return on Investment

For every $1 you invest in this software, how many dollars do you get back in the first year? A 100% ROI means you doubled your money. 300% means you tripled it.

+179%

Every $1 invested returns $2.8 in year one

Break-Even Point

This is how many months before the money saved equals what you spent building it. After this point, every month is pure profit.

4 months

After this, the software runs at pure profit

5-Year Net Gain

Total savings over 5 years minus your initial investment. This is the real long-term value of building now versus staying manual.

$485,750

net profit after deducting project cost

* Estimates based on industry productivity benchmarks. Actual results vary by project.

Want a real quote?

Our team will review your specific process and give you an accurate project estimate - free, no pressure.

Book a Free Consultation

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Common Questions

Is this calculator accurate?

It gives you a strong directional estimate based on real productivity models. The actual ROI depends on your specific process, team, and how well the software is built. Our free consultation will give you a project-specific number.

What if my ROI looks low?

Try adjusting the budget range down or the team size/hours saved up. Many projects with modest ROI still make sense if they eliminate errors, improve customer experience, or unlock new revenue streams that aren't captured in this calculator.

Does the budget include maintenance?

No - this is the initial build cost. Typical annual maintenance is 15–20% of the build cost. Even with maintenance, most projects remain strongly ROI-positive after year one.

What is a "good" ROI for software?

Any positive ROI is good. Most of our clients see 150–400% ROI within the first year of launch. If your number is above 100%, the software pays for itself and then some within a year.