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How much does a custom CRM cost for a small business?
Off-the-shelf CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce start around $15 to $25 a seat per month. Trade software like Jobber and Housecall Pro runs about $30 to $300+ a month, and ServiceTitan is reported at $250 or more per tech per month. A custom CRM and owner dashboard built around how you work costs from $4,000 once, with no per-seat fee.
Off-the-shelf software has years of features a custom build won't match on day one. The question is how many of them you use. Prices checked November 2026.
Updated November 14, 2026
Live demo, try it nowAn owner dashboard for a heating and cooling companyRevenue by week, today's schedule by tech, a drag-and-drop job board, payments, notes and CSV export. Book a visit in the booking demo and watch it land here live.Open the demo
The prices, side by side
| Option | Built for | Cost | You own it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot, Starter | Sales pipelines and email | about $15 to $20 a seat/mo | No |
| Salesforce, Starter | Sales teams | about $25 a seat/mo | No |
| Jobber, Housecall Pro | Trades: jobs, crews, invoices | about $29 to $79/mo to start, $300+ for teams | No |
| ServiceTitan | Larger trade companies | reported $250 to $500 per tech/mo, long contracts | No |
| Custom CRM + dashboard | The way your business already works | from $4,000 once + $0 to $25/mo hosting | Yes |
Prices are from vendor pages and independent reviews in November 2026. ServiceTitan doesn't publish prices, promotions come and go, and annual billing is usually cheaper, so check with the vendor before you decide.
The math over two years
Five people on a $40 a seat plan is $200 a month, or $4,800 over two years, before add-ons and price rises. Ten people doubles it. A custom build is $4,000 plus hosting, about $4,000 to $4,600 over the same two years, and adding a person costs nothing.
For one or two people, a $20 seat is cheaper for a long time. Custom pays off as the crew grows, or when the off-the-shelf tool never fit to begin with.
When off-the-shelf is the better buy
- You're small and it fits. One or two people, and the software matches how you work? Keep it.
- You use the deep features. Built-in payroll, financing offers, marketing automation and hundreds of integrations took those companies years. Don't pay to rebuild them.
- You need it this week. Sign up and import. A custom build takes 2 to 4 weeks.
When custom wins
- You're really running on a spreadsheet. The software is there, but the real list lives in a sheet everyone edits. A custom dashboard is built around that sheet, not around a sales pipeline you never use.
- You pay for seats that barely log in. Techs who only need today's jobs shouldn't cost a full seat each.
- You want your numbers on one screen. Revenue by week, who's where today, what's unpaid, in the order you check them every morning.
- You want it connected to your website. Quotes and bookings from your site land on the job board on their own, like the demos do.
What the build includes
Half to start, half at launch. A demo every week while it's built.
Included
- Customers, jobs and notes in one place
- Schedule by person and a drag-and-drop job board
- Payments and what's still owed
- Your morning numbers on one screen, CSV export any time
- Your existing list imported, 30 days of free fixes, code is yours
Not included
- Payroll and accounting (connect your accounting software instead)
- App Store and Google Play apps (see app cost)
- Hosting fees (usually $0 to $25 a month, paid to the providers)
Questions
Isn't building a CRM a huge project?
A CRM that does everything for everyone is. A small business usually needs five or six screens: customers, jobs, a schedule, a board that shows what stage each job is in, payments, and the numbers the owner checks every morning. That is a 2 to 4 week build.
Can it bring in my existing customers?
Yes. Customer lists and job history come in from a spreadsheet or a CSV export from your current software, and everything can go back out as CSV any time. The demo has a working CSV export.
What does it cost to run?
Usually $0 to about $25 a month for hosting and the database, paid straight to the providers, with no per-seat fee. Add your whole crew without the bill changing.
What about a phone app for my techs?
The dashboard works in the phone's browser and can be added to the home screen like an app. A true App Store and Google Play app is a bigger build, from $9,000.
Who owns it?
You do. Once the final payment clears, the code, the data and the accounts are yours. Nobody can raise the price or lock your customer list behind an export fee.