Clients want advanced solutions, but get shocked by the price

Do you dream of a modern functionalist house with state-of-the-art solutions, but plan to build it yourself with your nephew and offcuts from the recycling station? Many people would try to give you some good advice.

Exactly the same thing happens in the development industry: clients want custom, advanced IT solutions, but when the price tag arrives, they are shocked.

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You want everything, except the invoice

This happens across all segments, from startups and established companies to public sector players: many have wish lists that match what a solution should contain, but often without the budget to back it up.

• The needs include comprehensive UX/UI design based on best practices, WCAG 2.1 AAA compliance, zero-trust security architecture, and seamless integrations with third-party systems and APIs.
• Further demands include automated infrastructure environments with Terraform and CI/CD, scalable cloud architecture, Kubernetes-based deployment, and a comprehensive testing strategy.
• Solutions often include mobile apps, customer and admin web, as well as business intelligence with Power BI and real-time data. Full GDPR and privacy management is essential, and advanced AI features for automation, analysis, and personalization are becoming increasingly important.

"Clients want custom, advanced IT solutions, but when the price tag arrives, they are shocked."

Everything must be included. Perfect! Much of this is also requirements we cannot avoid in 2025. We love ambitious projects.

But it takes more than a good idea. A couple of people who can code, a long weekend, a case of beer, and a laptop simply won't cut it.

This is a full-scale development project that requires a team of specialists, structured development, and a solid budget.

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Reality creeps in

When we lay out the hours, reality begins to set in. This is not done in a couple of sprints, and it is definitely not a job for a freelancer at a cabin with a laptop and half a bag of crisps.

We are talking about months of work from specialists and professionals with experience, education, and insight who know how this must be built to function. And yes, they expect to be paid. On top of that, we must cover employer's national insurance contributions, insurance, lunch, office space, and everything else that comes with it.

Yet we still constantly hear: "Can it be done cheaper?" Some choose the cheapest provider who promises the world, until the budget bursts, the project stalls, or the solution delivered turns out to be something entirely different from what they thought they were paying for.

"AI is no magic shortcut to cheap development, even though it helps a great deal in all phases of the project."

Clients often compare custom development with SaaS solutions and assume they get the same thing, just cheaper. But licensing costs, customization, maintenance, and integration can make off-the-shelf solutions more expensive in the long run.

The most experienced clients know that a good solution delivers long-term value. Many start cheap, but come back to a more solid development process after experiencing how demanding it is to make a poor solution work in practice.

Expectations around AI can also be unrealistic in terms of costs. AI is no magic shortcut to cheap development, even though it helps a great deal in all phases of the project.

Implementing good AI solutions requires well-defined use cases, access to relevant data, tailored tuning, and specialists to function optimally. You can't just "switch on AI" and expect results.

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Why do clients think development doesn't cost much?

Many believe IT development has become cheaper, but custom development is more like building a house. It requires tradespeople, architects, and quality materials.

IT solutions are not off-the-shelf products, but custom craftsmanship, where the value lies in the expertise behind it. The advantage is that maintenance costs are low if done correctly, and over time you are left with your own IP, flexibility, control, and increased value creation in the company.

We suspect the problem stems from a combination of several factors:

• One of the biggest challenges is poor procurement competence. Many lack insight into what is required to develop good digital products. A solution must often satisfy regulations such as GDPR, WCAG for universal design, as well as industry-specific compliance and security requirements. This cannot be handled as an afterthought or resolved with a simple checklist. It requires time, technical expertise, and often legal advice.
• Another problem is the wrong basis for comparison. Many assess costs against license prices for off-the-shelf products, but do not account for hidden costs related to customization, maintenance, and integration. We also see that competence and experience are often undervalued relative to hourly rates.
• Finally, we see a lack of understanding of return on investment (ROI). Many clients struggle to see the real value of a digital solution. We try to illustrate what it can contribute in revenue, how much time it frees up for employees, how it can increase sales, improve data quality in financial terms, and what it means for compliance and security. Yet not everyone is willing to engage in this discussion.

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Free advice or real development?

Developing good solutions requires more than a good idea.

Nobody wants poor results, but far too often decisions are made on the wrong basis — either because price is the only factor, or because the complexity is underestimated.

Some nevertheless choose to proceed with cheaper alternatives or try it on their own without the necessary expertise.

This often ends with delays, budget overruns, and a frustrating realization that good development requires the right competence and a solid foundation.

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What can we do about it?

We need to get better at early screening and ensure transparency around budget. There is no point designing a Bugatti if the budget only stretches to a bicycle.

At the same time, we must be clear about what is required to deliver a solution that works, meets regulatory requirements, is well tested and documented. When serious providers withdraw from a project in the early phase, it is not because there is too little money in it, but because they do not believe they can deliver a good enough solution within the given constraints.

No responsible player enters a project they know will stall or fail.

If clients are not willing to pay for a proper pre-project, warning lights should be flashing. It is an investment that provides solid reassurance and a good start for both parties, and ensures that expectations are aligned with reality.

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ROI focus

Development costs should be viewed against revenue opportunities:

• A good solution frees up time, ensures compliance, creates new revenue streams, and gives the company a strategic advantage.
• Cheap solutions often become more expensive in the long run. High quality goes hand in hand with growth and profitability, not just costs.

Everyone wants to get the most out of their money — so do we. But expecting a state-of-the-art solution for the price of half a junior developer is like believing you can build an architect-designed functionalist villa for the price of a garden shed on a classifieds website.

We can develop something in a couple of weeks, but then the feature list cannot be as long as the menu at a family-friendly Spanish tourist restaurant.

To put it in perspective: a well-developed solution can create new revenue streams, free up internal resources, ensure regulatory compliance, increase the company's value and IP, and strengthen market share.

With the right use of AI, the solution can also provide deeper data insights, automate complex processes, and personalize user experiences in real time. When you weigh this against what a high-quality solution actually costs, the connection between investment, business strategy, and long-term growth becomes even clearer.

You can of course build a functionalist house together with your nephew, use materials from the recycling station, and follow a YouTube guide. It will certainly be cheap, but probably not watertight in the long run. You might also get an order to demolish it from the compliance department.

IT projects work the same way. Without the right competence, experience, and structure, you end up with a patchwork solution that needs fixing time and again. When the project ends up in a ditch or the final invoice has grown uncomfortably large, it is unfortunately too late to make the right choice.

Quality costs a little more, but poor quality is only cheap once.