Why Custom Software Beats the SaaS Frankenstein

We’ve all been there. You need a solution for your business, so you start shopping for SaaS products. One handles payments. Another manages inventory. A third does customer communications. Before you know it, you’re:

• Paying $3,000+/month across multiple subscriptions
• Spending hours manually transferring data between systems
• Dealing with features you’ll never use (but still pay for)
• Frustrated that none of them do exactly what you need

The Real Cost of SaaS Sprawl

Take the story of a mid-sized e-commerce company we spoke with. They were using:

• Shopify for their storefront ($299/mo)
• HubSpot for CRM ($800/mo)
• Zendesk for support ($89/mo per agent × 5)
• Zapier to connect everything ($599/mo for their plan)
• Custom spreadsheets to fill the gaps (countless hours)

Total: $2,143/month, plus the hidden costs:

• 10+ hours/week managing integrations
• Lost sales from system delays
• Data inconsistencies between platforms
• No single source of truth

When an integration broke, it took 3 days to resolve. During that time, customer data didn’t sync, support tickets piled up, and their team worked overtime to manually keep things running.

Why Custom Software Now Makes Sense

Here’s what changed: Modern development tools have dramatically reduced the cost of building custom software.

Enter Elixir, Phoenix, and LiveView

At Mergate, we use a powerful tech stack that lets us build in weeks what used to take months:

Elixir & Phoenix provide:

• Rock-solid reliability – Built on the same VM that powers WhatsApp (handling 900M users)
• Real-time by default – No complex WebSocket setup or polling hacks
• Incredible efficiency – One server can handle what used to require dozens

Phoenix LiveView is the game-changer:

• Build rich, interactive UIs without complex JavaScript frameworks
• Real-time updates work out of the box
• Less code = faster development = lower costs

A Real Example: Live Inventory Management

Let me show you how powerful this is. Here’s a simple real-time counter that updates for all connected users simultaneously – built with just a few lines of code:

defmodule InventoryLive do
  use Phoenix.LiveView
  
  def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
    # Subscribe to inventory updates
    Phoenix.PubSub.subscribe(MyApp.PubSub, "inventory")
    {:ok, assign(socket, count: get_current_count())}
  end
  
  def handle_info({:inventory_updated, new_count}, socket) do
    {:noreply, assign(socket, count: new_count)}
  end
end

This is real-time synchronization across all users. No polling. No complicated state management. It just works.

When to Add Svelte for Complex Interactions

While LiveView handles 90% of interactive needs beautifully, sometimes you need richer client-side interactions. That’s where we bring in Svelte – but only when it makes sense.

For example, a drag-and-drop kanban board with smooth animations, or a complex data visualization that needs millisecond response times. Here’s a simple interactive component showing how we seamlessly integrate both:

Our Secret Weapon: AI-Assisted Development

Here’s the breakthrough: We’re using AI throughout our development process, and it’s not just hype. AI is:

• Generating boilerplate code in seconds instead of hours
• Suggesting optimizations based on millions of code examples
• Writing tests automatically
• Catching bugs before they hit production
• Documenting as we build

This means we can deliver custom software at price points that compete with annual SaaS subscriptions. A project that might have cost $100K five years ago? We can often build it for $30-40K now.

The Custom Software Advantage

When you choose custom software, you get:

✅ Exactly What You Need

No “almost” solutions. No workarounds. Just software that fits your process perfectly.

✅ Own Your Data

Complete control. Export anytime. Integrate with anything. No vendor lock-in.

✅ Scale on Your Terms

Start simple. Add features as you grow. Pay only for what you use.

✅ Competitive Advantage

Your unique process becomes your software. Competitors can’t just sign up for the same thing.

✅ Better Economics

Many businesses find custom software pays for itself in 12-18 months through:

• Eliminated subscription fees
• Reduced manual work
• Increased efficiency
• Better customer experience

Real Numbers

Let’s compare that e-commerce company’s options:

SaaS Sprawl:

• $2,143/month = $25,716/year
• $128,580 over 5 years
• Still dealing with limitations and integrations

Custom Solution with Mergate:

• $35,000 one-time build
• $500/month hosting & maintenance = $6,000/year
• $65,000 over 5 years
• Saves $63,580 while getting exactly what they need

Start Simple, Grow Smart

You don’t need to replace everything at once. We typically start with:

1. Identify the biggest pain point – What’s costing you the most time or money?
2. Build an MVP – Core functionality in 4-8 weeks
3. Iterate based on real use – Add features as you learn
4. Phase out SaaS products – One at a time, as ready

Ready to Break Free?

If you’re tired of:

• Monthly SaaS bills that keep climbing
• Features you don’t need (and can’t turn off)
• Data stuck in silos
• Workflows that don’t quite fit

Let’s talk about building something that actually works for your business.

Get in touch – We’ll review your current setup and show you what’s possible.

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P.S. That inventory counter above? It’s actually running live on this page. Try it from multiple browser windows and watch it sync in real-time. That’s the kind of instant, collaborative experience we can build into your custom software – without the complexity you’d expect.