What Does Custom Software Cost in India? A Transparent Breakdown

Most software agencies in India treat pricing like a state secret. They make you fill out forms, schedule calls, and sign NDAs before quoting a number. We think that is wrong. Here is what custom software actually costs in India in 2026.

What drives software cost

Five factors determine the price of any custom build:

1. Scope — how many features, how many user roles, how many screens
2. Complexity — simple CRUD vs real-time data vs offline sync vs payments vs integrations
3. Design depth — template-based vs custom-designed vs designed from first principles
4. Engineering team — freelancer vs small agency vs large agency
5. Timeline pressure — relaxed (6 months) vs normal (3 months) vs rushed (6 weeks)

Real pricing — what we charge

Corporate websites — ₹40,000 to ₹2,50,000

Basic 5-page brochure site: ₹40,000–₹80,000. Premium site with animations, CMS, multilingual, and SEO: ₹1,50,000–₹2,50,000. Add ₹30,000–₹60,000 for case study pages and blog functionality.

E-commerce platforms — ₹1,50,000 to ₹6,00,000

Basic Shopify-equivalent with Razorpay: ₹1,50,000–₹3,00,000. Custom platform with variants, geo-payments, advanced inventory: ₹4,00,000–₹6,00,000. Ongoing maintenance: ₹15,000–₹30,000/month.

School & education management — ₹4,00,000 to ₹15,00,000

Single-branch school ERP: ₹4,00,000–₹8,00,000. Multi-branch with mobile apps, bus tracking, library, hostel: ₹10,00,000–₹15,00,000. Custom features add ₹50,000–₹2,00,000 each.

Custom CRM / business ERP — ₹3,00,000 to ₹12,00,000

Depends heavily on integrations. Standalone CRM: ₹3,00,000–₹6,00,000. With WhatsApp integration, Tally sync, payment gateways: ₹6,00,000–₹12,00,000.

Native Android apps — ₹2,50,000 to ₹8,00,000

Simple utility app: ₹2,50,000–₹4,00,000. Mid-complexity (login, payments, real-time): ₹4,00,000–₹6,00,000. Enterprise app with backend, multi-role, complex business logic: ₹6,00,000–₹8,00,000.

Hospital & clinic management — ₹6,00,000 to ₹20,00,000

Single-doctor clinic: ₹6,00,000–₹10,00,000. Hospital with OT, lab, pharmacy, billing, OPD/IPD: ₹15,00,000–₹20,00,000.

What you should never pay for

Some line items are red flags. Be skeptical when you see:

• "Domain & hosting" charged at 5x market rate — domain costs ₹800/year, hosting ₹3,000–₹10,000/year. If they charge ₹30,000+, they are profiteering.
• "SSL certificate" as a line item — SSL is free via Let's Encrypt. Charging for it is dishonest.
• "Source code" as an extra — you should own the source code on final payment. If it is extra, find another vendor.
• "Per-user license fees" for custom software you commissioned — this is a vendor lock-in trap.
• Generic "support" fees with no SLA — what does support actually mean? Response in 1 hour? 1 day? 1 week? Get specifics.

What you should always pay for

• Discovery and design phase — typically 15-20% of total cost. Skipping this guarantees rebuilds later.
• Post-launch warranty — 90 days minimum, covering bugs at no cost.
• Documentation — admin guides, user guides, technical docs. Worth ₹20,000–₹50,000 depending on system complexity.
• Training — your team needs to be trained on the system. Plan for 1-3 days of training time.

How payment usually works

Industry standard is 40% upfront, 30% at midpoint milestone, 30% on final delivery. Some agencies charge 50/50 — that is also fair. Avoid anything that demands 100% upfront from a new client.

The cheapest software is rarely the best

We routinely lose bids to quotes 40-60% lower than ours. Six months later, half of those clients call back wanting us to rebuild what the cheap vendor delivered. The cheapest software is almost always the most expensive over its lifetime.

The right way to evaluate is total cost of ownership over 3-5 years, including the cost of fixing what was built wrong the first time.

Get a real quote

For a precise quote on your project, we offer a free 45-minute discovery call. By the end, you will have a real number, a real timeline, and a written proposal — not a sales pitch.

Get a quote →