Off-the-shelf ERP implementations cost ₹20–80 lakh for mid-market businesses (licences plus implementation — and implementation runs 1–3x the licence fee); enterprise implementations run ₹2–10 crore. Custom ERP or CRM builds run ₹25 lakh–2 crore with India-based teams. The industry's most expensive secret: total cost of ownership over five years runs 4–7x the sticker price everyone negotiates.
Off-the-shelf: the licence is the entry fee
The stack for a 50–200 person company:
- Licences: ₹15–60 lakh/year for ERP (SAP B1, Dynamics, NetSuite-class); ₹6–25 lakh/year for CRM at scale (Salesforce, Dynamics)
- Implementation: 1–3x the first year's licence — configuration, data migration, integration, training
- Customisation: the moment business logic deviates from the product's opinion — ₹5–40 lakh and climbing
- Annual support: 18–22% of licence — forever
The pattern across the industry: businesses buy licences, then discover their workflows must fit the software or the software must be customised until it resembles custom software with a per-seat subscription attached.
Custom: what it actually costs
- Custom CRM (₹25–60 lakh): your sales workflow, exactly — for teams whose process IS the differentiator. Our CRM product sits at the configured end of this range.
- Custom ERP (₹60 lakh–2 crore): finance, inventory, HR and operations unified around your actual operations. The ERP product delivers the 70% standard core; the remaining 30% — your workflows — is where custom spend goes.
- Custom HRMS (₹15–40 lakh): see the HRMS product for the configured-versus-custom spectrum.
The custom math wins when: seat counts make subscriptions balloon (100+ users), workflows deviate persistently from off-the-shelf opinions, or data ownership matters strategically. The build versus buy framework formalises the decision.
The hidden costs that double projects
- Data migration: dirty historical data cleaned and mapped — ₹5–25 lakh and always underestimated
- Training and change management: the difference between adoption and shelfware — budget 10–15% of total
- Integration: payroll, banking, ecommerce, logistics — ₹3–15 lakh per system touched
- Process re-engineering: forcing the company's habits to match the software, or the software to match the company — pick deliberately, not by default
- The second year: support, upgrades, the customisations you inevitably request
India pricing and the build-quality note
India-based teams deliver custom ERP/CRM at 40–60% below Western rates, and enterprise implementation consulting at similar discounts. The maturity that matters: configuration-first (customise only what differentiates), phased rollouts instead of big-bang switches, and data migration planned before contracts. The full custom-software economics live in our development cost guide.
Choosing the path
- Standard processes, small team: off-the-shelf SaaS — cheapest path to working software
- Growing mid-market, 50+ seats, standard-ish processes: off-the-shelf plus disciplined configuration; watch the five-year licence math
- Differentiated workflows, 100+ seats, data ownership matters: custom or configured-custom hybrid — talk to our team with your process map
The honest summary: both paths cost more than the sticker. The choice is whether you rent forever or build once — see our pricing for how we structure either engagement, or book a call with your seat count and process complexity.
Frequently asked questions.
How much does ERP implementation cost?
Mid-market implementations run ₹20–80 lakh including licences (implementation adds 1–3x the first-year licence fee); enterprise implementations ₹2–10 crore. Custom ERP builds run ₹60 lakh–2 crore with India-based teams. Five-year total cost of ownership runs 4–7x the sticker price.
How much does a custom CRM cost?
₹25–60 lakh for a full custom build with India-based teams; configured product implementations (like ready CRM platforms) start lower and scale with customisation. Custom wins when 100+ seats make subscriptions balloon or the sales process itself is the differentiator.
Why do ERP projects overrun their budgets?
The consistent culprits: data migration of dirty historical data (₹5–25 lakh, always underestimated), training and change management treated as optional (10–15% of total), per-system integration costs, and process re-engineering deferred until go-live. The sticker price is the entry fee, not the project.
Is custom ERP cheaper than SAP or NetSuite?
Over 5+ years at 100+ seats, frequently yes: custom builds avoid per-seat subscriptions compounding annually. Below 50 seats with standard processes, off-the-shelf wins decisively. The crossover is seat count times workflow deviation.
What is the biggest hidden cost in ERP and CRM projects?
Data migration — cleaning, mapping and moving years of records — plus the customisation spiral: each business-logic deviation from the product's defaults costs ₹5–40 lakh, and the accumulation eventually resembles custom software carrying a subscription.
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