One of the most common questions Salesforce teams face is whether to build a custom solution or to adopt an existing one. At first glance, the decision might seem straightforward—build when you need something unique, buy when there’s a product available. In reality, the trade-offs are more nuanced, and the implications ripple far beyond the initial project.
At Zaghop, we’ve seen both approaches succeed—and fail. The real key isn’t choosing one approach over the other, but learning how to evaluate the trade-offs and knowing when each option makes sense.
Pre-built solutions—whether from the Salesforce AppExchange or trusted third-party vendors—are designed to deliver functionality quickly. For teams that need to show results in weeks instead of months, buying can dramatically reduce time-to-value.
Established apps are “battle-tested.” They’ve been deployed across industries, gone through Salesforce’s security review, and refined through feedback from hundreds of customers. That collective learning is hard to replicate in a custom build.
Custom code comes with an invisible price tag: every Salesforce release, API change, and business shift requires updates. With an AppExchange solution, that responsibility falls to the vendor, freeing up your team to focus on strategic initiatives.
Although licenses add recurring costs, buying can be more cost-effective in the long run if it saves you months of custom development and ongoing maintenance.
Every organization has workflows that don’t fit neatly into an out-of-the-box solution. If your competitive advantage comes from how you do things differently, building ensures Salesforce adapts to you—not the other way around.
Some systems require a level of connectivity that no packaged solution provides. In these cases, custom integration may be the only way to create a seamless user experience.
If a process touches the “secret sauce” of your business model, owning it through custom development gives you control, flexibility, and the ability to innovate without waiting for a vendor’s roadmap.
Neither option is risk-free.
Smart teams weigh these risks before committing—and often hedge by using a hybrid approach.
The best Salesforce strategies usually blend both worlds:
This balance helps organizations avoid wheel reinvention while still tailoring Salesforce to their unique needs.
When evaluating build vs. buy, consider:
Answering these questions helps clarify which path will serve you best.
At Zaghop, we don’t believe in one-size-fits-all answers. We’ve built fully custom managed packages, but we’ve also implemented dozens of AppExchange solutions when they were the smarter choice. Because we’ve lived in both worlds, we know how to help clients navigate the gray area:
If you’re facing a build vs. buy decision, we’d love to help you think it through.
👉 The takeaway: It’s not about choosing build or buy—it’s about knowing when to do each.