Blog · Comparison

Custom App or Template: The Real Comparison

Published on 18 July 2026 by Kodex Production

Should you start from a ready-made template or have a custom app developed? Both exist for good reasons. Here's what you gain and what you lose with each, with no sugar-coating.

The template: fast and cheap, at first

A template is a standard model that gets lightly adapted (logo, colours). Advantage: it's fast and inexpensive to get into. Downside: you're stepping into a framework designed for everyone, so for no one in particular. Features outside the mould are hard or impossible, and many solutions then charge a monthly subscription or a commission.

Custom: built around you

A custom app starts from your trade, your customers and the way you work. Every feature is there because it serves you. You get a lifetime licence, exclusive to your business, with no commission, and the app evolves with your business. Long reserved for big budgets, custom development now starts at €2,990 excl. VAT as a one-off purchase.

The honest comparison

• Personalisation: template = limited. Custom = total.
• Usage rights: template = often rented. Custom = a lifetime licence.
• Cost over time: template = subscription or commission. Custom = one-off purchase.
• Scalability: template = capped. Custom = no limit.
• Brand image: template = generic. Custom = 100% in your image.

So, which should you choose?

A template can be enough to test a very simple idea. But as soon as your app really needs to fit your business, build customer loyalty and be exclusive to your business, custom becomes the cost-effective choice, especially now that it's affordable. The real trap is paying a lifelong subscription for an app that will never quite be yours.