Research › Monthly report
The State of Build vs. Buy, October 2026
HissingKitty Research · October 19, 2026
$765,823
in yearly bills shared across 17 tools
Summary
$765,823 in yearly software bills shared across 17 tools in October 2026, plus the builds, price increases and renewal quotes logged this month.
Live edition. Every number below updates as new bills, builds, price increases and renewal quotes come in, through October 31, 2026. Last data added October 22, 2026.
Headline Number
$765,823 in yearly bills shared across 17 tools. The sum of 19 anonymous yearly bills shared in October 2026. It is neither market spend nor verified savings.
Key Findings
- Buyers shared 19 yearly bills across 17 tools in October 2026, totaling $765,823.
- Procore has the largest shared yearly bill this month, about $200,000.
- WorkOS is next, at about $103,000 a year.
- 6 public build posts logged this month, reporting about $12,200 a month in combined savings.
- 1 price increase logged from public posts.
- 0 verified replacement reports this month, so we cannot yet measure realized build payback.
What Changed
This first monthly edition sets the baseline, so there is no earlier month to compare. Until October 31, 2026, each new report updates this edition.
What Buyers Paid
The Largest Shared Yearly Bill Is $200,000
| Tool | Bills | Yearly Bill |
|---|---|---|
| Procore | 1 | About $200,000 |
| WorkOS | 1 | About $103,000 |
| ZoomInfo | 1 | About $72,400 |
| Drata | 1 | About $47,600 |
| HubSpot | 3 | Median $45,000 |
| Dialpad | 1 | About $38,700 |
| 1 | About $25,708 | |
| Vanta | 1 | About $21,883 |
| Intercom | 1 | About $10,400 |
| Semrush | 1 | About $8,000 |
| QuickBooks | 1 | About $5,837 |
| Slack | 1 | About $4,700 |
| Chargify | 1 | About $4,400 |
| Adobe | 1 | About $4,200 |
| Figma | 1 | About $2,500 |
| Zapier | 1 | About $2,395 |
| Atlassian | 1 | About $2,300 |
What Teams Built Instead
- Misha Vitels, Earth Cups reported building a HubSpot, replaced with their own sales tools saving about $10,000 a month (post on X, October 22, 2026).
- Blake Urmos, Low Volt Nation reported building a 42K+ subscribers (post on X, October 22, 2026).
- Grayson Gladu reported building a custom CRM in 7 days, saving about $2,200 a month and about 7 staff hours a week (post on X, October 19, 2026).
- Mathieu Olivier reported building a Figma, for client screen reviews (post on X, October 16, 2026).
- Misha Vitels, Earth Cups reported building a Shopify, replaced with their own store (post on X, October 16, 2026).
- Pavel Petrinich, SegmentStream reported building a HubSpot Sales Pro, then Attio (post on X, October 13, 2026).
These are builders' own claims from public posts, not verified replacement reports. Staff time freed is not necessarily a cash reduction.
Price Increases Logged
- Noah Kagan reported QuickBooks Online Essentials going to $918 a year from December 1, 2026 (source, October 19, 2026). Without the earlier price we cannot calculate the increase.
Notable Stories
- Greenleaf Replaced Salesforce and Saves $100,000 a Year, October 20, 2026.
- A Custom CRM Built in 7 Days Saves $26,400 a Year, October 19, 2026.
Proof Points
6 public build accounts this month reports savings. Our 19 shared bills establish what this sample paid, but do not establish that replacing those tools would save money.
Against building, the editor's view is to keep paying for identity and security compliance. A high shared bill alone does not settle reliability, audit requirements or liability.
Partial Builds Lead the Editorial Category Split
Predictions
Keith's view. These are forecasts for the next monthly edition, not measured findings.
- Likely. Partial builds will remain the largest editorial category group. What would prove it wrong: A different group leading the next edition's category count.
- Possible. The next edition will include a verified replacement report. What would prove it wrong: No verified replacement reports at publication.
- Long shot. Verified replacement evidence will show staff time savings exceeding license savings. What would prove it wrong: No verified report demonstrating that comparison in the next edition.
What to Do Next
Build it
Editor's view. Start with a bounded internal workflow on data you control. Budget for maintenance and test an export before switching.
Build part of it
Editor's view. Keep necessary infrastructure and replace a workflow around it. Compare license savings and staff time separately.
Keep paying
Editor's view. Keep systems where security, certification or regulated operations exceed your ability to maintain them. Check your next quote with Check My Renewal before you sign.
Methodology and Limits
Window October 1, 2026 to October 31, 2026; this edition is live and the numbers change as data arrives. The bill sample is 19 anonymous yearly bills shared in that window. Every tool is named from its first bill, with the number of bills beside it. The number of distinct companies is unknown.
Public posts: 7 posts logged this month, each linked to its source. Claims are self-reported. Verified replacement reports: 0. The editorial chart counts 49 category judgments, not buyer decisions.
This is a small convenience sample. People who share bills may be less happy with their vendors. We cannot measure market pricing, representative savings, build failure rates, ongoing support costs or realized cash savings. We do not publish private seat counts, headcounts or per-person prices. Read our methodology.
Cite This Report
HissingKitty, The State of Build vs. Buy, October 2026, published October 19, 2026, updated October 22, 2026, https://hissingkitty.com/research/build-vs-buy-october-2026
Figures follow our methodology. Estimates are labelled until backed by submitted savings reports.
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