How do we know you are not simply selling us a project?

By the order of things. We first check whether the standard product holds, because that is considerably cheaper for you and better reusable for us. Only once a requirement lies substantively outside does custom work begin — not because your business is bigger. And if another program suits you better than ours, that is a possible outcome of the first call.

A hand holds a steel try square into the corner of a plastered wall; a wedge-shaped gap stands open between the straight blade and the wall, with daylight shining through it

When no standard product fits

You have worked through the usual programs. Every one of them fails at the same point.

Demo accounts requested, trial phases completed, three sales teams spoken to — and at some point every vendor says the same sentence: that is not how it is designed. For most trades businesses a standard program fits, and then it is also the right purchase. If it always snags at the same point for you, that is rarely down to the program — it is because your requirement sits outside what software built for everyone can cover. This page sets out which of three routes belongs to your case, and what each of them means: for your licence, your timeline and your price.

Three routes the standard product, a custom solution on a product basis, a complete new build

First call free, with an honest assessment rather than a sales pitch

Fixed price after a short, paid analysis — with a written scope

Arrange a free first call

A starting point rather than a blank page: where it fits technically, a custom solution does not begin at zero but on krafteq Handwerk. That reduces risk and price considerably — and that is exactly what we check in the first call. krafteq Handwerk is standard software for trade businesses — not a project built for you from scratch. We are currently rolling it out with the first businesses: you test it free of charge, receive an individual offer afterwards, and we set up your business together with you.

Where you are nowWhere the selection always snags at the same point

This page is for businesses that already have the comparison behind them: you know what your software has to do, and you have found that no vendor covers all of it. Six patterns we encounter most often:

The criteria list survives no vendor

You have written down what your business really needs. With every program two or three points stay open — and it is always the same two or three points. That is not a coincidence but the limit of what a product for many businesses can represent.

Promised in the sales call, absent at setup

In reviews of trades software this pattern comes up regularly: features assured during the sales conversation turn out at setup to be absent or not currently feasible. The contract runs all the same.

Several companies are several customers to the software

You run two, three or five businesses under one management. To the programs that is not a group but a series of separate customers: separate contracts, separate logins, separate reports — and the consolidated view gets assembled by hand at month end.

Several businesses under one management

The process you earn money with is the one nobody represents

Precisely the method that sets you apart from others forces every standard product into someone else's scheme. You are supposed to adapt your process to the program — when the process is the reason customers buy from you.

The connection no standard product knows

A grid operator's portal, a government interface, the system of a major client, a machine in the workshop, a price list in a proprietary format. Such connections name a specific counterpart — and a product for all businesses does not know it.

And then the real worry

Anyone looking at custom development immediately thinks ahead: as a layperson I only notice at the end what is missing, and then comes rework, argument and extra cost. That worry is justified — it is the reason for the approach further down this page.

OrientationWhen a standard program is the right answer

Before we talk about custom work: in most cases it is unnecessary, and selling it would be dishonest. Three situations in which a standard program is the faster and cheaper route:

One business, a common process, and it should be running quickly.

Then the established subscription programs such as plancraft, ToolTime or HERO are a solid answer: ready to go immediately, continuously maintained, with a large user base behind them. If your criteria list is fully satisfied there, buy there — and we will tell you exactly that in the first call.

What standard trades software covers

A trades business with 5 to 50 employees, and the open question is rent or buy.

krafteq Handwerk is the same standard product, only with a different model underneath: bought once instead of rented monthly, billed per business instead of per head, in a dedicated installation for your business — and with fine-tuning after go-live, because a dedicated installation is what makes adaptation possible at all.

Bought instead of rented — the model

It sounds like custom development but is configuration.

Much of what counts as impossible in a sales conversation elsewhere is a setting with us: switching off areas you do not use, renaming workflows and statuses to your own terms, setting number ranges, tax rates, wage groups and print layouts. The fastest way to check that is on a test instance of your own with your data.

Try it free

The limitThe criteria at which every standard product ends

With us, adaptation runs up a ladder: first switch modules on and off, then rename workflows, then change settings — and only after that is anything developed. Four requirements reach that last rung regularly, because neither data nor settings can express them.

Several companies under one management

Running several legally independent companies in one system is the boundary between the standard product and custom work. Your group then gets one instance in which all companies are run, with the separation between them as a built, steerable function — and for us it is one engagement instead of one per company.

A process no industry software represents

Not the label of a record but its mechanics: your own domain data, an inspection or approval procedure with its own logic, a calculation following rules nobody outside your business computes that way. Renaming is not enough for that.

Special cases per location or per trade

Two locations, two ways of working, two template worlds — and one job that moves between them. Such cases can only be represented in a product for all businesses through compromises nobody sustains in daily work.

Connection to systems no standard product knows

Our written rule for this is simple: if a requirement names a specific institution, form number, price list or piece of hardware, it belongs in your own copy. If it describes a business exchanging documents, money, time or measurements with a counterpart, it belongs in the product.

What stays outside even then

So that the expectation is right: krafteq Handwerk keeps no bookkeeping, no stock control, no purchasing, no payroll and no portal for your customers. In those fields custom work on a product basis does not help either — there we say so up front instead of negotiating it later.

Why this limit is fixed in writing

Because otherwise it would be negotiated during the project, and at your expense. With us it is fixed beforehand, and it has a practical benefit: your own copy stays mergeable with the ongoing development of the product instead of diverging with the first update.

The three routesThe standard product, a custom solution on a product basis, or built from the ground up

These three routes differ not only in price but in what you end up holding. We separate them clearly here on purpose — blurring them is the most common reason for disappointment after the purchase.

krafteq Handwerk as a standard product

The standard product for a trades business with 5 to 50 employees whose processes can be represented through modules, workflows and settings. You do not start from zero: krafteq Handwerk already reflects the daily work of a trades business, and whatever does not fit in the first few months, we fine-tune.

See the model and terms

A custom solution on the basis of krafteq Handwerk

The route for requirements the product cannot express. Your solution does not start at zero but on the standard product, and deviates exactly where neither data nor settings can represent your requirement. You get your own copy, developed further for your case — and the rest of the system is there from day one.

The most common case: several businesses under one management

How the rights are allocated

The product core stays licensed and is not transferred: perpetual licence, perpetual right of use, source code included when you self-host — the same arrangement as with the standard product
For everything we build exclusively for your case, the two-way rule applies: what we build for everyone stays our product. What we build only for you belongs to you
Whatever turns out to be generally useful goes into the product — and comes back to you with the next update
Considerably cheaper and considerably faster than a complete new build, because most of it already exists
Anyone asking about the source code out of concern for the future runs it themselves — then the software, source code and data are with you

Full custom development

Built from the ground up for you, with no product underneath. The route for projects that have little left to do with the back office of a trades business — or for companies that want to take over the source code in full and know what that costs.

Custom projects for mid-market companies

How the rights are allocated

The source code can be handed over to you in full — the reason is logic, not goodwill: custom work has no reuse value for us
Considerably more expensive than a product-based solution. The difference is the value of the groundwork already in the standard product
Free first call, then a short paid analysis with a written scope and a fixed-price offer
Fixed price per milestone, built in-house, fine-tuning after go-live included
The honest question here is not whether you get the source code, but: do you want to pay considerably less, or do you want to take over the source code? Both are possible — both together at the product price are not

Rights and licensingWhat you get — and who owns which part of it

The source code question is answered differently on each of the three routes, and there is a comprehensible reason for that: whatever is reusable stays a product and is therefore licensed. Whatever is created only for you has no reuse value for us.

	krafteq Handwerk as a product	Custom solution on a product basis	Full custom development
Starting point	The standard product, pre-configured for your trade	The standard product — and from the point where it cannot express your requirement, your own further-developed copy	The blank page
Your installation	A dedicated installation per business	A dedicated installation, developed further for your case	Your own installation
Right of use to the product core	Perpetual licence, unlimited in time	Perpetual licence, unlimited in time — the product core stays licensed and is not transferred	Not applicable — there is no product core
What is built only for you	Not applicable	What we build only for you belongs to you. What benefits other businesses too goes into the product and comes back with the next update	Everything — nothing is created that we could reuse
Source code	Included when you self-host: for inspection and further development for your business, without the right to pass it on	As with the product — source code included when you self-host, no redistribution	Can be handed over in full
Price range	The lowest	Product plus custom share — considerably cheaper than a new build	Considerably more expensive; the difference is the value of the groundwork in the standard product
Approach	Test instance, offer, start — fine-tuning after go-live included	First call, short paid analysis, written scope and fixed-price offer	First call, paid analysis with a written scope, fixed price per milestone

Read on: Buy krafteq Handwerk instead of renting it · Several businesses under one management · Custom projects for mid-market companies

Competitor price sources (regular prices, net, as of Aug 2026; promotions not included): plancraft price list, ToolTime price list, HERO price list — Deliberately without figures: krafteq terms belong in the individual offer, not on a public page. What is compared here is the structure of the three routes, not their price.

ApproachFrom the first call to a fixed price — without you having to know everything in advance

Anyone who does not build software themselves cannot describe it down to the detail. That is not a weakness but the normal case — and the reason we move the specification work to our side and bill it separately. You first buy something small and can stop afterwards, holding a usable result.

Free first call

30 to 60 minutes. You describe where it snags, and we assess: does the standard product hold, is it a custom solution on a product basis, or is it a project that has to be built from the ground up? If another program suits you better, we say that too.

Free and non-binding — with an honest assessment rather than a sales pitch.

Your test instance — the product core put to the test

Before custom work is discussed, you look at what already exists. You get your own krafteq Handwerk test instance, configured for your trade, and check with a real record from your business how much of your criteria list the standard already covers.

You see the scope rather than having it described — and you see how small what is left really is.

A short, paid analysis

At a fixed price, kept short. We describe your processes, the data model, the interfaces and the risks — and draw the line between what configuration solves and what has to be developed.

The specification is on us, not on you. Paid, because otherwise it would be worth nothing.

Written scope and fixed-price offer

The analysis produces two documents: a written scope and a fixed-price offer for the implementation. Both are yours — including if you go on with somebody else afterwards, or do not go on at all.

You decide with a price on the table rather than an estimate in your head.

Implementation and fine-tuning

It is built in-house, with our own toolchain, at a fixed price per milestone. What is within the agreed scope gets built; new scope gets its own offer rather than a quiet slip in the schedule. After go-live we adjust whatever turns out to be a poor fit in live operation.

A fixed price per milestone — and go-live is the beginning of the cooperation, not its end.

Operations — with us or with you

Server operation, security updates, backups and support as an annual service from krafteq, or self-operation on your server or at your IT provider. If you wish, the installation runs entirely inside your own network, with no internet connection.

No vendor lock-in: data export at any time, and the right of use never expires.

Check the product core first

The cheapest route begins with the question of how much of your requirements the standard already covers. We set up your own krafteq Handwerk test instance, configured for your trade and ready for your own data. We set it up by hand; it is usually up within three working days, without a sales call and without obligation. Afterwards you receive an individual written offer; we set up your business together with you.

Try it free Several businesses under one management

No subscription
No sales call
No obligation

FAQQuestions that come up at this point

Usually not. Between a standard program and a complete new build there is a third route hardly anyone offers: a custom solution on the basis of a standard product. You start with a system that already fully covers the back office of a trades business, and only the part configuration cannot express gets developed. That is considerably cheaper and considerably faster than a blank page — and it requires that we first check how much the standard already covers.

Yes, and the rights are cleanly separated. The product core stays licensed and is not transferred: you get a perpetual licence with a perpetual right of use and your own installation, and the source code is included when you self-host — for inspection and further development for your business, no redistribution. For everything we build exclusively for your case, the two-way rule applies: what we build for everyone stays our product. What we build only for you belongs to you. If an adaptation turns out to be generally useful, it goes into the product and comes back to you with the next update.

Yes — on the third route. With a full custom development the source code can be handed over to you in full, because nothing is created that we could reuse. On a product basis that is not possible, because years of groundwork sit in the core. So the question is not a refusal but a choice: do you want to pay considerably less, or do you want to take over the source code? Both are possible; both together at the product price are not. Before we make an offer, we clarify why you want the source code — the right answer is completely different depending on the reason.

Your installation is your own and not an account on our system, and the right of use is perpetual. If you self-host, the software, source code and data are with you — you do not depend on us. If krafteq operates it, you can switch to self-operation at any time; we then hand over images, operating documentation and source code. That is generally what actually lies behind the source code question: not the code, but the certainty.

Because otherwise it would be worth nothing. An undescribed project cannot be given a serious fixed price; the alternative would be billing by time and materials — exactly what you are rightly worried about. In the analysis we take on the description work and deliver a written scope together with a fixed-price offer. You first buy something small and can stop afterwards, holding a usable result. The first call beforehand stays free.

No. Anyone who does not build software themselves cannot describe it down to the detail — which is why that is our work, not yours. You describe your processes, we describe them technically and put them to you in writing before anything is built. And because a large part already exists as a standard product, you see on a test instance of your own, using a real record from your business, what is still missing — instead of having to imagine it beforehand.

Yes — with one qualification. It is not included in the standard product; running several companies in one system is the boundary between the standard product and custom work with us. Your group then gets one instance in which all companies are run, with the separation between them as a built function you steer — and for us it is one engagement instead of one per company. The case is common enough to have its own page: trades software for multiple businesses.

That depends on which of the three routes holds, and that is exactly why there is no figure on this page: it would rest on assumptions we do not know before the first call. What we can say is the order: the standard product is the cheapest, a custom solution on a product basis sits above it, and a complete new build considerably above that. Concrete terms are fixed in your offer — on the two custom routes after the paid analysis, so that the price rests on a description rather than on a guess.

No staff placement as the standard route: we build in-house, with our own toolchain, rather than putting developers into your team — that is where the price comes from. No time-and-materials billing as the rule; a fixed price per milestone is the rule. No unlimited change during implementation: what is in the scope gets built, and new scope gets its own offer. And substantively, whatever the product does not do stays out: bookkeeping, stock control and purchasing, payroll and a portal for your customers.

Let us assess your case

In the free first call we go through your criteria list and tell you which of the three routes holds — including if the answer is that a standard program is enough for you, and not necessarily ours. No sales pitch, no obligation.

Free
No obligation
30 to 60 minutes