How much does custom software cost in Nigeria?

Custom software is the hardest kind of project to price from the outside. A staff request portal for one department and an operations platform for five branches are both “custom software”, and they are very different projects. This guide uses our own published prices to show what custom software costs, what moves the price, and how to get a number you can rely on.

The short answer

These are Tekora’s prices from October 2026. A starting price is the floor for a focused scope; your proposal gives the fixed price for yours.

• Custom software: from ₦2,000,000, typically ₦2m to ₦15m and above
• Enterprise or complex systems: priced by custom quote
• A first usable release: often eight to twelve weeks
• Maintenance and support after launch: from ₦100,000 a month

Larger systems are rarely built in one go. They grow in stages after the first release, and each stage is planned and priced separately.

What you are paying for

Custom software isn’t a collection of screens. It is a model of how your organisation works: who does each task, which rules apply, who approves what and where the information goes next. Most of the cost sits in getting that model right, then building, connecting and testing it so your team can rely on it every day.

That is why the work starts before any code. We map how work moves today with the people who do it, workarounds included, and you receive a written map of your process and a prioritised scope before any development is agreed.

What moves the price

Two systems with the same number of screens can differ in price several times over. These are the things that make the difference:

• Scope and number of features. Every feature has to be designed, built and tested, so the first release should hold only what helps most
• User roles and permissions. Staff, managers, customers and partners each need their own view and their own limits
• Workflows and business rules. Stages, approvals, eligibility checks and the exceptions to them are where most of the logic lives
• Integrations with your existing systems, such as Paystack or Flutterwave, accounting, a CRM or ERP, email, SMS and WhatsApp
• Data migration. Moving records out of spreadsheets or an old system, then checking them against the source, takes real care
• Security and audit requirements, such as two-step sign-in and a record of who changed what
• AI features, where they save real time, such as reading documents or sorting requests
• Hosting and support needs after launch

Near the starting price, or well above it

Projects near the starting price usually solve one process for one team: a request portal, an approvals workflow or a records system with a handful of roles and few integrations.

Projects toward the top of the range, and beyond it, usually cover several departments or branches, many roles, several integrations and a migration from an older system. Enterprise and complex systems are priced by custom quote once the scope is known.

Why we price each release, not the whole system

Pricing a large system in one quote means guessing at requirements nobody has tested yet. We send a written scope with a fixed price for each release instead. Changes are agreed in writing before they happen, so you always know the cost before work starts.

It also means you use the software early. During the build you review working software every week or two, not status reports. Real use then decides what the next release should hold.

When you may not need custom software

Off-the-shelf software is often the right answer, and it is cheaper when your needs are standard. Before you commission a system, check whether one of these fits better:

• A standard product already does the job. Use it. If it is close but not quite, connecting it to your other tools with business automation, from ₦600,000, may be enough
• Your customers or staff need to book, apply, track or approve something through a browser. That may be a web application, from ₦1,500,000
• You plan to sell the software to other businesses. That is a SaaS product, from ₦2,500,000, with different decisions about accounts and billing

Often the best answer is both: keep the standard tools that work, and build only the part that doesn’t fit.

What usually isn’t in the price

Some costs are paid to other providers rather than to the developer. A good proposal lists them so nothing surprises you later:

• Hosting and infrastructure
• Domain registration
• API usage, including AI services
• Software subscriptions
• Payment gateway fees
• Email and SMS services, and WhatsApp messaging
• VAT, where it applies

Wherever possible, these accounts should be set up in your name, so your system never depends on one supplier.

What you should get for your money

Whoever you hire, check that the proposal covers more than the build. At minimum, ask for:

• Requirements documented in writing, in plain language, and agreed before development starts
• A written scope and a fixed price for each release
• Working software to review every week or two
• Testing for function, security and performance, then with your team on real tasks before launch
• Data migrated carefully and checked against the source
• Ownership of the software, the code, the data and the documentation, with no lock-in
• A plan for support and maintenance after launch, or a documented handover to your own team

How to get an accurate price

You don’t need a technical specification. Most clients come with a problem, and writing the requirements with you is part of discovery. It helps to answer five questions before you commission custom software: what problem costs you most, who will use the system, what the smallest useful version is, who will own it and how you will know it worked.

Then tell us how work moves today and where it gets stuck. The first consultation is free, and we reply within two working days with honest advice on whether custom software is the right answer. See custom software development for how we build.