Custom software

Custom Software Development for Businesses and SMEs, since 2007

We have been delivering custom software development for Italian SMEs and companies since 2007: management systems, web apps and platforms designed around your company's real processes, not adapted to a template. The bespoke software we build belongs to you, with no lock-in and no middlemen.

  • The source code and the intellectual property stay yours: no lock-in, no perpetual fee
  • A single technical point of contact from analysis to delivery: requirements never change hands
  • Transparent hourly rates: from €50 to €180 per hour depending on the type of work, with the hours estimated during discovery
  • We are AraLith, an Italian software house in the province of Rome, active since 2007: specific processes, integrations and regulatory constraints are our home ground

Tell us about your project

We will reply by proposing a free technical call.

No commitment and no unwanted sales calls: if custom software is not the right choice for you, we will tell you.

At a glance

At a glance: what custom software development is

Custom software development is the creation of applications designed entirely around your company's processes. Unlike off-the-shelf software, custom software for businesses needs no workarounds: it is built on what you actually do.

  • Who we are: a software house in Rome and its province, active since 2007 and working across Italy remotely
  • What we build: custom management systems, web apps, platforms and systems integration
  • Rates: from €50 to €180 per hour, VAT excluded, depending on the type of work, with the hours estimated in discovery
  • Ownership: the source code is yours, with complete technical documentation
  • Approach: a single technical point of contact from analysis to delivery, no middlemen
Illustration of a code editor with the </> symbol and two gears, for custom software development

From 2007 to today

5

communication and marketing agencies that entrust us with development

500+

websites and e-commerce sites delivered

10+

custom management systems

3

complete CMSs built from scratch

The problem

Three situations where off-the-shelf software stopped being enough

None of these is a technical problem. They are process problems, and they show up in the running costs long before they show up in the accounts: hours of manual work, errors that reach the customer, decisions made on outdated data.

Illustration of a giant tablet showing a management dashboard: one person on a ladder places a chart bar, another carries a notification, another works on a laptop

Data lives in three different places

A shared spreadsheet, the management system and email. Nobody knows for certain which version is the right one, and every reconciliation takes time nobody has.

A single person holds everything together

There is someone in the company who has become «the one who knows how the file works». It is convenient while they are there: the day they are away, the process stops.

The management system covers half the work

The other half is done by hand, outside the system. And every «by hand» is an error that sooner or later reaches the customer or the accountant.

The method

How we work, step by step

Five phases, each with what you do and what you receive. Timelines are estimated after discovery: before that they would be a promise, not a forecast. If the software is a product meant for the market, the prototype phase becomes an MVP: the smallest version that lets you test the idea with real users before investing in the rest.

Illustration of a group of people at a whiteboard with the project phases and sticky notes: one person adds a note, one points at the flow, one works on a laptop
01

Technical call

Free and with no obligation

You tell us about the process and what is not working. Together we work out whether custom software really makes sense for you. You get an honest opinion, including when the answer is that a ready-made product suits you better.

02

Discovery and requirements analysis

We map how you really work

The real process, the roles, the integrations with the systems you already use, the data to migrate, the regulatory constraints. You get a requirements document that stays yours even if the project does not go ahead.

03

Quote and phased plan

Estimated hours, priorities and release order

We start from the most critical process, so you have something usable early instead of waiting until the end. You get an estimate of the hours and the list of what pushes it up or down.

04

Development with interim releases

You see the software as it takes shape

No sealed box until delivery: you try the features as they become ready and we correct course while it is still cheap. The technical point of contact stays the same for the whole project, so you never have to explain the context again at each step.

05

Delivery, training and maintenance

The software is genuinely yours

Source code, repository with the full change history, technical documentation and training. Ongoing maintenance is optional: if you want to carry on independently or change supplier, you can.

What you get at the end

Not a list of technologies: the concrete things that stay in the company when the project is finished.

  • Software people use in their real work

    Not a prototype to be polished for months: a tool that runs on the real process, with your data in it.

  • The source code and the intellectual property

    A Git repository with the complete change history, in your name. No lock-in: you can carry on with whoever you choose.

  • Readable technical documentation

    Architecture, deployment, configuration, backup. It is there so that any other developer can pick up the work without starting from scratch.

  • Migration of historical data

    The years of work already done move into the new system. It is part of the project, not an extra that turns up at the end.

  • Training for the people who will use it

    A session with the people who will use the software and the material to get newcomers started too, without having to call us back.

  • Ongoing maintenance, if you want it

    Optional and never mandatory. The software keeps working even if you decide to manage it in-house.

Experience

The processes we have already digitised

Very different domains, the same method. That is why we never start from the technology: the process of a dental practice and that of a road haulage company have nothing in common, but they are mapped in the same way.

Illustration of a laptop with a rising chart and a star medal, for the case studies
  • Healthcare and dental

    Cloud management system with multi-practitioner scheduling, clinical records and compliance obligations. A regulated domain, with health data: here a mistake has legal consequences, not just commercial ones.

  • Corporate events

    Attendees and RSVPs with statuses, hotels and rooms, travel, transfers, seating plans, bulk import and export. Built as the technical partner of an agency.

  • Patents and intellectual property: Studio Torta

    Studio Torta's client portal: management and consultation of patent and trademark portfolios, deadlines, searches and document archives that must remain accessible for decades. We have been developing it since 2023.

  • ERP for large companies: Tinexta Innovation Hub

    Almost fifty applications and modules: cases and funding, reporting, commissions, invoicing, integrations with Salesforce and SAP. Processes that cross several departments, where the real complexity lies in the permissions, not in the screens.

  • Road haulage

    Sector-specific invoicing, with the calculation rules and documents that freight transport carries with it and that no generic management system really handles.

  • Condominium administration, accounting and invoicing

    Management systems for condominium administrators, bookkeeping and general invoicing: administrative processes where an error spreads downstream for months.

Beyond management systems: 3 complete CMSs built from scratch and SaaS products of our own such as AraLith COS and AralithPulse, with multi-tenant architecture, licence management and recurring billing. We also work as the technical partner of 5 communication and marketing agencies, for which we have built browser games, landing pages for loyalty campaigns and websites of every kind. The same method also produces free tools for internal use that we then publish, such as ReBrandy, to replace text and logo across several Word files in one go.

And we do not only work with organisations of our size: today our development is chosen by Tinexta Innovation Hub and Studio Torta, organisations far more structured than we are, which keep entrusting us with their software projects.

How much it costs

We do not publish pre-packaged bundles because we do not sell them. We publish our hourly rates by type of work: the only thing we can tell you with certainty before we know your project.

€50–180 / hour

Transparent rates by type of work · VAT excluded

  • €50–60 per hour · Execution on specifications already defined: front-end, templates, websites, routine maintenance
  • €65–85 per hour · Application development: management systems, web apps, standard integrations
  • €90–120 per hour · Qualified design and development: multi-tenant SaaS, critical integrations such as SdI and ERP, modernisation of legacy systems
  • €130–180 per hour · Advanced technical consulting: enterprise architecture, AI and agents, technical due diligence

The first technical call is free. We estimate the hours together in discovery, before you spend a single euro. Rates valid until 31 December 2027.

What determines the hours

  • How many processes the software has to cover: a single one or the entire business workflow
  • How many integrations are needed with the systems you already use
  • Whether there is historical data to migrate, and what state it is in
  • How many users and how many different roles have to coexist, with different permissions
  • Any regulatory constraints: health data, electronic invoicing, document retention
  • Whether a mobile app is also needed or browser access is enough

After discovery you receive an estimate of the hours split by phase. If something comes up during the work that pushes it up, you know before it happens, not when the bill arrives.

Illustration of a clipboard titled quote, with ticked items, a euro amount and a pencil

Frequently asked questions about custom development

Custom software development is the creation of an application designed entirely around your company's processes, without adapting to standard features. It is worth it when the business process is specific, when integrations with systems already in use are needed or when there are data and regulatory constraints. If the process fits a market standard, off-the-shelf software costs less and is the right choice, and if that is your case we tell you in the first call, without beating about the bush.

The hourly rate depends on the type of work: €50–60 per hour for execution on specifications already defined (front-end, templates, websites, maintenance), €65–85 per hour for application development (management systems, web apps, standard integrations), €90–120 per hour for qualified design and development (multi-tenant SaaS architectures, critical integrations such as SdI and ERP, legacy modernisation) and €130–180 per hour for advanced technical consulting (enterprise architecture, AI, due diligence). VAT excluded, rates valid until 31 December 2027. The total cost depends on how many hours are needed, estimated in the discovery phase. The hours vary with: the number of processes covered, integrations with existing systems, historical data migration, the number of users and roles, regulatory constraints and whether a mobile app is needed.

The time needed to build custom software depends on the number of modules and integrations: it is estimated after discovery, never promised before. Work proceeds in phases, starting from the most critical process, so you have something usable early instead of waiting for final delivery, and the estimate of the hours comes split by phase.

The code of custom-developed software belongs to the client: on custom software development projects we deliver the complete source code, the repository with the full change history and the technical documentation, with full intellectual property. There is no lock-in: any other developer can pick up the work. It is written in the contract.

Migration from the current management system to the new custom software happens in phases, without stopping the business: on the process being migrated, the existing system and the new one often run in parallel until the new one stands on its own. Recovering the historical data is part of the project, not an extra that turns up at the end.

A specialised software house is worth it when the process is specific, when integrations with existing systems are needed or when there are regulatory constraints; for a standard brochure website an agency or a template costs less and is the right choice. On custom software AraLith offers technical continuity: a single point of contact follows the project from analysis to delivery, as in the client portal developed for Studio Torta. The code stays yours, so the continuity of the software does not depend on us.

Tell us about the process you want to fix

We will reply by proposing a free technical call and an honest opinion, even when the answer is that you do not need custom software.

Content created with the support of artificial intelligence.