Extractly
Build vs. Buy Analysis

Extractly vs. Custom Solutions

Should you build your own document extraction solution or use Extractly? Compare the real costs, timelines, and risks of both approaches.

99%
Lower Initial Cost
95%
Faster Time-to-Market
Zero
Technical Risk
6 months
ROI Timeline

Total Cost of Ownership (3 Years)

Compare the true costs of building versus buying a document extraction solution.

Custom Solution Costs
Build your own document extraction platform
Development Team (18 months)$1.8M
Infrastructure & Tools$300K
Ongoing Maintenance (2 years)$600K
Security & Compliance$200K
Opportunity Cost$500K
Total 3-Year Cost$3.4M
Extractly Costs
Ready-to-use AI document extraction platform
Platform Subscription (3 years)$54K
Processing Credits (3 years)$36K
Integration Development$20K
Training & Onboarding$5K
Maintenance & Support$0
Total 3-Year Cost$115K
$3.3M
Total Savings
97% cost reduction

Custom Development Timeline

Understanding the complexity and time investment required for custom document extraction solutions.

Research & Planning

2-3 months
$100K - $200K
Investment Required
Market research
Architecture design
Team hiring
Tool selection

Core Development

6-12 months
$800K - $1.5M
Investment Required
ML model training
API development
UI/UX design
Integration work

Testing & Refinement

2-4 months
$200K - $400K
Investment Required
Quality assurance
Performance optimization
Security testing
User acceptance

Deployment & Maintenance

Ongoing
$300K+ annually
Investment Required
Infrastructure management
Model updates
Feature additions
Bug fixes
12-18 months
Minimum time to production
vs. 1-2 days with Extractly

Risk Assessment

Custom development introduces significant technical, financial, and operational risks.

Custom Solution Risks
Technology Risk
AI/ML models may not achieve required accuracy, requiring expensive rework
Talent Risk
Difficulty hiring and retaining specialized ML engineers and data scientists
Timeline Risk
Projects commonly exceed planned timelines by 50-200%
Budget Risk
Development costs often double or triple initial estimates
Maintenance Risk
Ongoing costs and complexity often underestimated
Compliance Risk
Security and regulatory requirements add significant complexity
Extractly Risk Mitigation
Proven Technology
99.5% accuracy rates proven across millions of documents
No Technical Expertise Needed
Business users can set up and manage templates without developers
Predictable Timeline
Go live in days, not months or years
Fixed Costs
Transparent, predictable pricing with no hidden development costs
Zero Maintenance
Fully managed service with automatic updates and improvements
Enterprise Compliance
SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR compliant out of the box

Feature Comparison

Compare key capabilities between custom development and Extractly's ready-to-use platform.

Development Time

Custom Solution
6-18 months development
Extractly
1-2 days setup

Initial Investment

Custom Solution
$500K - $2M+ development
Extractly
$500/month subscription

Technical Expertise

Custom Solution
ML engineers, data scientists required
Extractly
No technical expertise needed

Maintenance Overhead

Custom Solution
Ongoing development team
Extractly
Fully managed service

Scalability

Custom Solution
Limited by infrastructure
Extractly
Auto-scaling cloud infrastructure

Security & Compliance

Custom Solution
Build your own compliance
Extractly
SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR ready

Why Build When You Can Buy?

Focus on your core business while Extractly handles document processing. Start with a free trial and see results in days, not years.

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