Black Badger builds custom operations software for US trade and construction firms with 50 to 500 staff. You own the code, database, and infrastructure outright. Unlimited users, fixed price, and zero annual renewals.
Send your last invoice. We calculate your 5-year total vs. a fixed build you own outright.
See what 5 years of renting costs you versus owning your own system built specifically for your process.
Commercial trade contractors face price escalation from every direction. Smartsheet renewals spiked 30% to 50% after its 2025 take-private. Procore and ServiceTitan add 5% to 15% annually. NetSuite base fees escalated from $99 to $129.
Worst of all, off-the-shelf software doesn't handle real trade workflows—like complex bid-to-award sequences, change order authorizations, or job costing across mixed field crews. You end up paying tens of thousands in licensing while your team actually runs the business on disconnected spreadsheets.
Compare the financial and operational structure of off-the-shelf SaaS subscriptions against custom builds from Black Badger.
| Feature | Platform Renting (Smartsheet, Procore, monday) | Black Badger Custom System |
|---|---|---|
| User Licensing | Escalating per-seat or volume fees every year | Unlimited users. $0 per seat forever. |
| Code & Account Ownership | Vendor owns the platform and controls your access | 100% Client Owned. Repositories & servers set up in your name. |
| Workflow Fit | Generic rigid fields; workarounds forced into Excel | Built to your exact process for bids, crews, and job costing. |
| Integrations | Paid third-party connectors (Zapier, Make) or API caps | Direct integrations (QuickBooks, Stripe, Shopify, custom APIs). |
| 5-Year Total Cost | Compounding software fees scaling with crew size | Single fixed build cost paid off in months. |
Founder-led by David Verneuille, who spent 18 years implementing Smartsheet, monday.com, Wrike, and Zoho before pivoting to custom builds. Here is what happens when you swap rented seats for owned code.
A regional commercial specialty contractor facing a $1.3 million 5-year Smartsheet renewal commitment replaced their entire project management and field crew tracking setup with a custom system built by Black Badger in 16 weeks for $375,000 fixed.
An HVAC and mechanical operations firm running separate CRM, quoting, and job-tracking tools replaced $125,000 per year in recurring software licenses with a unified custom system built in 6 weeks for $85,000.
We do not touch code until your operational data and exact business rules are defined. Here is how we replace your rented platform.
We audit your existing platform costs, seat numbers, renewal dates, and spreadsheet workarounds to find exact friction points.
"Get the data out, write the process down, and only then touch the tool." Your cloud accounts, code repository, and databases are created under your company name from day one.
You test functional screens within weeks. We migrate your historic data, connect QuickBooks or Stripe, train your staff, and hand over administrator credentials.
Plain answers on code ownership, system hosting, and platform migration.
Every account—including the source code repository, production database, web hosting, and transactional email service—is registered directly under your company's name and credit card from day one. Black Badger is invited into your organization strictly as an external administrator, and your internal team can revoke our administrative access at any given point.
Our Renewal Teardown is completely transparent. If your team has a low seat count or simple workflows where off-the-shelf software remains the lower cost option over a 5-year window, our report will state that clearly in writing. We only build custom systems when the financial payback and operational upside are decisive.
Because we use modern AI-assisted development tools and targeted architecture, custom builds are completed in weeks rather than months or years. Typical operations systems deliver working screens in 4 to 6 weeks, with full system handovers completed in 6 to 16 weeks depending on historical data migration needs.
Yes. We build direct native integrations with accounting platforms like QuickBooks, payment processors like Stripe, e-commerce systems like Shopify, and specialized field tools. You avoid paying recurring monthly fees for middleware connectors like Zapier or dealing with rigid platform API rate limits.
Send us your last Smartsheet, Procore, ServiceTitan, or monday.com invoice. Get a complete 5-year total-cost comparison against custom infrastructure you own outright.
No obligations. Clear written breakdown of 5-year license savings.
