Custom Dating Software vs. Ready-Made Solution
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As with any tech startup, building a dating platform involves balancing considerations of features, functionality, scalability, and speed. Ultimately, the question comes down to whether to develop a custom dating software or to opt for a ready-made solution.
Ready-made solutions are fully built-out platforms that you can purchase and go live with right away. Custom software is built from the ground-up by a team of developers to a company’s specifications.
Each development strategy has its own advantages and shortcomings, which will vary depending on the demands of the specific business product.
The Pros and Cons of Ready-Made Dating Software
Ready-made dating software is often the preferred development path for early stage businesses for many reasons. While you may sacrifice some specific, tailored elements or features, most find that the cost benefits and smooth start-up process far outweigh those losses. Overall, the ready-made model offers an ideal route to scaling your business quickly and dynamically.
Pro: Ready-made means ready to go.
One of the biggest advantages of ready-made dating software is it allows businesses to get started quickly and efficiently. “Strike while the iron’s hot,” as they say. In a booming dating industry, most SkaDate clients prioritize the ability to grab a piece of the market share and fill their niche before someone else does.
Ready-made software allows businesses to go live within as soon as days, whereas the process of developing bespoke solutions is much more involved and takes more time.
Con: You may not have your entire wishlist at first.
Because ready-made software is already built out, you may sacrifice some design and operational details at first. The argument for custom development is that you get everything on your design wishlist, and can build your app and platform exactly the way you want it.
That being said, ready-made packages today are not what they were 10 years ago. For one thing, ready-made systems offer a lot of customization that users can fine-tune directly. Additionally, ready-made packages today offer the option to add custom development. This gives you the advantage of starting quickly while still getting the key custom features you need.
Pro: Large knowledge base and expert specialists.
A huge pro to developing from a ready-made package is that it comes with a deep knowledge base behind it. When you build out your platform with a ready-made package, you have the assurance of a huge library of information about the structure and operation of that platform. Ultimately, this can save a ton of time, headache, and service costs.
Large ready-made systems run smoothly overall, because all bugs have been tested out already. Additionally, you benefit from access to a wide range of service professionals who are already experts in the back-end of the platform, helping you to tackle issues or develop further at an efficient cost and time spend.
Con: You don’t choose the framework.
For most clients looking to start their dating business, the framework that it’s built from is an irrelevant factor. That being so, it is a fact of ready-made platforms that the package developer builds it out from the framework of their choice. Developers with a very particular skill set may prefer to use the framework that they are most fluent in. If this is the case, then it’s possible a ready-made solution is not ideal. However, the majority of entrepreneurs can operate their platform with any framework so long as the features and scalability are there.
Pro: Feature rich, tailored to dating.
For dating websites and apps, the features available are key to its success. SkaDate continuously innovates its packages to include the latest features as well as optimizing the essential ones. As such, ready-made solutions provide a ton of options that businesses can implement according to their platform’s needs.
Con: Must adapt to ready-made back-end management.
Again, this point isn’t necessarily a con as much as it is something that businesses should be aware of from the start. Ready-made dating solutions are feature rich and all of those features must be managed. The way that they’re managed is largely predetermined in the package you select because it has been built fully.
For example, the content moderation system will have been built according to a certain workflow that the developers of the ready-made package decided on. While you’re beholden to adopt that workflow, there is a benefit to that as well. Namely, if you choose a ready-made dating package from SkaDate, for example, they are experts in the dating field. So, the back-end operations of their packages have been very specifically tailored to the dating space. If you try to use a generically built software package for your dating platform, however, you may run into issues.
Pro: High value and efficiency.
Ready-made dating solutions provide unquestionable value and efficiency. Basically, businesses are getting years of “custom” development for platforms in the dating space without having to invest anywhere near the time or cost required to get to that point alone.
For many dating start-ups, the costs and time to develop, say, a match feature of their own is a non-starter. Ready-made packages provide a match feature right out of the box without months of development, QA, bug fixes, beta versions, and high development costs.
Verdict: Is Custom Dating Software or a Ready-Made Solution Better?
Those looking to take advantage of the lucrative online dating market in the U.S. often value the time and cost savings available with ready-made dating solutions. SkaDate’s numerous package options, for example, are so advanced and tailored to the dating industry that it effectively operates like a custom system for most clients.
Additionally, businesses have the ability to develop their own mobile app without high costs and complications. Of course, there are businesses that prefer or need a partial or complete custom solution. In addition to ready-made solutions, SkaDate provides full-scale custom software development for those who need it.
Ultimately, the key to finding which solution is better is to find the best fit for developing and scaling your dating platform according to your needs. Request a demo here to see what a ready-made solution can look like for your business. You can also have an expert contact you by filling out this short form to find out more information.
Should you invest in custom dating software or buy a Ready-made solution? Each strategy has its own advantages, let’s see all pros and cons.
Brina is an experienced customer representative who is an expert in Skadate software. She knows what it takes to start an online dating business from scratch and which tools can make it successful.
