IoT platform: buy or build?
An honest comparison, not a sales pitch: for many projects a SaaS platform is the right choice. We show when a custom platform truly pays off, and when it does not.
- Cost compared over time
- Vendor lock-in in context
- A clear decision guide
The honest answer first
For many, SaaS is enough. For some, it becomes a trap.
We build custom IoT platforms. Even so, our honest answer is rarely: build everything yourself. For many projects a ready-made SaaS platform is perfectly enough, it goes live faster and costs less at the start.
For some plans that same SaaS becomes a trap, the moment your own business logic, your own customers or a large device fleet enter the picture. This comparison helps you find the line for your case, without marketing.
When SaaS is the right choice
In these cases you should not have a custom platform built, but use an existing SaaS:
- Standard use case: collecting sensor values, showing them, simple alerts. That is exactly what platforms like Datacake, ROCK5 or ThingsBoard Cloud are built for.
- Fast start: you want first data in days rather than weeks and to validate an idea.
- Few devices: with a manageable number of devices the monthly fees stay low.
- No own branding needed: a standard dashboard is enough because only your internal team uses it.
- Small budget at first: you want to start without a large upfront investment.
To be fair: Datacake, ROCK5 and ThingsBoard Cloud are solid products. If one of these points applies to you, a SaaS saves you time and money.
When SaaS hits its limit
As soon as your plan goes beyond the standard, you hit limits that cannot be configured away:
- Own business logic: your analyses, calculations or workflows fit no standard schema.
- Billing for your customers: you want to invoice yourself, not just manage devices.
- White-label down to the URL: your customers should see your brand, your domain, no third-party logo.
- Multi-tenant for your own customers: each of your customers needs a separated, secure area.
- Data sovereignty: your data should sit in the EU, on infrastructure you control.
- Custom integrations: ERP, CRM or special hardware that no off-the-shelf SaaS supports.
Once two or three of these points apply, you fight against the SaaS instead of with it. Then a custom platform becomes cheaper than the constant struggle with someone else's product limits.
The sore point: vendor lock-in
The strongest argument against pure SaaS is not something you feel today, but the risk of tomorrow. Even large providers shut down IoT products:
Google IoT Core
Announced in 2022, fully shut down in August 2023. Customers had to migrate within a year.
IBM Watson IoT Platform
End announced in 2022, the service was discontinued.
AWS IoT
Several IoT services are being retired, with sunset dates reaching into 2026.
Azure IoT Central
Microsoft has announced its retirement and no longer onboards new customers.
What happens when the platform is shut down or prices triple? With your own platform on an open base, you decide when something gets switched off. Nobody else.
Cost compared over time
SaaS wins at the start, custom wins over time. The direct comparison:
| Criterion | SaaS | Custom (merkaio) |
|---|---|---|
| Entry cost | low | higher |
| Running cost per device | monthly fee, scales with the fleet | no licence per device |
| At 1,000 devices | can explode | predictable |
| Ownership | the vendor | you own code and infrastructure |
| Vendor lock-in | high | none |
Rule of thumb: the tipping point is where per-device licence fees exceed the one-off development cost over the years. With many devices that point is reached quickly.
The third way: open-source stack, self-operated
Between ready-made SaaS and fully custom development there is a third way, and it is often the most economical: an open stack that you operate yourself. Instead of monthly per-device licence fees, you pay for infrastructure and operation, without lock-in.
Open-source base
ThingsBoard, Grafana, Node-RED or ChirpStack, set up cleanly and operated on your own EU infrastructure. Quick to launch, yet no licence per device.
Fully custom
Where standard building blocks are not enough, we build the frontend and backend ourselves, tailored exactly to your business logic, not a tool wrapper.
Both run on infrastructure you control, in the EU. Want standard functionality but do not want to operate it yourself? Then we run it for you as ThingsBoard managed hosting.
Decision guide
Custom pays off when one of these points applies:
- You want to serve your own customers on the platform.
- You need your own branding and your own domain (white-label).
- You want to handle billing yourself.
- You run many devices and per-device licence costs hurt.
- You need data sovereignty, in the EU, on your own infrastructure.
- Your business logic fits no standard schema.
None of these apply? Then stay with SaaS and save your budget for what really moves your business forward.
Still unsure? Let's talk for 30 minutes.
In a paid discovery (fixed price 1,500 €) we clarify honestly whether custom is worth it for you, or whether a SaaS serves you better. The result is yours, even without a follow-up.
Prefer standard, but operated for you? See ThingsBoard managed hosting
FAQ: build or buy
Let's discuss your infrastructure. Digital and on-site.
Whether it's IoT platform development, hardware selection, managed hosting for ChirpStack, ThingsBoard, Grafana or NetBird VPN, or migration from a self-hosted setup - we'll find the right solution for your use case. Book a free 30-minute consultation, no commitment required.
Your contact
Timo Wevelsiep
Founder, merkaio
15 minutes, no commitment, directly with Timo.