Comparison
Buy vs build a SharePoint intranet
Total control and a long project, or a finished intranet in days. The honest trade-offs.
Every SharePoint intranet project starts with the same fork in the road: build it in-house from standard SharePoint, or buy a ready-made solution that runs on the same platform. Building gives you total control but means a multi-month project plus ongoing maintenance. Buying — for example with intranet.ai — gives you a finished intranet with 80+ features in days, on a predictable budget, still inside your own Microsoft 365 tenant. Neither is automatically right. This page lays out the real trade-offs in time, cost, risk and maintenance so you can decide with eyes open.
Buy vs build, side by side
Both result in a SharePoint intranet in your Microsoft 365 tenant. The path is what differs.
| Criterion | Build in-house | Buy (intranet.ai) |
|---|---|---|
| Time to launch | Months — discovery, design, development, testing, rollout. | ✓ Operational within 24 hours; configured in days. |
| Upfront cost | Internal time and/or a development project — typically tens of thousands. | ✓ From 3,950 €/year, configuration included. |
| Features available day one | Whatever you build first; the rest is backlog. | ✓ 80+ features ready from launch. |
| Maintenance burden | You own every fix, update and platform-change adaptation. | ✓ Maintained and updated by intranet.ai under the subscription. |
| Project risk | Higher — scope creep, delays, key-person dependency. | ✓ Lower — tested solution and method, predictable outcome. |
| Customization ceiling | Unlimited — build anything. | High and configurable, within a supported product. |
| Internal expertise required | SharePoint developers, designers, project management. | ✓ Minimal — intranet.ai's team configures and supports it. |
| Long-term ownership | Fully yours, including the maintenance debt. | Yours to use, with the maintenance handled for you. |
Which path fits your situation?
Build in-house if…
- You have a skilled SharePoint team with spare capacity.
- Your requirements are genuinely unique and bespoke.
- You can absorb a multi-month timeline and ongoing maintenance.
- Total customization outweighs time-to-value and cost predictability.
Buy intranet.ai if…
- You want a complete intranet live in days, not months.
- You want predictable cost and low project risk.
- You'd rather not build and maintain 80+ features yourself.
- You want to stay inside Microsoft 365 with expert support.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to build a SharePoint intranet myself?
Standard SharePoint is included in Microsoft 365, so building can look free — but the real cost is internal time or a development project, often tens of thousands plus ongoing maintenance. A ready-made solution like intranet.ai (from 3,950 €/year, configuration included) is usually cheaper in total cost and far more predictable.
What do I give up by buying instead of building?
Mainly unlimited bespoke customization. intranet.ai is highly configurable but within a supported product. For most organizations the 80+ ready features cover the need; truly unique requirements may favor a custom build.
Can I start with intranet.ai and customize later?
Yes. You get a complete intranet immediately and can configure content, branding and automations to your needs, with support from the intranet.ai team.
Who maintains the intranet after launch?
If you build in-house, your team maintains every customization and adapts to Microsoft 365 changes. With intranet.ai, features are maintained and updated as part of the subscription.
Does buying keep my data in my own tenant?
Yes. intranet.ai runs inside your Microsoft 365 tenant on SharePoint Online — nothing is moved out, and your permissions and compliance boundaries stay intact.
Related features
See intranet.ai in action
A ready-to-use SharePoint intranet, live in days. Book a free demo and see if it fits your project.
- 80+ apps for communication, training, and knowledge sharing
- Compatible with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Viva
- Operational within 24 hours from purchase, with 5 days of consulting