Build vs Buy

Build it yourself?
Do the math.

Building social integrations in-house costs more than you think. See what it really takes — then compare it to SocialRouter.

The hidden costs of DIY.

Every social platform is its own integration project. Here's what you're signing up for.

OAuth per platform

Each platform has a unique OAuth flow, token format, and refresh cycle. Twitter uses OAuth 2.0 PKCE, LinkedIn uses 3-legged OAuth, Meta requires app review. Budget 1–2 weeks per platform just for auth.

Platform review

Meta and TikTok require formal app review before you can go live. Expect 2–8 weeks of back-and-forth, documentation, and compliance checks.

API maintenance

Social APIs change constantly. Twitter’s API has had 3 major versions. Each deprecation means emergency dev work to keep your integrations alive.

Media processing

Each platform has different image size limits, video codecs, aspect ratios, and file size caps. You need a processing pipeline per platform.

Rate limits & retries

Every platform throttles differently. You need per-platform rate limiting, exponential backoff, retry queues, and dead-letter handling.

Ongoing monitoring

Token expirations, API outages, quota exhaustion, platform policy changes — someone has to be on call for all of it.

Calculate your real cost.

Adjust the sliders to match your situation. The numbers speak for themselves.

Number of platforms5 platforms
1 platform13 platforms
Developer hourly rate€100/hr
€50/hr€250/hr

Assumes 8 weeks per platform for initial build (research, OAuth, API, media, testing, platform review).

Assumes 3 weeks per platform per year for maintenance (API changes, token issues, rate limit updates).

Build it yourself

Initial build€160,000
Annual maintenance€60,000
Year 1 total€220,000

Use SocialRouter

Starter plan (€198/mo)€2,376/yr

You save

€217,624

in Year 1 alone

Side by side.

What you get when you stop building plumbing and start shipping product.

Time to first post

DIY: 2–4 months
SR: Under 1 hour

Platforms supported

DIY: As many as you build
SR: 13 (and growing)

OAuth & token management

DIY: You build and maintain
SR: Fully managed

Platform review process

DIY: You handle per platform
SR: Already approved

Media processing

DIY: Custom pipeline needed
SR: Built-in

Rate limiting & retries

DIY: Manual implementation
SR: Automatic

API version upgrades

DIY: Emergency dev work
SR: Seamless

Uptime SLA

DIY: Your responsibility
SR: 99.9% available

Ongoing cost

DIY: Senior dev salary + infra
SR: From €198/mo

Time to launch.

One path takes months. The other takes minutes.

Build it yourself

14 weeks per platform
2w
2w
3w
1w
2w
4w
Research (2w)
OAuth (2w)
API integration (3w)
Media pipeline (1w)
Testing & QA (2w)
Platform review (4w)

Use SocialRouter

Under 1 hour
Sign up → API key → Post
Time saved — ship your actual product instead
Total setup time: under 1 hour

Stop building. Start shipping.

Let us handle the social integrations so you can focus on what makes your product unique.