When replacing a spreadsheet, you need to decide who will look after the finished app. We can continue running it for you, or your business can own it and take over.
This is not simply a choice between a monthly payment and a one-off invoice. It decides who keeps the app online, handles backups, maintains it, supports users and makes future changes.
What you receive with a Fully Managed App
A managed app is a continuing service. Staff use it through a browser while we keep it online and working. You do not need to arrange hosting or find someone to install fixes.
Spreadsheet Upgrade offers three Fully Managed Apps with a 12-month initial term:
- Essentials is £149 per month: designed for one person using one focused workflow, with faster data entry, automatic calculations and small improvements handled one at a time
- Business is £399 per month: designed for up to five people sharing one operational workflow with the same access level, shared records and dashboards
- Scale is £699 per month: designed for larger teams using multiple workflows, roles and access permissions, with integrations and greater delivery capacity
All three include the agreed first build, suitable hosting, backups, maintenance, security fixes and support. Third-party subscriptions, paid integrations, usage charges, upgraded infrastructure, licences and similar external costs require approval and are billed separately. Scale provides more capacity for integration work, not the external services themselves.
That arrangement suits businesses that want a working app without becoming responsible for running it. It also provides a clear regular cost.
Your business still decides who should have access, uses the system properly and remains responsible for the information it holds. We handle the day-to-day running of the app.
How ongoing changes are handled
Some processes are likely to keep changing after launch. A new customer may require an extra field, the operations team may want a different queue, or a report may need to reflect a revised management process.
Requests may be submitted freely, but work is completed one request at a time in priority order. Larger changes can be split into stages so that useful parts are delivered in a sensible sequence.
We work on one request at a time rather than several changes at once. Your business controls the priorities without needing a separate quote for every small improvement.
What changes when you own the finished app
Own the Finished App starts at £10,000 as a one-time purchase. Once the agreed app and handover are complete, your team receives everything needed to run and change it. Your business then becomes responsible for keeping it online and maintained.
The customer therefore needs a credible answer to questions such as:
- Where will the app be kept online?
- Who will install updates and fix downtime?
- Who will handle security updates?
- Who will make and test future changes?
- How will backups be managed and restored?
Those jobs can be handled by your own team or another supplier. They do not disappear when you buy the app.
Ownership gives your business direct control of the app and its future. It may matter when company policy requires ownership or an established development team needs freedom to change it. Without that team, ownership can create extra responsibility without much practical benefit.
Comparing the cost properly
The monthly and ownership prices are not directly equivalent because they include different responsibilities.
With a Fully Managed App, the regular fee pays for an app that we continue to run. With Own the Finished App, the one-time price pays for the agreed build and handover, but your business then pays the ongoing hosting, maintenance and support costs.
A useful comparison should cover the expected period of use and include:
- the app fee
- hosting and backup costs
- routine maintenance
- support when users encounter problems
- bug investigation and releases
- planned feature work
- the management time needed to coordinate each of these
No model is automatically cheaper. A capable internal team may absorb ownership efficiently. A smaller business may find that hosted responsibility is both clearer and less distracting.
Ownership also brings responsibility
Owning the app gives you control, but you still need people who can safely run, maintain and change it.
Using a Fully Managed App does not mean giving up control. Before going ahead, you should understand what we run, what support is included, how you can receive your data and how requested changes are handled.
The app still needs a clear plan under either option. The questions covered in what a spreadsheet app project includes do not change based on who looks after it.
Which arrangement usually fits?
A Fully Managed App is often the practical fit when:
- the business has no team to run and maintain software
- the priority is to improve the work, not run the technology behind it
- predictable monthly responsibility is useful
- the process is expected to evolve through a continuing sequence of improvements
Ownership deserves serious consideration when:
- the business already has people who can run and maintain the app
- owning the app files is a company or contract requirement
- the app must become part of a wider system your business already runs
- the organisation is prepared to manage future technical work
It is an operating decision, not a judgement about which option is more substantial.
The pricing page summarises the plans. If you are unsure which option fits, the paid £295 assessment includes a recommendation. The full fee is credited before VAT if you go ahead.