Build vs Buy Training ROI Calculator
By Oliver Wakefield-Smith, Founder, Digital Signet · Verified June 2026
The decision flips on three variables: headcount, vendor per-seat price, and contract horizon. The calculator below makes the breakeven visible.
Build vs Buy: which wins over your contract horizon?
Storyboard, build, QA. 60-120 hrs typical.
SME interviews + review. 20-60 hrs typical.
Articulate 360 ~$1,099, Adobe Captivate ~$33/mo, iSpring Suite ~$770.
Instructional designer loaded hourly. ~$70-$110 typical US.
SME loaded hourly. Engineering / leadership: ~$100-$200.
Updates, accuracy refresh, version bumps.
LinkedIn Learning $380, Pluralsight $399-$779, Udemy Business $360, custom enterprise $200-$600.
How many people get a seat / take the training?
Apples-to-apples comparison window. Most vendor deals run 1-3 years.
Note: this is direct-cost only. Indirect learner time at loaded salary is the same regardless of build vs buy (employees spend the hours either way), so it cancels out of the comparison. If you want the full per-employee realised cost number, use the cost per employee calculator.
What this calculator does NOT include
The calculator includes the labour and tool inputs you control directly. It deliberately omits:
- Indirect learner time at loaded salary. The same regardless of build vs buy - employees spend the hours either way. Including it would inflate both sides equally. Use the cost-per-employee-trained calculator for the full realised cost picture.
- Opportunity cost of ID / SME redirection. Instructional designers and SMEs aren't free - they have other work. The hours you allocate to a build are hours not spent elsewhere.
- Authoring tool sunk cost. If you already own an Articulate 360 or Captivate license, the marginal cost is lower than the calculator default.
- Legal / compliance review. Custom content often needs review for regulatory subjects (HIPAA, GDPR, SOX). Vendor content usually has this pre-cleared.
- Refresh cycle cost. Custom content needs refreshing as tools and regulations change. The annual-maintenance input captures this but the cycle is real and recurring.
- Vendor switching cost. Once you build, you own it. Vendor relationships have switching costs (data migration, retraining admin teams).
Most omissions favour the 'buy' side of the decision in practice. The calculator is therefore conservative on build cost - real build costs are typically higher than the calculator suggests.
Build vs buy decision framework
| Content type | Build or buy? | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Generic tech certifications (AWS, Azure, PMP, CISSP) | BUY | Vendor content (Skill Builder, Pluralsight, Udemy) amortises across millions of learners |
| Sales methodology training (MEDDIC, Challenger) | BUY | Vendor frameworks exist; building IP from scratch usually doesn't pay back |
| Compliance basics (HIPAA, GDPR, harassment) | BUY | Regulatory content tracked by vendors (Skillsoft, KnowBe4) at lower cost |
| Leadership development | HYBRID | Buy concept / framework training; build company-specific case studies |
| New-hire onboarding (your tools, culture) | BUILD | Vendor content can't teach your specific systems, terminology, processes |
| Product training (your product) | BUILD | No off-the-shelf content exists for your specific product |
| Proprietary methodology or IP | BUILD | Confidential / differentiation reason makes vendor content unusable |
Frequently asked questions
When does building training in-house beat buying?
In-house build wins when: (1) the programme is highly specific to your organisation (no off-the-shelf course exists), (2) headcount in scope is small enough that per-seat vendor costs don't accumulate to multi-six-figures, or (3) you have spare instructional design and SME capacity in-house. Most generic skills (sales, leadership, compliance basics, common tech certifications) are cheaper to buy at any reasonable scale because vendor content investment amortises across thousands of customers.
What does it cost to build a 1-hour eLearning module in-house?
Chapman Alliance's eLearning Cost-and-Time data (the industry-standard benchmark) places per-finished-hour cost in the $5,000 to $35,000 range depending on complexity, from basic Level-1 click-through to advanced Level-4 with simulation. CPI-adjusted to 2026, these ranges are 20-30% higher than the original Chapman data. Most corporate learning sits in the Level-2 to Level-3 band: $10,000-$25,000 per finished hour all-in.
What's NOT included in build cost in this calculator?
The calculator includes the labour and tool inputs you control. It does NOT include: indirect learner time at loaded salary (which is the same regardless of build vs buy, so it cancels out of the comparison), opportunity cost of redirecting instructional designers from other work, sunk cost of any existing authoring-tool licenses, or the cost of legal / compliance review for novel content. Most of these favour buy in practice.
Why doesn't the calculator include learner-time cost?
Because learner time is identical regardless of build vs buy - employees spend the hours either way. Including it would inflate both sides equally without changing the comparison. For the full per-employee realised cost including learner time, use the dedicated cost-per-employee-trained calculator on its own page.