Software guides
These guides exist because the same questions come up in almost every first conversation: what will it cost, should we buy something off the shelf instead, and how do we brief this so quotes are comparable? They're written from the buyer's side of the table — the same advice we'd give a friend commissioning software for the first time, including the situations where the honest answer is "don't build anything."
Start with the cost guide if you're budgeting, the bespoke vs off-the-shelf comparison if you're still deciding, and the brief-writing guide when you're ready to talk to developers.
More guides are on the way. If there's a question about commissioning software you'd like answered plainly, ask us — the best guides come from real questions.