ROI TCO
Return on investment and total cost of ownership — whether building/buying pays off given build cost + ongoing ops vs value delivered.
Why we need this / what value this brings
Prevents 'build vs buy' from being decided on gut feeling when it's actually a cost comparison that can be made explicit.
When to use this
Before any significant build-vs-buy decision (custom auth vs Clerk, self-hosted vs managed DB).
How to use or implement this
Estimate build cost + ongoing maintenance cost vs vendor cost + lock-in risk, and write the comparison down even briefly.
Research questions
- Build-vs-buy calls Localz has already made (Clerk vs custom auth) — was the TCO math ever made explicit?
Empty folder — drop notes, links, and findings here as you research.