Build vs. Buy: Why Open Source Is Emerging as the Smarter Third Option

Should your enterprise settle for a ready-made software solution or invest resources to build a custom one from scratch? This classic build vs. buy dilemma has vexed CIOs and CTOs for decades. Off-the-shelf platforms promise speed and convenience, while in-house builds offer tailored control, yet both come with significant trade-offs.

In an era where digital agility and differentiation are paramount, simply choosing between building or buying may no longer be sufficient. Many forward-thinking enterprises are now embracing a powerful third option: open source.

By leveraging open-source platforms, organizations can blend the benefits of custom-built software (control, flexibility) with the advantages of off-the-shelf solutions (ready-made functionality, community-driven reliability).

In the discussion that follows, we’ll explore:

• The build vs. buy quandary facing modern enterprises
• Open source as the strategic “best of both worlds” alternative
• Real-world examples—from GitLab and PostHog, to Webiny’s own clients like Siemens and MotorTrend
• The specific advantages of open source within CMS platforms like Webiny, where agility, control, and extensibility are business-critical

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1. The Build vs. Buy Dilemma in Enterprise IT

Build or buy? For modern enterprises, that question is no longer enough, especially when it comes to complex systems like CMS.

Pros & Cons at a Glance:

Option	Pros	Cons
Buy	Quick to deploy, vendor support	Limited customization, high lock-in
Build	Full control, tailored features	High cost, long time-to-value
Open Source	Flexible, extensible, no lock-in	Requires internal capability, support varies

For years, enterprise leaders have weighed the pros and cons of building software in-house versus buying off-the-shelf solutions.

Buying a commercial or SaaS product (like Contentful or Sanity) often means faster deployment, less up-front development effort, and access to vendor support. However, packaged solutions rarely fit like a glove. You might get 80% of what you need but find that the remaining 20% requires awkward workarounds.

On the other hand, building a custom solution offers a perfect fit and full control over features and the roadmap. Yet this comes with a high price tag and maintenance burden.

The reality? Most enterprises can’t afford to reinvent every wheel. Even in-house builds rely on frameworks or existing tools.

The build vs. buy question is evolving. With the rise of open-source and cloud-native technologies, enterprises are discovering a third path that mitigates the compromises of both approaches.

This shift is particularly relevant for CMS platforms, where the need to customize content workflows, ensure compliance, and integrate with evolving marketing stacks makes rigid SaaS platforms increasingly unsustainable.

Read our guide “Choosing the Best Enterprise CMS for Your Business”

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2. Off-the-Shelf Solutions: Quick Wins and Long-Term Trade-Offs

Off-the-shelf software, including SaaS CMS platforms, can deliver immediate functionality, vendor support, and speed to market. But these advantages often come with significant trade-offs:

Common Limitations:

• Vendor Lock-In:
  Once your workflows and data are embedded, switching becomes expensive and risky. Many providers raise prices annually with little recourse.

• Rigid Architectures:
  You’re bound to the vendor’s roadmap. Custom features or integrations may be unsupported or require costly workarounds.

• Compliance Risks:
  In regulated sectors, shared infrastructure and opaque data handling can prevent compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, and other laws.

I cover the above in greater detail in my article “Headless CMS: The Hype, the Reality, The Mis-Sold Dream.”

The reality is that these challenges are not centred around a specific industry, but experienced across the board. For all the benefits that off-the-shelf solutions provide, challenges always seem to boil down to owning one’s data and flexibility.

Real-World CMS Challenges:

• Regional rollout limitations:
  A global retail brand I recently spoke with couldn’t implement region-specific content strategies due to rigid content models in their SaaS CMS. The result? Delayed launches, bloated workflows, and mounting governance complexity.

• Compliance shortcomings:
  In a recent meeting, a multinational healthcare provider shared how their SaaS CMS failed to meet GDPR and HIPAA standards due to shared infrastructure. They had to make a costly pivot late in the project to regain data control.

What this tells us:

When it comes to CMS, rigidity and lack of control aren’t just technical annoyances; they have real-world business consequences. From compliance risk to delayed time-to-market, off-the-shelf platforms often fail to meet the nuanced demands of enterprise-scale content operations.

That’s why more organizations are rethinking their approach and turning to open, composable platforms that can adapt to them, not the other way around.

Off-the-shelf CMS tools may work for generic use cases. But for enterprises that need agility, control, and compliance, this often results in long-term constraints that are hard to shake off. So what's next? Does this mean that a custom build is the best option?

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3. Building In-House: Ultimate Control Meets Complexity

Building a software solution from scratch offers the promise of total control. You get to define every feature, integrate deeply with internal systems, and avoid vendor-imposed constraints.

For CMS applications that play a central role in the digital experience, this level of control can be appealing.

However, in-house development is rarely fast or inexpensive. Even foundational capabilities, like user permissions, content modeling, or multilingual support, must be built and maintained. That’s time and effort diverted from strategic innovation.

Even the biggest tech companies avoid reinventing the wheel. Giants like Amazon and Google build atop open-source platforms because it’s faster, safer, and smarter.

The Hybrid Strategy That Works:

Start with an open-source CMS and customize only where it counts. This lets you:

• Accelerate time-to-market
• Retain full control over architecture and data
• Focus your team on solving differentiated, high-value problems

Case in point: Siemens considered every major CMS on the market, including building their own, before choosing Webiny. They needed control, customization, and scalability. Webiny gave them all three, with the added benefit of an open-source foundation they could extend without constraint.

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4. Open Source: A Powerful Third Path Emerges

Open source blends the best aspects of building and buying. You get robust, production-ready functionality without lock-in, and the flexibility to adapt the platform to your specific needs.

Why it works:

• You own the code and the roadmap
  There’s no need to wait on vendor release cycles or submit feature requests into a black hole. You define the future of the platform based on your business priorities—not someone else’s.
• You can host and scale it your way
  Deploy on your own infrastructure, choose your preferred cloud environment, and meet compliance requirements on your terms. This is especially powerful for enterprises managing sensitive data or operating across regulated markets.
• You customize only where needed
  Start with a solid foundation and extend it to match your unique requirements—whether that’s editorial workflows, localization rules, or security protocols. You don’t reinvent the wheel, just retool it to fit.

Enterprises increasingly embrace this path. Examples include:

• GitLab: Used by Goldman Sachs and Ticketmaster to meet security and customization requirements
• PostHog: Self-hosted analytics that avoids data lock-in
• Supabase: An open-source Firebase alternative growing rapidly among enterprises

And in the CMS space, Webiny combines enterprise-grade tooling with an open-source core, making it the ideal starting point for composable, scalable digital experiences.

Case in point: MotorTrend replatformed its entire digital publishing stack using Webiny. The platform’s serverless architecture let them scale effortlessly, and its extensibility ensured editorial workflows could be customized without friction.

As CMS challenges evolve, open-source foundations give enterprises a way to move faster and smarter, without settling for generic features or black-box infrastructure.

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5. Debunking the Top Myths Around Open Source Platforms

Despite growing adoption, open source still suffers from outdated misconceptions, especially in boardroom discussions. But the reality is very different. Below, we unpack the truth behind some of the most common concerns:

Is open source secure enough for enterprise use?

Yes. Open-source code is publicly visible, which means bugs and vulnerabilities are often found and patched faster by the community. This peer-reviewed model reduces “security by obscurity” risks.

Doesn’t open source mean no support if something breaks?

Not at all. Many open-source platforms (like Webiny) offer commercial support, SLAs, onboarding, and dedicated engineering assistance, just like proprietary vendors.

Is open source really ready for enterprise-scale applications?

Absolutely. Open source powers mission-critical systems at companies like Netflix, Siemens, and Goldman Sachs. From Kubernetes to Webiny, these platforms are trusted to scale and perform.

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6. Toward a Composable, Open Future

Modern enterprise IT is shifting from monolithic systems to composable architectures. This model values:

• Modularity
• API-first design
• Open ecosystems

While the MACH Alliance promotes this vision, its execution leaves much to be desired. Too often, the alliance has become more about marketing and less about empowering enterprises with true flexibility. In practice, MACH certification sometimes reinforces centralization and vendor rigidity under the guise of composability. More on this in a later article!

Instead, pragmatic enterprises are choosing tools that integrate well, offer true control, and are open by design, regardless of whether they bear the MACH label.

Example: A flexible open CMS stack might include Webiny for content, Meilisearch for search, PostHog for analytics, and Stripe for commerce, all integrated via APIs. This composable model evolves as new needs arise, without a full replatform or rigid vendor mandates.

Industry analysts, including myself, predict that composable, open architectures will become the norm. Enterprises like Siemens, Sony, and MotorTrend are already leveraging platforms like Webiny to move faster and innovate freely.

The enterprise software landscape is shifting toward openness, not just in licensing but also in architecture. Composable systems, built from interoperable components, are enabling businesses to adapt rapidly to changing demands.

Forward-looking enterprises are prioritizing:

• Architectural Agility: No more monoliths. Instead, best-in-class services plugged into a modular stack.

• Vendor Independence: Build solutions around your business, not around someone else's roadmap.

• Developer Empowerment: Use platforms that teams can inspect, extend, and trust.

This is especially evident in the CMS space, where enterprise needs range from custom editorial workflows to global localization and omnichannel delivery. A composable, serverless, open-source CMS like Webiny makes it possible to adapt and innovate without limitations.

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Conclusion

The traditional “build vs. buy” debate is outdated. Modern enterprises need solutions that offer speed, control, extensibility, and transparency. The real question is: do you want to own your software destiny, or stay locked into someone else’s?

Open-source, serverless CMS platforms like Webiny offer:

• The out-of-the-box features of a SaaS tool

• The customizability of in-house builds

• The flexibility and security of self-hosted infrastructure

• The reassurance of commercial-grade support when needed

This isn’t just a new model, it’s a new mindset. Enterprises are no longer asking “Should we build or buy?” They’re asking, “What’s our open-source strategy?”

In the race to innovate, open source gives you the foundation to build fast, the freedom to scale smart, and the flexibility to break free from vendor control. Companies embracing this third option aren’t settling, they’re leading.

Webiny embodies this new reality. As a modern, open-source CMS built for extensibility, compliance, and performance at scale, Webiny provides a foundation that lets enterprises innovate on their terms, without lock-in or compromise.

The future of enterprise software is open. Organizations ready to embrace this shift will be the ones that innovate faster, scale smarter, and lead their markets.

That’s the open-source advantage. Are you ready to take the third option?