Build vs Buy Analyzer

    2

    Transform "gut feeling" into data-driven build-vs-buy decisions with TCO estimates and risk analysis.

    $12

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    Works with the AI tools you already use

    Claude CodeClaude CodeCursorCursorCodex CLICodex CLIMuseMuseDotsDots+22 more

    build-vs-buy-analyzer

    Example session with this skill installed

    Considering whether to build our own email delivery system or use SendGrid. We're a 4-person SaaS startup, sending about 50k transactional emails/month. Engineering rate ~$120/hr. Our product has nothing special about email — it just needs to get sent.

    • Read your context and instructions
    • Compiled the build-vs-buy-analyzer

    BUILD-VS-BUY DECISION RECORD
    ════════════════════════════════════════
    Component: Transactional email delivery
    Decision: BUY
    Confidence: HIGH
    ════════════════════════════════════════

    SCORECARD
    ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
    Criterion Weight Score Weighted Rationale
    Core Competency 20% 1 0.20 Email delivery is not the product; it's infrastructure
    Strategic Differentiation 20% 1 0.20 No competitive edge from custom SMTP handling
    Total Cost of Ownership 15% 2 0.30 Build requires DKIM/SPF, bounce handling, IP warmup — months of work
    Time to Market 15% 1 0.15 SendGrid API is 1 day to integrate; building is 6–8 weeks minimum
    Integration Complexity 10% 1 0.10 REST API, SDK available, drop-in for all major languages
    Vendor Lock-in Risk 10% 2 0.20 Email APIs are commodity; switching to Postmark/SES takes < 1 week
    Team Capability 5% 2 0.10 Team could build it, but it's not a good use of 4 engineers
    Long-term Maintenance 5% 1 0.05 Team wants zero maintenance on deliverability infrastructure
    ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
    WEIGHTED TOTAL: 1.3 / 5.0

    Threshold: < 2.5 = BUY | 2.5–3.5 = HYBRID | > 3.5 = BUILD

    3-YEAR TCO ESTIMATE
    ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
    [... abbreviated ...]

    Connects securely to your tools. The creator never sees your data.

    What you get

    Compare self-hosting OSS vs. using a managed cloud service (SaaS)Justify engineering spend to stakeholders with 3-year TCO projectionsPerform vendor lock-in analysis for critical infrastructure componentsDecide whether to build custom internal tools or buy off-the-shelf softwareShould I build this or use a third-party service?Make vs buy decision for my auth / payments / search / email systemIs it worth building our own [component]?

    About this skill

    Stop Gueesing, Start Analyzing

    Every engineering team eventually asks: "Should we build this in-house or pay for a service?" Most of the time, the answer is based on gut feeling or developer preference. The Build-vs-Buy Analyzer replaces intuition with a structured, data-driven framework designed by senior engineering strategists.

    How it Works

    This skill guides your AI agent through a rigorous 8-point inspection—covering core competency, TCO, time-to-market, and vendor lock-in. It doesn't just give you a "yes" or "no"; it provides a scored Decision Record including a 3-year TCO comparison and a prioritized risk mitigation plan.

    Key Features

    • Weighted Scoring: Evaluates 8 critical criteria from 1-5 to determine if a project is Build, Buy, or Hybrid.
    • 3-Year TCO Modeling: Automatically calculates engineering hours, maintenance, infrastructure, and licensing costs.
    • Risk & Mitigation: Identifies top 3 risks for each path (e.g., IP reputation for email, vendor price hikes).
    • Actionable Roadmap: Concludes with three concrete next steps to move from decision to implementation.

    Professional Output

    The output is a formatted Decision Record ready to be dropped into your internal documentation (ADRs), presented to stakeholders, or shared in a Slack channel to align the team.

    How to install

    Works the same in every agent - Claude, Cursor, Codex, Copilot and 20+ more.

    ~30 seconds
    1. 1

      Download the ZIP

      Free skills download straight away. Paid skills unlock right after purchase.

    2. 2

      Unzip into your skills folder

      Every agent reads skills from one folder on your machine. Drop the unzipped folder in there.

    3. 3

      Ask your agent to use it

      Restart the agent if it was already running. It picks the skill up automatically - no config needed.

    Skills folder by agent

    Click the path to copy it. Create the folder if it does not exist yet.

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    Security scanned

    Verified clean 4 months ago

    • Passed all security checks, Safe to install

    Listed4 months ago

    What's inside

    Frequently Asked Questions