Build vs Buy Analyzer
by Julian
Transform "gut feeling" into data-driven build-vs-buy decisions with TCO estimates and risk analysis.
- Compare self-hosting OSS vs. using a managed cloud service (SaaS)
- Justify engineering spend to stakeholders with 3-year TCO projections
- Perform vendor lock-in analysis for critical infrastructure components
$12
· or 60 creditsSecure checkout via Stripe
Included in download
- Compare self-hosting OSS vs. using a managed cloud service (SaaS)
- Justify engineering spend to stakeholders with 3-year TCO projections
- file_write, file_read automation included
- Ready for Works with VS Code
Building AI skills that encode proven frameworks. Each skill distills industry standards into triggerable workflows for…
See it in action
You say
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.
Your agent does
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 ...]
Build vs Buy Analyzer
by Julian
Transform "gut feeling" into data-driven build-vs-buy decisions with TCO estimates and risk analysis.
$12
· or 60 creditsSecure checkout via Stripe
Also available in a bundle
Included in download
- Compare self-hosting OSS vs. using a managed cloud service (SaaS)
- Justify engineering spend to stakeholders with 3-year TCO projections
- file_write, file_read automation included
- Ready for Works with VS Code
- Instant install
See it in action
You say
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.
Your agent does
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 ...]
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.
Use Cases
- Compare self-hosting OSS vs. using a managed cloud service (SaaS)
- Justify engineering spend to stakeholders with 3-year TCO projections
- Perform vendor lock-in analysis for critical infrastructure components
- Decide whether to build custom internal tools or buy off-the-shelf software
- Should I build this or use a third-party service?
- Make vs buy decision for my auth / payments / search / email system
- Is it worth building our own [component]?
Known Limitations
Highly regulated industry (healthcare, finance):: Open-source alternative exists (no licensing cost): OSS tools lower the Buy TCO significantly but add hidden maintenance costs (security patches, version upgrades, self-hosting).
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Permissions
Works with VS Code/GitHub Copilot, Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Google Antigravity, Claude Code, and any agent supporting the AgentSkills open standard. Install at .agents/skills/build-vs-buy-analyzer/SKILL.md.
Creator
Building AI skills that encode proven frameworks. Each skill distills industry standards into triggerable workflows for developers and founders. I package battle-tested mental models into AI skills. Hope you like my skills. Much love from Germany, Julian <3
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