Four ways to get an exchange, what each one costs you later, and what a complete platform actually contains.
Most comparisons of exchange software compare features. Features are the easy part — every serious platform has spot trading and a wallet.
What separates them is the delivery model, and that is the decision you cannot reverse cheaply. This page covers the four models, then what a complete platform contains so you can check any of them against it.
The four models
Every exchange platform on the market is one of these. The differences show up after launch, not before.
- SaaS — you rent access; the vendor hosts, updates and controls it. Fastest, and you never own it.
- White label — branded for you, usually still hosted and licensed by the vendor. Fast, with a recurring dependency.
- Full source — the codebase is delivered and deployed on your infrastructure. Slower to evaluate, no vendor lock.
- In-house build — total control, and a multi-year programme across matching, wallets, compliance and operations before you have a product.
What a complete platform contains
A checklist to hold any vendor against, including us. Missing pieces here become projects later.
- Spot trading — order book, market/limit/stop-limit, charts, market management
- Derivatives — futures and options, if your market wants them
- P2P with escrow and dispute handling
- Wallet infrastructure across multiple chains, with deposit detection and withdrawal controls
- KYC, 2FA and role-based admin access
- Monetization — fee tiers, VIP, referrals, staking, launchpad
- An operator panel that runs users, markets, assets, fees and liquidity
- Monitoring for every background service, and reporting you can export
- Public and private APIs
The costs that arrive later
Purchase price is the visible number. These are the ones that decide total cost.
- Recurring licence, or its absence
- Whether your data sits on shared infrastructure
- Whether changing business logic needs vendor approval
- What a migration would cost if you outgrow the arrangement
- Which third parties you still pay — servers, KYC, payments, liquidity
The four models, side by side
| Model | What it costs you after launch |
|---|---|
| SaaS | A recurring fee that scales with your success, and no exit that is not a rebuild |
| White label (hosted) | Vendor approval for material change, and a migration project if you leave |
| Full source (Javizen) | Server and third-party costs only; no licence, no approval, nothing to migrate off |
| Build in-house | A permanent engineering team, and 18–36 months before you have a product to sell |
Questions you might have
Which model is Javizen?
Full source. The Full Suite is $24,900 one-time, deployed on your infrastructure, with the code delivered.
Is full source slower to launch than SaaS?
Not materially. Deployment, configuration and training are part of the delivery. What takes longer is your own evaluation, which is the point.
What if we want to build in-house later?
You already hold the code. Most teams that go this way bring it in-house after handover rather than rebuilding.
See the stack before you shortlist
A private demo walks the platform with someone who deploys it. It is the fastest way to find out whether this is the right shape for your business.