Purchase price is the number vendors compete on. This compares the four delivery models on what they cost by year three, which is a different ranking.
Every comparison of exchange software compares features and purchase price. Both are the wrong lens, because the models diverge after launch, not at it.
Below are the cost lines that actually differ between the four models. The numbers you fill in are yours — we are not going to invent a competitor's pricing — but the lines are the same for everyone, and most comparisons omit half of them.
The cost lines that differ
Copy these into your own comparison. A vendor who cannot answer one of them has answered it.
- Purchase or setup fee — the number on the proposal
- Recurring licence — monthly, annual, or a percentage of volume
- Hosting — theirs (bundled, invisible, unavoidable) or yours (visible, controllable)
- Change requests — billed, queued, or done by your own team
- Modules added later — included, or priced per module
- Engineering headcount required to keep it running
- Exit cost — migration, downtime, and rebuilding what does not move
Where each model gets expensive
Not at the same time, which is why year one comparisons mislead.
- SaaS — year two onward, and faster the better you do
- Hosted white label — at the first material change request, and again at exit
- Full source — up front; the purchase is the largest single line
- In-house — continuously, in salary, for eighteen months before revenue
The line most comparisons omit
Exit cost is rarely quoted and is often the largest number in the table.
- What it costs to move users, balances and history
- How much downtime the cutover requires, with funds on the platform
- What has to be rebuilt because it does not transfer
- Whether your contract permits an export at all
Where each model's cost sits
| Cost line | Full source (Javizen) |
|---|---|
| Purchase | $24,900 one-time |
| Recurring licence | None |
| Hosting | Your own — you pay it and you control it |
| Change requests | Your team, or scoped to us; never queued behind a vendor's roadmap |
| Modules later | Futures, Options, P2P and Prop Trading already included |
| Engineering required | Whatever you choose; the platform runs without a dedicated team |
| Exit cost | None — you already hold the code |
Questions you might have
Why not compare named competitors?
Because we would be describing other companies' pricing and terms from the outside, and we would get it wrong in our own favour. The lines above let you compare accurately using their own numbers.
Is full source always cheapest?
No. Over one year, SaaS is usually cheaper. The crossover is normally in year two, and it depends on your volume.
What is not in the $24,900?
Servers, third-party providers, liquidity, licensing, and custom development beyond standard configuration.
Bring your other quotes
The most useful demo is one where you have someone else's proposal in front of you. Ask us the same questions you asked them.