Custom CRMs built on Frappe: your business model, your brand, your infrastructure.
Open-source vertical CRMs that fit your industry the way Salesforce can't.
Built with our custom UI layer so the experience looks like your software, not Frappe's. Deployed on your servers. No per-seat fees, no vendor lock-in, you own the source code.
We've shipped both. Here's when Frappe wins.
Frappe is an open-source Python framework built around the same problem Salesforce solves: structured business objects, permissions, workflows, REST APIs, reporting, audit trails. The difference is what you get at the end.
With Salesforce: you build on someone else's platform. You pay monthly forever. You operate under their data model. You can leave, but the work doesn't come with you.
With Frappe: you build on a stack you fully own. One-time build cost. Your data model, your code, your deployment. If you ever fire us, you take everything with you: code, database, AI models, all of it.
We've shipped both. 300+ Salesforce projects over 15 years. Two productized vertical CRMs on Frappe (Logan for trucking insurance, FullServicePro for restoration franchises). The point isn't that Frappe wins universally. It doesn't. The point is that for the right kind of business, Frappe is dramatically better than buyers usually realize.
Why our Frappe builds don't look like Frappe.
Out-of-the-box Frappe has a functional but generic UI. It looks like a back-office admin tool. That's fine for internal systems. It's not fine when you're shipping a customer-facing product.
We built our own UI layer on top of Frappe: Vue components, custom design system, the works. The Frappe back end stays (the structured data, the permissions, the API, the workflow engine, all the stuff Frappe does well). The front end is whatever you need it to look like.
Example: Logan looks like a modern SaaS product. ScriptShop has a checkout flow that branches on prescription rules. FullServicePro has a mobile crew app that works offline. None of these look like Frappe. All of them are powered by Frappe.
The most common objection to Frappe, “but it looks like Frappe”, is something we solved a long time ago.
“Salesforce is faster” is mostly a myth.
When someone says “Salesforce is faster to deploy,” they're comparing the wrong thing:
- Salesforce out-of-the-box: basic Sales Cloud, no customization, 4 weeks
- vs. custom Frappe: your specific business, full build, 14 weeks
Almost nobody actually ships Salesforce out-of-the-box. Every Salesforce project we've ever delivered has 6–12 weeks of configuration work: custom fields, custom objects, validation rules, Apex code, Flows, integrations, custom Lightning components, third-party app installs.
The honest comparison is:
| Salesforce | Frappe (with us) | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to ship | 12–16 weeks | 12–16 weeks |
| Per-user fees forever | Yes ($150–$300/seat/mo) | No |
| Source code | Theirs (configured) | Yours |
| Where it runs | Salesforce's cloud | Your servers |
| If you fire us | You keep configured org + ongoing fees | You keep everything: code, data, infra |
| UI flexibility | Lightning component framework limits | Anything (custom Vue layer) |
When each one wins: deep version.
Salesforce is the right call when
- You need the AppExchange ecosystem (7,000+ pre-built apps + integrations + partner network).
- Your team already knows Salesforce. Continuity matters more than the savings.
- Your industry defaults to Salesforce. Partners share data via Salesforce, customers expect Salesforce-native integrations.
- You have under 50 users. Per-seat pricing genuinely isn't painful at $90k/year.
- You need standard CRM workflows. Sales pipeline, support tickets, basic account management. Salesforce has 25 years of building these out.
Frappe is the right call when
- Your workflows are highly custom. Insurance carrier matching, restoration dispatch + claims paperwork, prescription routing, multi-location franchise ops: cases where Salesforce becomes a 60% fit.
- You're scaling past 100 users. $300/seat × 200 users × 12 = $720k/year. A one-time Frappe build at $200k–$400k pays for itself in Year 2.
- You need to deploy on your own infrastructure. Data residency, sovereignty, on-prem mandates: Frappe runs anywhere. Salesforce only runs on Salesforce's cloud.
- You want AI agents trained on your data, stored with you. When your AI lives inside Salesforce, your data trains Salesforce's models.
- You're building greenfield. New CRM, new business unit, new vertical product. Without legacy Salesforce, Frappe is often the cleaner start.
- You want full source code ownership. For acquirers, regulated firms, IP-sensitive industries, this is non-negotiable.
The 60-second test
If your CRM needs are mostly core sales/service workflows with standard integrations → start with Salesforce. We're happy to build it. See Salesforce + AI.
If your CRM needs are deeply industry-specific (you can list 5 things Salesforce won't let you do cleanly), or you're past the customization tipping point → consider Frappe. We'll show you the cost comparison upfront.
If you're not sure, that's what the free 30-min audit is for. We've talked plenty of buyers into staying on Salesforce when it was the right call.
Three Frappe patterns.
Vertical CRM
Industry-specific CRM where Salesforce's data model doesn't fit. Example: Logan (trucking insurance) has carrier appetite trees, ACORD form generation, e-sig routing. None of these map cleanly to Sales Cloud Account-Contact-Opportunity. Frappe lets us model the actual domain.
White-labeled SaaS for clients
When you want to sell software to your customers (productize your operations into a SaaS), Frappe is a great foundation. Multi-tenant support, theming, custom branding, white-labeling, all built in.
Multi-location / franchise ops
Frappe's permissions + multi-tenancy work well for businesses with location hierarchies. Example: FullServicePro handles 50+ franchise locations with shared customers + per-franchise ops.
Both flavors of CRM, shipped.
Logan
Multi-LLM AI agent system + 16-carrier matching + ACORD generation + ZeboSign e-sig + Vue frontend. In production.
Read the case studyFullServicePro
White-labeled vertical CRM. Dispatch, claims paperwork, mobile crew app, franchise ops dashboards. In active production.
Read the case studyPro Trade Solutions
When Salesforce is the right call, we ship Salesforce. Pro Trade's 162 Apex classes + 31 LWCs + AppExchange integrations + Experience Cloud sites made Salesforce the right answer.
Read the case studySame 4-step process.
Common questions.
Considering Frappe? Let's run the numbers.
Free 30-min architecture call. Tell us your business model, your user count, your current CRM (or lack thereof). We'll show you the year-by-year cost comparison and tell you honestly whether Frappe, Salesforce, or something else fits.