What does an integration cost?

The price of an integration depends mainly on how many systems and data objects are involved, whether data flows in one or both directions and how good the systems' APIs are. At myInterface, a simple connection between two systems starts at €1,900 net, projects with several systems at €4,900 net, and operation at €149 per month.

On this page you will find the eight most important cost drivers, the common cost models compared, and a mental model for total cost over three years. At the end there is a checklist that makes quotes comparable.

What does the price of an integration depend on?

An integration is not an off-the-shelf product. Two projects with the same systems can involve very different amounts of work. These eight points determine the effort most strongly:

• 1. Number of systems

  Two systems are the simplest case. Every additional system brings its own access, data formats and tests. With three or more systems you also have to settle which system leads for which data.

• 2. Number of data objects

  Orders, invoices, customers, items, stock levels, payments: each object needs its own data mapping, its own rules and its own tests. One object is built quickly, five objects are a different project.

• 3. Direction of data flow

  If data flows only from A to B, the logic is manageable. A bidirectional integration adds conflict rules: what applies if the same record was changed in both systems?

• 4. API quality

  A well-documented API with a test environment saves time. Gaps in the documentation, tight rate limits or missing fields cost time. If a system has no API at all, the connection runs through files, a database or an export. That is feasible but needs more analysis.

• 5. Special logic

  Discounts, partial deliveries, credit notes, variants, differing tax rates, multiple currencies or channels. This is where ready-made connectors usually stop, and this is where most of the effort arises.

• 6. Data volume and frequency

  Ten orders a day make different demands than ten thousand. Large volumes need batch processing, attention to rate limits and more testing. Real time via webhooks is more complex than a sync once an hour.

• 7. Error handling

  What happens if a system is unreachable or a record is rejected? Retries, logs, notifications and protection against duplicate postings take development time. They decide whether the integration runs reliably day to day.

• 8. Operation

  After go-live, the integration needs hosting, monitoring and adjustments when a vendor changes its API. These costs arise every month and belong in every comparison.

What makes an integration cheaper, what makes it more expensive?

What cost models are there?

There are four common ways to get the same job done. They differ less in the price for the first month than in who carries the risk and what you own in the end.

In-house build by your own team

Your IT department or an in-house developer builds the integration. There is no invoice from outside, but there is internal working time that is missing elsewhere. The knowledge often rests with one person. If that person is out, the integration may well stand still.

Agency or freelancer at an hourly rate

Billing is by effort. That is flexible when the scope is still unclear. The risk of extra effort, however, is yours. Ask whether operation and adjustments after go-live are included and who owns the code.

iPaaS subscription (Zapier, Make, n8n, Power Automate)

You pay a monthly subscription that depends on usage. Zapier counts tasks: every successfully executed step of a workflow is one task. According to its pricing page, the Professional plan starts at US$19.99 per month with annual billing for 750 tasks per month (as of 20 Oct 2026). Make bills in credits, usually one credit per executed module. According to Microsoft, Power Automate Premium costs US$15 per user per month with annual billing (as of 20 Oct 2026). n8n can be self-hosted for free as the Community Edition. In that case you carry the server, updates and maintenance yourself. More in the guide Zapier alternative.

Ready-made connector or plugin

For many combinations there are apps and plugins at fixed monthly or one-time prices. They are set up quickly and often the cheapest solution as long as your case follows the standard. It gets expensive when you have to work around the limits of the plugin. When a connector is enough, you can read under Connector or custom integration.

What does an integration cost at myInterface?

We program direct integrations from system A to system B. No hub, no platform in between. The price is fixed in advance:

• Simple connection between two systems: from €1,900 net
• Projects with several systems: from €4,900 net
• Operation with hosting in Germany and monitoring: from €149 per month, cancellable monthly

Before the quote comes a free 30-minute integration check. After that you receive a fixed-price quote within 3 business days. Implementation usually takes 2 to 4 weeks. You own the code. We sign a data processing agreement (AVV) under the GDPR with you. How a project works is described under Process and pricing.

How do you calculate total cost over three years?

The price at the start says little. Quotes only become comparable when you look at the cost over a longer period. Three years is a good frame, because in that time at least one of the systems involved usually changes.

The mental model:

Total cost = one-time cost + 36 × ongoing monthly cost + internal time + adjustments + cost of outages

• One-time cost: development, setup, tests, data migration.
• Ongoing monthly cost: subscription, license, hosting or operation contract. For usage-based plans, calculate with the volume you expect in three years, not today's.
• Internal time: who maintains the workflows, checks errors and corrects data by hand? These hours also arise with cheap tools.
• Adjustments: new fields, new tax rates, API versions that the vendor shuts down.
• Outages: what does a day cost when no orders reach the ERP or no postings reach the tax advisor?

A worked example with our starting prices: a simple connection with operation costs, over three years, at least €1,900 + 36 × €149 = €7,264 net. This figure is a lower bound, not a quote. Enter the same five items for every alternative. Only then do you see which model is cheaper for your volume and your special cases.

Checklist: what belongs in a quote for an integration?

• Which systems are involved, with version and plan?
• Which data objects flow, in which direction and at what frequency?
• Which special cases are explicitly included (credit notes, partial deliveries, discounts, currencies)?
• Is the data mapping documented in writing and approved by you?
• How are errors detected, reported and fixed?
• Fixed price or billing by effort? What happens in case of extra effort?
• What does operation cost per month, and what does it include?
• Who adjusts the integration when a vendor changes its API, and at what cost?
• Who owns the code? Do you receive it together with documentation?
• Where is it hosted, and is there an AVV under the GDPR?
• Notice period for operation and what you receive on termination.

How can you reduce the cost?

Before the quote, settle which system leads for which data. Start with the data objects that cause the most manual work today and add the rest later. Check honestly whether a ready-made connector covers your case. If it does, it is almost always cheaper. And keep sample data ready, especially the awkward cases. They save the most time in the analysis.

Updated: 10/20/2026