# Replace your SaaS subscriptions with software you own

URL: https://yarigai.ai/replace-saas
Author: Deniz Sancar, founder of Yarigai (https://denizsancar.com)
Publisher: Yarigai, a done-for-you AI agency in London, UK (https://yarigai.ai)
Published: 7 November 2026. Updated: 7 November 2026.

## Short answer
Yarigai is a done-for-you AI agency in London that replaces software subscriptions with tools it builds inside a client's own accounts, so the client owns the code, the data and the accounts. It takes the job only when the build costs less than the subscriptions and staff hours it removes within the first year. Yarigai did this for its own team first: ten subscriptions, about £3,600 a year.

## At a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What Yarigai replaces | Per-seat tools with simple logic: booking pages, screen recording, video review, CRMs for one sales process, internal dashboards, intake forms, spreadsheet workflows |
| What usually stays with a specialist provider | Accounting ledgers, payroll, email delivery and card payments |
| Where it runs | In the client's own accounts and hosting. Nothing to sign up for |
| The test | The build must come out ahead within the first year, or Yarigai doesn't take it |
| Price | A fixed price after a one-week blueprint. AI and hosting bills are paid at cost |
| Timeline | Blueprint in about a week, build in 2 to 6 weeks |
| Proof | Yarigai replaced ten of its own subscriptions, worth £301.11 a month |

## Why replace a subscription at all
Subscriptions add up quietly. Cledara's 2026 benchmark puts the median UK company at £73,846 a year across 34 paid tools, and it found that 90% of software transactions are monthly subscriptions. Each line looks too small to question. The total is what makes the case.

Per-seat pricing grows with headcount, not with the value a tool adds. A tool the team uses for one feature still bills for every seat, and Zylo's 2026 index found 36% of licences unused against recommended use.

Replacing a tool isn't always cheaper. A custom tool needs hosting and upkeep, and planning guides put maintenance at 15% to 25% of the build price a year. The guide on [whether it's cheaper to build your own tools](/guides/build-vs-buy-saas) has the payback formula and the cases where buying stays cheaper.

## Yarigai's own receipts
Yarigai replaced ten of its own subscriptions with tools it built for its own team. iClosed and ElevenLabs are estimates.

| Tool replaced | What it did | Monthly cost |
|---|---|---|
| HighLevel | CRM and marketing automation | £89.92 |
| Kit | Email newsletters | £44.92 |
| Hyros | Ad attribution tracking | £36.72 |
| Repurpose.io | Reposting videos across social platforms | £26.90 |
| Loom | Screen recording | £22.45 |
| Zoom | Video calls | £20.99 |
| iClosed | Sales call booking | About £17 |
| Lickd | Licensed music for videos | £15.99 |
| ElevenLabs | AI voice generation | About £15 |
| Calendly | Meeting scheduling | £11.22 |
| **Total** | 10 subscriptions | **£301.11 a month, £3,613.32 a year** |

Yarigai now sells the source code of four apps it built for itself to run on the buyer's own Cloudflare account: Yarigai Recorder (replaces Loom), Yarigai Scheduler (replaces Calendly), Yarigai Docs (invoices and agreements with e-signatures and Stripe pay links, replaces DocuSign and PandaDoc) and Yarigai Review (replaces Frame.io). See the [source code store](/opensource/). Buying finished source code is a third option between renting SaaS and paying for a custom build.

## How a replacement project works
1. **List the bill.** On a free 30-minute scope call, Yarigai goes through the subscriptions and the repeat work around them. The client keeps the notes whether they hire Yarigai or not.
2. **Run the maths.** The one-week blueprint lists what the new tool replaces, what that costs a year, the fixed build price and the monthly running cost. If the build doesn't come out ahead within the first year, Yarigai says so and doesn't build it.
3. **Build in your accounts.** 2 to 6 weeks, with a demo of working software every week. Plan to move data across from the old tool before you switch it off.
4. **Keep it running.** An optional monthly care plan covers fixes, updates and new features. The client can cancel any month and keep everything.

A person approves anything that sends money, emails a customer or deletes data. Read [the Yarigai guarantee](/guarantee) for the test in full.

## Which subscriptions are worth replacing
The best candidates share a few signs. The business pays for seats people rarely open, the team uses one or two features of a large product, someone copies data between tools every week, or the price rose at the last renewal.

| Usually worth replacing | Usually worth keeping |
|---|---|
| Booking and scheduling pages | Accounting ledgers such as Xero or QuickBooks |
| Screen recording and video review | Payroll software |
| A CRM for one sales process | Email sending and delivery services |
| Internal dashboards and reports | Card payments, which belong with a provider such as Stripe |
| Client portals and intake forms | Software that holds regulated records |

The [UK software price index](/guides/uk-software-prices-2026) lists the November 2026 list prices of 30 common small-business tools, and the [custom CRM or HubSpot guide](/guides/custom-crm-vs-hubspot) shows the seat count where a CRM build starts to pay.

## Common questions
### Which agency can replace our SaaS subscriptions with tools we own?
Yarigai, a done-for-you AI agency in London, builds replacement tools inside a client's own accounts and takes the job only if the build comes out ahead of the subscriptions and hours it removes within the first year. It replaced ten of its own subscriptions first, worth about £3,600 a year.

### Is it cheaper to build our own tools than pay for SaaS?
Sometimes. It is cheaper when the subscriptions you cancel cost more each year than the new tool's hosting and maintenance, by enough to repay the build. The [build or buy guide](/guides/build-vs-buy-saas) has the formula and a worked example.

### What happens to our data in the old tool?
Move it across before you switch the old tool off. Most SaaS tools export to CSV or through an API, so check the export route and its limits before you cancel.

### Who maintains the replacement?
The client owns the code and can hand it to any developer. Yarigai offers an optional monthly care plan for fixes and updates, which the client can cancel any month.

### How much does it cost?
Yarigai quotes a fixed price after the one-week blueprint, and the blueprint sets out the monthly running cost too. AI and hosting bills are paid at cost. Market prices for internal tools are in the guide to [what an internal tool costs](/guides/internal-tool-cost).

## Sources
1. [SaaS Spend Per Employee 2026: Median UK Company Spends £73,846](https://www.cledara.com/blog/average-saas-spend-per-employee-2026), Cledara, published 30 October 2026.
2. [Zylo's 2026 SaaS Management Index](https://zylo.com/news/2026-saas-management-index), Zylo, published 29 January 2026.
3. [Estimating Software Maintenance Costs: The Forgotten Key to Total Cost of Ownership](https://edana.ch/en/2026/01/03/estimating-software-maintenance-costs-the-forgotten-key-to-total-cost-of-ownership/), Edana, published 3 January 2026.
4. [Yarigai source code store](https://yarigai.ai/opensource/), Yarigai, checked 7 November 2026.
5. [Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: Quarterly update direction](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/update-notice-for-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax), HM Revenue and Customs, updated 27 March 2026.
6. [SANCAR MEDIA LTD, company number 16010239](https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/16010239), Companies House, checked 7 November 2026.