Should a company build or buy its integration layer?
Build a custom integration layer when a few systems run your business and the data between them has to be right every time, because then you own the logic and pay nothing per task or per run. Workato is the best platform to buy when you have many systems to connect and a central automation team to run it.
Large companies that need API governance across many systems
API-led integration and governance across many systems
Often used alongside Salesforce
Credit rates drop as usage grows
Only a starting price is published
Pre-Commit carries a yearly minimum spend
The credit allocation for each package is not stated
The ranking, entry by entry
1 Custom build by Black Badger
Best for A few critical systems that must agree on every record
Custom goes first here, and since Black Badger publishes this guide and builds integrations, treat this as our own pitch. An integration layer is made of your systems and your rules. The rules decide which system wins a conflict, what happens when an order fails halfway and who is told. Platforms meter that work by task, credit or run. We build it as code you own, running on accounts in your name, with logging your team can read and no usage fee.
Watch for. If you need dozens of light automations between apps that business staff change often, buy a platform. A build is for the few connections the business cannot run without.
How it charges
One-time build scoped in writing, then running costs such as hosting
Main limit
Needs a scoping call first, and suits companies of 50 or more employees
Best for mid-size and large companies with a central automation team
Workato is the best integration platform to buy for a company with many systems and a team whose job is to connect them. Someone has to maintain an integration layer whether you build or buy, and Workato suits a company that has a central automation team. No dollar amounts are published. Pricing has a usage component tracked by capability, and concurrency and on-premises agents are set by edition.
Watch for. Concurrency is 1 on the Standard edition and 15 on Enterprise MCP. Ask which edition your busiest workflow needs before you compare quotes.
How it charges
Quoted, with a usage component tracked by capability
Main limit
Quote only, with concurrency and on-prem agents set by edition
Best for technical teams that want to self-host their workflows
In third place is n8n, which is the product closest to building. A technical team can self-host it, and billing is per workflow execution, where a full run counts as one execution however many steps it has. Paid plans include unlimited users and workflows, with Pro billed yearly for 10,000 executions. You get much of the control of a build, and your team takes on running it, which is the same trade a build asks for.
Watch for. Single sign-on needs the Business plan, which is listed as self-hosted only, and audit logging needs Enterprise.
How it charges
Per workflow execution, billed yearly, or free self-hosted
Best for companies mixing cloud and on-premises systems
Boomi ranks fourth. It suits a company with a mix of cloud and on-premises systems that wants integration, APIs and data on one platform. In a build or buy decision it matters that only the Pay-As-You-Go plan has a published price, a monthly fee plus usage. Every subscription edition is an annual agreement quoted by sales, and the Standard edition is production only, with no test environment.
Watch for. Multiple environments start at Professional, and clustered runtime for high availability starts at Enterprise. Price the edition you will run.
How it charges
Pay-as-you-go monthly plus usage, or quoted annual editions
Main limit
Subscription editions are annual and quoted, higher tiers add connections
Best for connecting ERP, ecommerce and finance with prebuilt flows
Celigo ranks fifth. Its case for buying is prebuilt flows between ERP, ecommerce and finance systems on a managed platform, which saves writing connections that many companies need in the same form. If your integrations are the common ones, that is cheaper than building them. It ranks below Boomi because Celigo publishes no prices and does not state a billing basis, so the five-year cost cannot be estimated without a quote.
Watch for. SSO, auditability and a development sandbox start at the Professional edition. The Standard edition has none of them.
How it charges
Quoted by edition and how the team uses the platform
Main limit
Quote only, SSO and sandbox start at the Professional edition
Best for teams that can estimate their monthly step count
Make ranks sixth. It is a visual tool for multi-branch scenarios, billed in credits, where most modules use one credit each. At 10,000 credits a month on annual billing the Teams plan keeps the entry cost low. The build or buy concern is the credit limit. When credits run out, scenarios stop until more are added, and that is a poor property for a process the business depends on.
Watch for. Make lists SSO, role-based access controls, on-prem agents and audit logs as Enterprise only, and Enterprise is a quoted plan.
How it charges
By credits, billed annually or monthly, Enterprise quoted
Main limit
Credit based billing, SSO and audit logs only on Enterprise
Best for quick automations between apps, built by business staff
Zapier ranks seventh for a company of this size. Business staff can build quick automations between apps without a developer, and for that work buying is plainly right. It ranks low on an integration layer list because it bills per task. The Team plan runs from 2,000 tasks to 2,000,000, billed yearly, with a price that climbs with the task count, so a high-volume data sync is the workload that raises its price.
Watch for. Team is capped at 25 users, and with pay-per-task on, usage stops at 3 times the plan allowance until the next cycle.
How it charges
Per task, by plan, billed yearly or monthly
Main limit
Task caps raise the price with volume, SSO and audit log need Team or above
Best for large companies that need API governance across many systems
MuleSoft Anypoint Platform ranks eighth here, though for a large enterprise it could rank first. It suits a large company that needs API-led integration and governance across many systems, often alongside Salesforce. The published price is a starting price only, billed annually, and the Pre-Commit buying model has a yearly minimum spend. For a company with a few systems to connect, the platform is larger than the job needs.
Watch for. Pricing runs on Mule Credits with a different rate for each usage type, and the credit allocation for each package is not stated.
How it charges
By Mule Credits, billed annually, with a yearly minimum on Pre-Commit
Main limit
Credit based pricing, and Pre-Commit carries a yearly minimum
We ranked for a company of 50 or more employees whose core systems, such as an ERP, a CRM and a finance tool, have to exchange data reliably. The first test was how each option charges as volume grows, since integration platforms meter by task, credit, execution or usage. The second was who maintains the connections. The third was what happens when something fails.
Custom is first on this list because an integration layer consists of your own systems and rules. A small number of critical connections is the case where owning them costs least over five years. A company with many systems and a team to run a platform should read the second entry first.
Questions buyers ask
What is an integration layer?
An integration layer is the set of connections that keep your systems in agreement. An order placed in one system creates the job in another and the invoice in a third. It can be a platform you subscribe to, code you own, or a mix of both.
When is buying an integration platform a better choice than building?
An integration platform is the better choice when you have many systems, many light connections and people whose job is to run the platform. Prebuilt connectors and a visual builder save effort in that situation. Business staff can also change simple automations without waiting for a developer.
Why does usage pricing on an integration platform matter over five years?
Usage pricing matters over five years because integrations get busier as the company grows. A plan sized by tasks, credits or executions costs more each time volume rises, and some plans pause when the allowance runs out. Estimate your volume in year five and price that tier.
Who maintains a custom integration after it is built?
You decide who maintains a custom integration. Black Badger builds it on accounts in your name and writes the code and the logging so another developer can follow it. You can keep us on for changes or hand it to your own team.