Keep vs Configure vs Replace vs Build
Four-way software decision table used in Emiote Stack Reviews: when to keep a tool, fix its setup, swap it, or build.
Dhanji Bhagat
Founder, Emiote
The four calls
Solution first. Custom software earns its place when nothing else creates the value the business needs. Migration and setup are separate work—not part of a $199 diagnosis-only review.
| Call | When | Not when | You still owe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keep | Fit and cost are sane; the team already uses it well | Nobody can name the job it does | An owner and a renewal date |
| Configure | The product is right but roles, integrations, or settings are wrong | The product’s model fights your process on every screen | A done definition for the setup work |
| Replace | A mature SaaS or open-source path is clearly better on total cost | You have not priced migration, training, and rollback | Export path and a 30-day action |
| Build | Nothing else creates the differentiating workflow | You are building for novelty or a resume | Scope, maintenance, and a reason Keep/Configure/Replace failed |
Teaching examples (not a promise of your savings)
The Reframe page uses worked examples to show the shape of a call—not as a guarantee. In those examples: Slack stayed Keep because adoption and integrations justified the spend; a lightly used HubSpot seat package was framed as Replace with ERPNext; a unique inventory workflow was Build. Your inventory will differ. Run the checklist on your own tools before you cancel anything.
How to use this without hiring us
Inventory every recurring charge for 12 months. Write one sentence for the job each tool does. Mark overlap. Then make one of the four calls per tool, with monthly-after cost and ops hours. The free Stack Decision Checklist is the self-serve version. Reframe ($199) is the same sheet plus a Notion report and a 30-minute principal call in about three days.
Evidence Sources & Reference Slugs
Need this applied as Reframe?
Reframe is $199: inventory, Keep / Configure / Replace / Build, cost sheet, Notion report, 30-minute principal call. Diagnosis only.
Fixed $199 fee · 100% vendor-neutral review · 3-day delivery guarantee