Comparison of 3-year TCO including structural changes, blocking response, and PM man-hours
Reading Time: 7 minutes | January 2026
Key Summary
The outsourcing estimate for crawling only includes "development costs." However, after creating the crawler, expenses start to accumulate. When considering site structural changes, IP blocking, and internal management personnel, the total cost over 3 years can be 2-3 times higher than the initial estimate.
| Project Outsourcing | Credits (Small-scale) | Subscription (Large-scale) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Cost | Irregular (Millions of KRW~) | 30,000~280,000 KRW | 3,000,000~12,000,000 KRW |
| Initial Development Cost | 10,000,000~50,000,000 KRW | 0 KRW | 0 KRW |
| Maintenance | Separate contract | Included | Included |
| Suitable Cases | Truly one-time | Small-scale, irregular collection | Large-scale, continuous collection |
For small-scale, start from 30,000 KRW per month; for large-scale, go for a subscription. Either way, the total cost is lower than outsourcing.
Pitfalls of Outsourcing: Estimates are for Act 1 only
When outsourcing crawling, you typically receive estimates like this:
"Crawler development: 20,000,000 KRW. Delivery: 4 weeks."
Neat. Easy to budget, easy to approve, peace of mind.
But the real journey begins after the crawler is delivered.
Act 2: The site changes
3 months after crawler delivery. The target site has changed its HTML structure.
Contact the outsourcing company. The response you get:
"It's beyond the scope of the original contract and requires additional development. 5,000,000 KRW, 2 weeks required."
This is not an exception. Major e-commerce sites change their frontend dozens of times a year. News sites, real estate platforms are the same.
Maintaining a crawler is harder than creating one.
Act 3: Getting blocked
One day, no data comes in. It's an IP block.
Contact the outsourcing company again. This time, they are hard to reach. They are busy with other projects.
3 days later, a response: "Bypassing the block is necessary. 3,000,000 KRW, 1 week."
During those 3 days, your competitor's price data is missing. You have to tell the sales team comparing prices daily, "We don't have data for this week."
Structural reasons for these recurring events
It's not about blaming the outsourcing company. The business model works like this:
- Most of the outsourcing company's revenue comes from new projects
- Maintenance is not profitable
- New customer projects take priority over urgent requests from existing customers
On the other hand, subscriptions are the opposite. Retaining existing customers is revenue in itself, so there is an incentive to respond quickly. The business model is customer-centric.
3-year TCO Comparison: Operating 3 Crawlers
A common setup in real companies:
- Operating 3 crawlers (competitor prices, news, job data)
- Each site undergoes structural changes 4 times a year (conservative estimate)
- 2 blocking incidents per year
Project Outsourcing
| Item | Calculation Basis | 3-year Total |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Development | 20,000,000 KRW per crawler × 3 | 60,000,000 KRW |
| Structural Change Response | 300,000 KRW per incident × 12 incidents per year × 3 years | 180,000,000 KRW |
| Blocking Response | 200,000 KRW per incident × 6 incidents per year × 3 years | 36,000,000 KRW |
| Internal Management (PM man-hours) | 500,000 KRW per month × 36 months | 18,000,000 KRW |
| Total | 220,000,000 KRW |
※ Structural change response cost (300,000 KRW per incident) is the median value between simple modifications at 100,000 KRW and large-scale rework at 500,000 KRW. The actual cost varies depending on complexity.
Hashscraper Subscription (Standard)
| Item | Calculation Basis | 3-year Total |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription Fee | 5,000,000 KRW per month × 36 months | 180,000,000 KRW |
| Initial Development, Change Response, Blocking Response | All included | 0 KRW |
| Internal Management | Dedicated manager assigned | 0 KRW |
| Total | 180,000,000 KRW |
→ 3-year Savings: 42,000,000 KRW (19%)
"19% doesn't seem like much?" That's correct. It may seem that way just looking at the amount.
However, three things are missing from this calculation.
Three Differences that Numbers Can't Capture
1. Predictability
| Month | Outsourcing | Subscription |
|---|---|---|
| January | 0 KRW (no issues) | 5,000,000 KRW |
| February | 8,000,000 KRW (2 structural changes) | 5,000,000 KRW |
| March | 3,000,000 KRW (1 block) | 5,000,000 KRW |
| April | 5,000,000 KRW (change + block) | 5,000,000 KRW |
Outsourcing budgets fluctuate with each issue. Quarterly budgeting is not possible.
Subscriptions remain the same every month. Budget allocation by the management team is possible.
2. Response Speed
Outsourcing: Issue receipt (1-2 days) → Estimate (2-3 days) → Approval (1-2 days) → Work (3-7 days) = 7-14 days
Subscription: Automatic detection (minutes) → Immediate response (same day) → Completion (within 24 hours) = Within 1 day
The response speed difference is 7-13 days. If price monitoring is missed for 2 weeks, all price changes by competitors during that time are missed. It may not show in TCO, but it affects revenue.
3. Contract End Risk
Crawlers made through outsourcing face issues when the contract ends:
- Code Ownership: Often not specified in the contract
- Vendor Change: It's difficult for a new vendor to take over the previous vendor's code
- Handover: Data gaps occur during the transition period
With a subscription, it ends when canceled next month. It can be resubscribed if needed. There are no code ownership disputes.
"300,000 KRW per month for a subscription is burdensome"
That's right. Not all companies can immediately spend 300,000 KRW per month.
That's why there is a credit billing plan.
| Category | Credit | Subscription |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Cost | 30,000~280,000 KRW | 300,000~1,200,000 KRW |
| Method | Pay as you go | Monthly all-inclusive |
| Suitable Cases | Small-scale, irregular collection | Large-scale, continuous collection |
| Initial Cost | 0 KRW | 0 KRW |
| Maintenance | Included | Included |
Credit vs. Outsourcing: 30 times difference for the same task
Comparing a small-scale crawling task (simple site, monthly collection) between:
- Outsourcing: Initial development 300,000~500,000 KRW + separate maintenance contract
- Credit: Monthly 30,000~100,000 KRW, including maintenance
If the minimum outsourcing cost is 300,000 KRW, you can use the same amount for credits for 2.5 years.
When the credit cost exceeds 300,000 KRW per month due to increased data collection, that's when you should consider switching to a subscription. There's no need to make a big decision from the start.
Recommended Scenarios
| Scenario | Recommendation | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| One-time collection (research, events) | Outsourcing | No maintenance required |
| 1-2 sites, 1-2 collections per month | Credit | Start from 30,000 KRW per month, no burden |
| Want to test first | Credit | Can start immediately after signing up |
| 3+ sites, daily collection | Subscription | Additional crawlers are free, dedicated manager |
| Data gaps affect revenue | Subscription | 24-hour outage response |
Most B2B data collection is "continuous." Price monitoring, competitor analysis, news collection. It's not a one-time task.
Stories of Companies that Transitioned from Outsourcing
"We changed outsourcing companies three times in two years. It was the same pattern every time. They did well at first, but response slowed during maintenance, and we ended up changing again. We chose Hashscraper not because it's 'better,' but because we wanted to 'break free from that loop.'"
— Lead of Data Team at E-commerce Company C"When I summarized the annual outsourcing costs, they were higher than a subscription. When you add up the estimates, approvals, and PM time for review, it's incomparable. Now that PM does data analysis."
— CTO of Financial Company F
Final Comparison Table at a Glance
| Comparison Item | Project Outsourcing | Credit | Subscription |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Cost | 10,000,000~50,000,000 KRW | 0 KRW | 0 KRW |
| Monthly Cost | Irregular | 30,000~28,000 KRW | 300,000~1,200,000 KRW |
| Additional Crawlers | New contract | Deducted from credits | Free |
| Structural Change Response | Additional estimate (300,000 KRW~) | Included | Included |
| Blocking Response | Additional estimate (200,000 KRW~) | Included | Included |
| Response Speed | 7-14 days | Within 24 hours | Within 24 hours |
| Budget Predictability | Not possible | Possible | Possible |
| Code Ownership | Requires agreement | N/A | N/A |
| Suitable Scale | One-time | Small-scale, irregular | Large-scale, continuous |
Getting Started
If you need crawling but don't know where to start, trying a single task with credits is the quickest way.
- Start immediately after signing up
- Starting from 30,000 KRW per month
- Includes maintenance
- Switch to a subscription when the scale grows
Start with Credits →
Consultation for Subscription →
Hashscraper — Subscribe to data instead of outsourcing crawlers.
