It’s almost always cheaper to buy. Once you factor in ongoing maintenance, security, infrastructure, and continuous product development, in-house builds quickly exceed the cost of a platform subscription. Buying turns unpredictable overheads into a fixed, predictable investment — and saves months of development time. You also free your team to focus on projects that drive revenue, increase attendance, and improve the guest experience, instead of maintaining software.

Expect 12–18 months to MVP, then ongoing cycles to reach parity with a mature platform. Buying goes live in weeks.

Compliance, 24/7 support, OS release churn, infra for peak traffic and the product resources needed to keep up with guest expectations.

Yes. The app gives you the foundation, but differentiation still comes from your data, offers, content, and operations. Use SDKs and APIs where you need bespoke value, and lean on our professional services team for tailored integrations and custom functionality when required.

Your guest data remains yours. It is exportable and integrable with your CDP and CRM.

Your data stays yours with export and CDP/CRM connections. Your app stays fully branded with SDK and API extensions. You influence the roadmap through direct input and co-development.

Mapping and wayfinding are the toughest parts of any guest-facing app to get right. That’s why even attractions that choose to build their own app use MapLayr, our proven mapping and wayfinding SDK, to handle the heavy lifting.

Trusted by major operators like Six Flags, MapLayr powers precise, intuitive navigation for millions of guests worldwide. It plugs seamlessly into your custom build, delivering a polished, enterprise-grade experience without the complexity, maintenance, or trial-and-error.