A Platform for
Product Builders
Low-Code promises speed, SaaS promises power, and Open Source promises freedom. But their business models aren't aligned with yours. We are different. We are a strategic partner for software developers building commercial products. Why hasn't software always been built this way?
How We Compare
Four alternatives, and where each one breaks down when you're building a commercial product.
vs. Low-Code Platforms
The Trade-off
Enable non-developers to build simple internal apps. Eventually you hit the "low-code wall" — when requirements demand custom business logic, you're forced to write code anyway or abandon the platform entirely.
Our Goal
To empower professional developers. We don't replace you; we make you substantially more productive. No walls, just code. Need a component we don't ship? Write or license it and connect it to your own backend component — more on custom components.
vs. SaaS Ecosystems
The Trade-off
You operate inside their ecosystem: limited control over pricing and product direction, and your product is a line item in their App Store.
Our Goal
Partner Independence. You own the customer relationship. You set your prices. You build your brand. We provide the engine. And we stay the engine: our own solutions come from our years as a project company — we don't build against a partner who is building with us.
vs. Open Source ERP
The Trade-off
Free code, but customizing means working within the ERP's extension model — and changes that reach into the core turn every update into a merge. Support is yours to organize.
Our Goal
You get the source too — ours is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0, free and with no expiry date. The difference is you never have to fork it: our architecture separates your custom code from a core we keep maintaining.
vs. Building It Yourself
The Risk
High cost, high risk, long time-to-market — and most of it sunk into the undifferentiated part every business application repeats: users, security, documents, reporting.
Our Solution
Focus on the part that makes your product different. The rest is already there — object model, permissions and history, documents and email, report and dashboard engines, background jobs, cloud services — complete, built new on .NET.
The Comparison at a Glance
The four models side by side — licensing, audience, business model and limitations.
| Feature |
BW2
|
Low-Code Mendix, OutSystems | SaaS Ecosystems Salesforce, Dynamics | Open Source ERP Odoo, ERPNext |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing | Elastic License 2.0 — free, source included, no expiry | Proprietary, no source | Proprietary, no source | Open source, self-supported |
| AI Coding Support | Platform skills for Claude and other AI tools, targeting code-first extensions on a defined foundation | Vendor AI features and MCP integrations for visual models | Vendor and third-party AI tooling for ecosystem development | General-purpose AI coding tools; platform integrations vary by product |
| Primary Audience | Software Developers | Business Analysts | System Integrators | IT/DevOps Teams |
| Core Use Case | Building Commercial Products | Internal Apps & Workflows | CRM/Platform Customization | Self-Hosted ERP |
| Business Model | Free platform; hosting and management tools are optional — you pay for engineering only if you co-create | Per-User/Per-App Fees | Per-User License Fees | Support & Hosting Fees |
| Your Role | Product Owner & Builder | App Configurator | Ecosystem Reseller | System Maintainer |
| Core Limitations | Requires developers; no visual builder | The low-code wall | No product control; reseller margins set by the vendor | Core changes complicate updates; self-supported |
Don't have a dev team?
No problem.
You define the solution. We build the technology. In our Co-Creation Program, BW2 is your engineering team — designed for industry experts who want to build the future of their vertical. How the development is funded is agreed per project: billed by the hour, invested by BW2 in return for a share of software revenue, or a mix.
Ready to build without limits?
Bring us the product you want to build. We'll map it onto the core and tell you what is left to write.