You run an accounting package, a CRM and maybe a webshop. All three are fine on their own. They just do not talk to each other, so you end up retyping orders, copying invoices and updating customer details in three places. Connecting software puts an end to that: you let your systems exchange data automatically. In this guide you will read what connecting software actually means, why it pays off, and above all which four ways there are to do it, from a ready-made connector to custom work. So you know which one fits your situation.
Want the bigger picture first? Read our guide to AI automation for SMEs. And to ask the right questions up front, our checklist for automating a process gets you sharp.
What does connecting software mean?
Connecting software means linking two or more software systems so they exchange data automatically. Instead of an employee retyping data from one system into another, it happens on its own. Usually that link runs through an API: the fixed set of agreements that lets software request and write data to one another.
That sounds more obvious than it is in practice. According to MuleSoft’s Connectivity Benchmark Report (2024), an average organisation uses nearly 1,000 separate applications, of which only about 29 percent are actually connected to one another (MuleSoft). The rest sit on their own island. And every island means manual work, double entry and numbers that are almost, but not quite, right.
Why would you connect software?
You connect software to save time, prevent mistakes and keep an overview. Every time someone retypes data, it costs time and lets an error creep in. A connection removes that manual work: data stays current everywhere, you see at a glance what is going on, and your processes grow with you as your business gets bigger.
Poor data quality is expensive on top of that. Gartner estimates that organisations lose an average of 12.9 million dollars a year to it, mostly through decisions made on outdated or conflicting data (Gartner). Disconnected systems are a major source of exactly that problem: the same customer, spelled three different ways, in three different places.
In concrete terms, connecting delivers this:
- Less retyping, so more time for the real work.
- Fewer mistakes, because data is entered only once.
- Real-time overview, since every system works off the same current numbers.
- Room to scale, without an extra action on every order.
Whether a connection pays for itself, you can work out with our guide to the ROI of automation.
How can you connect software? The four ways
There are roughly four ways to connect software: a ready-made connector, a no-code tool, a custom API integration, or an integration platform. They differ in price, flexibility and how much technical skill you need in-house. Which one fits depends on how many systems you connect and how unusual your requirements are.
| Way | When | Example | Skill needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ready-made connector | Two well-known packages, standard process | Accounting package with your webshop | None |
| No-code / iPaaS | Popular apps, simple logic | Zapier, Make or n8n | Little |
| Custom API integration | Custom logic, sensitive data | Developer builds the link | Developer |
| Integration platform | Many systems tangled together | Central hub connecting everything | Developer or specialist |
1. A ready-made connector. Many packages ship with connectors to well-known systems out of the box. Accounting software like SnelStart, for instance, has a whole marketplace of standard connectors. If your two systems are on that list, it is often a matter of switching it on and logging in. Fast and cheap, as long as the connector you need exists and does exactly what you want.
2. No-code and iPaaS. If no ready-made connector exists, you get a long way with no-code tools like Zapier, Make and n8n. They connect popular apps in a few clicks, no programming. This approach is quickly becoming the norm: Gartner expected that by 2025 around 70 percent of new business applications would be built with low-code or no-code, up from less than 25 percent in 2020 (Gartner). Not sure which tool fits? Compare Zapier, Make and n8n side by side.
3. A custom API integration. The moment you have your own business logic, work with sensitive data or need real-time synchronisation, you hit the limits of no-code. Then you have a developer build a custom integration, straight onto the APIs of both systems. More work, but you decide exactly what the link does and the code stays yours. Where the line between no-code and custom sits, you will read in no-code versus custom automation.
4. An integration platform or middleware. If you have not two but five or ten systems working across each other, a web of separate connections quickly becomes unmanageable. Then you put an integration platform in the middle: a central hub every system plugs into, rather than wiring everyone to everyone. It costs more up front, but keeps the whole thing manageable as you keep growing.
Connector or integration: is there a difference?
In practice the terms get used interchangeably, but there is a nuance. A connector is the technical link between two systems that exchange data. An integration goes a step further: systems then work together so they feel like one whole, with aligned processes around them.
A connector is often the building block, integration the result. For most SME questions the distinction barely matters: you simply want your systems to work together. But it helps to know that “adding a connector” is something other than “integrating our software”, especially when a vendor sends you a quote.
Which systems can you connect?
In principle any system with an API, and these days that is most of them. Think accounting packages like Exact Online, Moneybird and SnelStart, CRM systems, webshops like Shopify and WooCommerce, and ERP packages like AFAS. Most well-known packages have an open API. The craft is not in the existence of the connection, but in tying it together so it stays reliable.
Many connection questions are about the books: orders that land automatically as an invoice in Exact Online or Moneybird, for example. If you run a bigger ERP like AFAS, the question is often whether you build custom on top of the standard package and connect it through the API. We cover that trade-off in off-the-shelf versus custom software. A customer portal, too, almost always runs on connections quietly doing their work in the background.
Standard connector or custom: what do you choose?
Choose a standard or no-code connector when you link two well-known systems with an ordinary process and the connector exists off the shelf. Choose custom the moment it gets more particular. The line usually sits at these four situations:
- You handle personal data or other sensitive information you do not want running through a third party.
- You need two-way synchronisation, where a change on either side has to come through cleanly.
- You have custom business logic no standard connector can cover (discount rules, approvals, exceptions).
- Reliability matters: if the connection stalls, part of your business stalls with it.
If none of that rings true, a ready-made or no-code connector is probably enough. If you recognise several points, custom is the safer choice for the long run.
What does connecting software cost?
What connecting software costs varies widely. A no-code link starts at a few tens of euros a month, a simple standard connector costs a few hundred euros one-off, and custom work with two-way synchronisation runs into the thousands. The price depends heavily on which of the four routes you pick. what an API integration costs. What an API integration costs to have built, and how such a project runs, we break down per type in a separate guide.
Beyond the build, always budget for maintenance. An API changes, a token expires, a system gets an update: then the connection has to follow. Those recurring costs are the ones people forget most often. How to weigh them against the build price, you will read in our breakdown of custom software costs.
What to watch when connecting software
Before you have software connected, check a few things. They decide whether your connection lasts for years or breaks after the first update.
- Does the system have a documented API? Without documentation it becomes guesswork, and guesswork is expensive.
- One direction or two? Pulling data is simple. Keeping both sides in sync is a good deal more complex, and therefore pricier.
- What happens when it goes wrong? Ask explicitly about error handling, automatic retries and logging. A connection fails eventually; what matters is that you notice.
- Who owns the code? Make sure you keep a custom connection in your own hands. Why that matters so much is covered in code ownership and vendor lock-in.
- Who maintains it? Agree on upkeep up front, so you avoid nasty surprises when a system changes.
Do it yourself or have it built?
A simple link between two apps you set up fine yourself with no-code. For anything where money, customer data or reliability is on the line, you want custom work with proper error handling and maintenance. That is exactly the difference between a demo that works once and a connection you run on for years.
At TopDevs we build connections at a fixed price agreed up front, with code that stays yours. No subscription to your own integration, no lock-in.
TopDevs is a Dutch software agency that builds custom software, AI integrations and automations. Want to spar about which connection fits your systems? Book a free call and we will look together at where the gains are.
