3D product configurator cost: where the money actually goes

A sales director works at a company that makes garden canopies and carports. He has three quotes on his desk for "a 3D configurator". All three promise the same thing. Customers build their canopy on the website. They see it in 3D and get a price straight away. But the cheapest quote costs only a quarter of the most expensive one. He reads them twice and still cannot see where the difference comes from.

That is not an accident. Usually nobody is being dishonest either. Each supplier has priced something different, because each one means something different by "a configurator". To compare quotes, you first need to know what costs belong in them.

Why configurator quotes are so far apart

A configurator is software that lets a customer or salesperson put a product together. Think of ordering a pizza online: you pick the base, the sauce and the toppings. A configurator works the same way, but for something like a carport. It only lets you pick options that actually work together. That sounds like one simple thing. But behind the screens there is a lot of work you never see in a demo.

The differences usually come from three places:

• What is included. One supplier prices the screens and the 3D view. Another also includes the pricing rules, which decide what each choice costs. Some also include the quote document and the link to your ERP system. An ERP system is the software your company uses to track orders, stock and production.
• What they assume about your data. A low quote often assumes your options, rules and prices are already written down and correct. They rarely are.
• When they stop. Some quotes stop on the day the configurator goes live. Others also include maintenance, hosting (the server it runs on) and keeping the 3D models up to date.

None of the three quotes has to be wrong. They are just answering different questions.

The cost items, one by one

These are the costs a complete budget should include. Not every item is big on every project. But each one should show up somewhere, even if the answer is "we do this ourselves".

The 3D assets: the line people underestimate

If you searched for "3D configurator price", this is probably the part you care about most. It is also the part quotes explain least clearly. A 3D configurator needs models that load fast in a web browser. They must look right and change when the customer picks an option. Your engineering CAD files are where you start. CAD files are the detailed technical drawings your engineers make. They are not the finished web model.

Making 3D that works on the web usually involves:

• Simplifying the CAD model. You remove the inside details nobody sees on screen, so the model loads on a phone.
• Materials and textures. Wood, fabric, powder coat or glass have to look real. That is separate work from the shape itself.
• Saving it in a web format. The usual choice is glTF. It is an open format that anyone can use without paying fees, and it became an ISO standard in 2022.
• Making it configurable. Either you make one model for each version, or you use a parametric model. A parametric model rebuilds itself from sizes and rules, a bit like a recipe that adjusts when you change the number of people.

That last choice decides what you pay every year. Ask each supplier which approach they are pricing, and what it means the next time your product changes. There is more on this in Parametric 3D product configurators.

How the licence is counted

Two licences can have the same price on paper and still cost very different amounts. What matters is what you pay for:

• per user: every salesperson, every inside sales colleague, sometimes every dealer or distributor
• per configurator or product line: a second product line means a second licence
• per environment: a test version next to the live version can cost extra
• per use: per configured product, per quote or per visitor

If you work with thirty distributors, it matters a lot whether each one counts as a user. Work out the licence for where you expect to be in three years, not for today. If you sell in the EU or UK, also ask where the data is stored. Quote data contains customer details, and those fall under GDPR, the European privacy law.

Not every configurator has a licence fee. Some are built on an open 3D library. That is free building material for 3D on the web, a bit like Lego bricks anyone is allowed to use. Then there is no licence fee for the library itself. Three.js is MIT-licensed and Babylon.js uses Apache 2.0. Verge3D is commercial, but according to its maker it has no subscription for the tools. Keep in mind: a small or empty licence line just means building and maintenance are a bigger part of the bill.

The item everyone forgets: updating models after every product change

Your product does not stay the same. You add a new width or a different profile, or a colour is dropped. Every change has to reach the configurator: the rules, the prices and the 3D model.

How much work that is depends on how the model was built. Sometimes there is a fixed model or picture for each version. Then a new option means new work for every combination it appears in. With a parametric model, a new size is often just one changed rule.

Ask each supplier three questions. What does one product change cost? Who does it? How long until it is live?

Integrations and data

An integration lets two systems share information automatically. A link to your ERP system often shows up as one line in a quote. Ask for more detail. Has this link been built with your system before? Or is it just a promise that it can be done? And who fixes it when either system gets a new version?

Then there is the data. A configurator can only work once your options, rules and prices are written down. Often that knowledge is spread out. Some is in a few people's heads. Some is in a spreadsheet. Some is in a folder of drawings. You usually do most of that work yourself, which is why it is rarely in a quote. It still takes hours, often from your most experienced people.

Total cost over three years, not year one

A quote usually shows only the first year. But you will use a configurator for years, and some costs come back every year. Put every quote into the same table:

There is also a risk nobody puts in the budget. Danish researchers (University of Southern Denmark and DTU) studied eight failed configurator projects in 2019. They found that a poor decision in one phase had growing negative effects in later phases. It works like a snowball rolling downhill. A 2018 study listed six types of obstacles when companies introduce a configurator. Two of them were gathering product knowledge and having too few people or too little money. A quote that skips the preparation is cheaper in year one, but not always after that.

What a low quote usually leaves out

A low quote is not suspicious. But it is a good reason to ask what is missing. Look out for these in particular:

• writing down and checking rules and prices
• updating 3D models when the product changes
• the ERP connection, or only an export to a file
• a test version next to the live one
• training for new staff or distributors
• who owns the source code (the program itself) and the 3D models if you ever want to switch

A missing item is fine, as long as you know you will handle it yourself or pay for it later.

How to make quotes comparable

This is the work we do in CPQ consulting and selection. But you can also start on your own:

1. Give everyone the same brief. Which product, how many options and sizes, which channels (website, sales team, distributors) and which systems.
2. Ask for a price per item. Use the table above as your form.
3. Ask what the licence counts. Work it out over three years.
4. Ask what a product change costs. Also ask who does it.
5. Ask who owns the code and the 3D models. Also check what happens after the contract ends.
6. Add it all up over three years. Include your own hours.

Before you ask for quotes, it helps to read Building a product configurator: what to prepare. Not sure you need 3D at all? See 2D vs 3D product configurators. How we build 3D configurators ourselves is on 3D & Development.

Already have a few quotes? We can put them side by side with you, line by line. We have no preference for any supplier. Read more on CPQ Consulting & Selection, or get in touch.