Why we don't use templates.
The hidden costs of starting with someone else's code.
Templates are appealing because they look like a shortcut. A codebase that already contains a login screen, a dashboard, and a settings page is a lot of work that doesn't need to be done. The initial estimate for a template-based project is almost always lower than starting from scratch.
What the estimate usually leaves out is the second half of the project.
The first 80% and the last 20%
A template covers the parts of an application that look similar across businesses: authentication, navigation, basic admin screens. It doesn't cover the parts specific to the business using it: intake flows, approval logic, integrations with tools already in place. That's the work the software exists to do.
That work gets written either way. The question is whether it's built in a codebase designed around those requirements, or added on top of a codebase designed around different ones.
Inherited assumptions
Every template ships with opinions: a data model, a permissions system, a set of UI patterns. They were chosen for a generic buyer. When a real process doesn't match them, the template doesn't change; the work bends around it.
The effect accumulates. Customisations sit next to code that wasn't written for the current purpose. The codebase grows in complexity without growing in capability.
Upgrades
Templates are maintained by their vendors. When an update ships, the choice is to merge it (which risks breaking customisations) or skip it (which leaves known issues in place). Neither is a comfortable position when something needs fixing in production.
Ceilings
Some features are difficult or impossible to build on a particular template. When a project reaches that point, the work done so far has to be redone. If the template is replaced late, the time invested in it doesn't transfer.
What we do instead
"From scratch" sounds like extra work. In practice the timelines tend to be similar once workarounds are accounted for, and the end state is different. There's no license to renew, no external roadmap to keep pace with, and no structural limits that someone else chose.
Templates still have their place. Landing pages, blogs, and marketing sites are fine on them. Software a business runs on is a harder fit.
Have a process that needs fixing?
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