This guide compares purpose-built incentive compensation software with spreadsheets, internal platforms, and AI-generated “vibe-coded” tools. It argues that homegrown systems often appear inexpensive but create hidden costs through ongoing maintenance, undocumented logic, manual data entry, limited reporting, fragile integrations, and dependence on a small number of employees. They may also lack security controls, audit trails, regulatory compliance, multi-currency support, scalability, and reliable handling of exceptions. AI-generated scripts can introduce additional risk because they may produce incorrect calculations without visible errors or defensible governance. Organizations should evaluate priorities, internal expertise, resource availability, total ownership cost, security, and lo

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