Build vs. Colocate: Know Your Real Cost Before You Commit

A short guide to comparing a server room build with colocation quotes, with the requirements to check first and the contract terms that change the answer. It goes with the free Build vs. Colocate spreadsheet.

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Build vs. Colocate: Know Your Real Cost Before You Commit cover

What You’ll Learn

Just need the spreadsheet? Download the free Build vs. Colocate spreadsheet. It runs your own numbers over 3, 5 and 10 years, works out your break-even colocation price, and lines up real quotes side by side. No form needed.

This guide goes with it. A server room build and a colocation proposal rarely price the same things, so the guide covers the requirements to check before you compare prices, the costs each quote leaves out, what changed in the 2026 market, and the contract terms that can change the answer. Enter your email to get it.

A requirements check to run before you compare prices
How to put a build and colocation quotes on equal terms, with a worksheet
Your break-even colocation price, as a screen rather than a verdict
The costs a build quote and a colocation quote each leave out
What changed in 2026, including take-or-pay power floors and longer ready-for-service dates
Contract terms to get in writing: power floor, billing start, escalator cap, expansion and exit