--- title: "How does the company work?" space: "Customer Guide" url: "https://docs.frappe.io/customer-guide/about-frappe/how-frappe-works-as-a-company" updated: "2026-07-21" --- When you engage with most business software vendors, one company sells to you, implements the system, and supports it afterwards. Frappe is structured differently, and understanding this early will save confusion later - because it determines who you talk to at each stage, who is accountable for what, and where your commercial relationship actually sits. ## Frappe is a product company Frappe builds products. It develops the software, writes the documentation, and does the product and brand marketing. It does **not** do proactive sales, and it does **not** do implementations. This is a deliberate choice, not a limitation. By staying focused on building excellent products, Frappe avoids the conflict of interest common in vendors who both sell software and bill for the services to implement it. Frappe's incentive is to make the product good enough that implementation is straightforward - not to maximise services revenue. ## Partners are the implementation and sales channel Implementation and customer-facing sales are handled by a global network of trained, certified **partners**. Partners are, in effect, Frappe's extended sales and delivery team: - **They sell.** A partner gives you the product demonstration, scopes your requirements, and closes the engagement. - **They implement.** A partner configures the system, migrates your data, customises it to your processes, and takes you live. - **They support.** A partner provides ongoing implementation and customisation support for your specific deployment. Partners bring local presence and regional expertise - knowledge of your market's business practices, regulations, and language. There are **180+ partners across 50 countries**, and you can find one suited to your industry and region through Frappe's partner directory. How to evaluate and select a good partner is covered in [Implementation - what to expect](https://docs.frappe.io/customer-guide/implementation/what-to-expect). Watch this video to know more: [What is Frappe's Partnership Model?](https://youtu.be/Wg8Q7mrsLaw?si=KxN6EZt4fmxcySM6) ## How a typical partner-led engagement flows The path from first contact to live system usually looks like this: 1. **You make contact** - typically through a "Contact us" enquiry on a Frappe website, or by approaching a partner directly. 2. **Frappe's business team qualifies and routes.** Frappe has an internal business team (partnership, relationship management, and inside sales) that reviews incoming enquiries and connects you with an appropriate partner - matched to your region, industry, and needs. 3. **The partner takes over.** From the demonstration onward, your primary relationship is with the partner: they demonstrate, scope, propose, close, and implement. So while Frappe builds the software you are evaluating, the team that demonstrates it, prices the implementation, and delivers it is usually your partner. ## Smaller businesses: a more direct path The partner-led model above is how most mid-sized and large customers engage. Smaller businesses often take a more direct route, and it is worth understanding because for many SMBs *this* is the normal path, not an exception. When a customer is small, a partner-led implementation may be more than the situation needs. Rather than leave that customer without help, Frappe keeps a small internal capacity to serve them directly: - A small **inside-sales team** gives a quick, standard product demonstration and helps the customer get started on Frappe Cloud. - An optional **free onboarding service** lets a Frappe product expert spend a few hours helping the customer set up ERPNext or another product. Crucially, the purpose of this team is **not** business development. It exists to ensure small customers have a good first experience, and to give Frappe direct visibility into how customers actually use the products - valuable market feedback that flows back into the roadmap. This team does not compete with partners for the larger deals that partners are equipped to serve. In short: if you are a **mid-sized or large business**, your engagement will typically run through a partner. If you are a **smaller business**, you may well start directly on Frappe Cloud - self-serve, with optional onboarding help from Frappe - and bring in a partner later if and when your needs grow. Both paths are deliberate, and you are not locked into either. ## Who supports you, and for what Because delivery is split between Frappe and its partners, it helps to be clear about who handles what once you are live: - **Your partner** owns implementation, customisation, and the support specific to how your business uses the system - the configuration, the integrations, the workflows built for you. - **Frappe** provides first-party **application and platform support** through Frappe Cloud - the health of the software and the infrastructure it runs on. This is bundled into Frappe Cloud, as explained in [Frappe's business model](https://docs.frappe.io/customer-guide/about-frappe/business-model). In practice, this means a customer running on Frappe Cloud has two layers of support behind it: the partner who knows your specific deployment, and Frappe itself standing behind the product and the platform. ## Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) **Why doesn't Frappe just doesn't sell directly?** This structure is sometimes mistaken for a gap. In practice it works in the customer's favour: you get local expertise and accountability from a partner who lives in your market (or a fast, direct start if you're small), a product company whose sole focus is making the software better, and a vendor that is not motivated to inflate the implementation it bills you for.