Launchpad Development: Build vs White-Label (Engineering Checklist + Hidden Costs)

If you’re developing blockchain infrastructure for token distribution, here’s what “building a launchpad” really includes—and why scope expands fast. Teams often debate launchpad development like it’s a simple build-vs-buy decision. But a crypto launchpad is not “a few contracts and a page.” It’s an operational system that must behave predictably while thousands of users watch it in real time. Below is the engineering checklist I use to pressure-test whether a custom build is realistic—or whether a white label launchpad is the safer move. What You’re Actually Building When You Build a Crypto Launchpad A modern crypto launchpad is a stack, not a single component. At minimum, you’re shipping: Smart contracts: sale, allocation, vesting, claims, refunds. Front-end flows: participation, claim UX, transaction states, errors. Investor dashboard: allocations, unlock schedule, claim history. Admin layer: operational controls without touching live contracts. Monitoring + alerts: claims failures,