# Custom Connector vs Web Services Connector - How Do You Decide?

**URL:** <https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/t/custom-connector-vs-web-services-connector-how-do-you-decide/221922>\
**Category:** SHF Discussion and Questions\
**Tags:** provisioning, sailpoint-identity-security, connectors\
**Created:** [September 8, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/t/custom-connector-vs-web-services-connector-how-do-you-decide/221922 "2026-09-08T18:06:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![salam1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@salam1](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/u/salam1)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/t/custom-connector-vs-web-services-connector-how-do-you-decide/221922/1 "2026-09-08T18:06:16Z")

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Hi everyone,

When integrating an application with SailPoint ISC through APIs, how do you decide between using the **Web Services connector** and building a **custom connector using Sailpoint SDK**?

If both options could technically support the integration, what factors influence your decision?

- API or authentication complexity?
- Need for custom business logic?
- Ease of testing and troubleshooting?
- Performance or scalability?
- Reusability across multiple tenants?
- Long-term maintenance and support?

Have you encountered situations where you started with the Web Services connector but eventually had to move to a custom connector, or where a custom connector turned out to be unnecessary?

I’d appreciate hearing about real-world experiences, limitations you encountered, and any decision criteria or best practices your team follows.

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**Author:** ![vamgada](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/sailpoint/discuss/user_avatar/developer.sailpoint.com/vamgada/32/40440_2.png) [@vamgada](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/u/vamgada)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 1:35pm UTC](https://developer.sailpoint.com/discuss/t/custom-connector-vs-web-services-connector-how-do-you-decide/221922/2 "2026-09-09T13:35:42Z")

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The Web Service connector is the right default when the target system exposes a clean, well-documented REST or SOAP API with standard authentication (OAuth2, Basic, or API key). It gets you connected quickly without writing or owning any code.

A Custom connector becomes the better choice when you need to join data from multiple API endpoints to build a single account view, or when you need to translate ISC’s account model into something the target API expects. Just be prepared to own that code — version control isn’t optional here, it’s the baseline.

That said, the single biggest factor that pulls me toward the Web Service connector is avoiding customization altogether. Less code means less maintenance, fewer failure points, and faster onboarding for whoever inherits the environment.