Guide
Spain's Kit Digital grant: what software it actually funds (and what it doesn't)
Spain’s Kit Digital grant helped many freelancers and small businesses take a first digital step with public funds. But there is a common confusion: thinking "the voucher pays for any software I want." It does not. This guide explains what it really covers, where it falls short, and when it makes sense to go beyond the subsidy with custom software —without selling you anything you don’t need.
By Miguel Alejandro Hayes· Founder, Hayes Projects
What it is and how it works (in short)
Kit Digital is a public grant to digitalize freelancers and SMEs in Spain, funded with EU money. It works as a "voucher" you spend on solutions from an official catalogue, delivered by accredited companies known as digitalization agents. In other words: you choose standardized catalogue solutions, not free custom development.
Typical categories cover website and presence, e-commerce, social media management, e-invoicing, CRM, cybersecurity and the like. Conditions, amounts and deadlines have shifted between calls —always confirm them at the official source or with your advisor before relying on them.
Where it falls short
The Kit is designed for standard catalogue solutions. When your problem is specific —a workflow of your own, an integration between systems you already use, a configurator for your customers, an operation spreadsheets can no longer handle— the catalogue does not cover it. There, a generic solution forces you to adapt your business to the software instead of the other way around.
The sign you have outgrown it: you still do manual work "because the tool does not do it that way," or you pay for several tools that do not talk to each other. That is no longer a voucher problem; it is a fit problem.
When going custom makes sense
The sensible approach is not "Kit or custom": often it is using the Kit for the standard stuff (website, presence, catalogue tools) and reserving custom investment for what truly differentiates you or eats hours every day. Software is not the expensive part; running broken is.
We are not digitalization agents or tax advisors —for the voucher, talk to your advisor. What we do is the other part: when the catalogue does not reach, we scope in a short phase whether custom development is justified by return, and exactly what to build.
Frequently asked
Can I build custom software with the Kit Digital grant?
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Generally no: the Kit funds standard solutions from an official catalogue delivered by digitalization agents, not free custom development. Confirm categories and amounts with your advisor.
So the Kit is useless?
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Not at all —it is great for standard needs (website, presence, catalogue tools). The smart move is to use it for those and reserve custom investment for what differentiates you or saves you hours.
Do you process the Kit for me?
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No. We are not digitalization agents or tax advisors; for the voucher, your advisor. We come in when the catalogue does not cover your problem and custom software needs assessing.
About the author
Miguel Alejandro Hayes — Founder, Hayes Projects
Economist and essayist turned developer. He founded Hayes Projects, a Miami venture studio and custom software lab, to build software that ships, scales and solves real problems.
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