How we price
How we price a project
No two projects are alike, so we don't publish a rate card. What we can tell you up front is how pricing works, what actually moves the number, and when you shouldn't be paying us at all.
The short answer
Every project is a fixed price, quoted in writing before you commit to building anything. Nothing is billed hourly, and nothing changes after you've agreed to it unless you ask for something new — in which case it's re-scoped and re-quoted openly.
Larger, multi-system work — several integrations, several user types, real data migration — gets phased, so each phase carries its own fixed price and ends in something working rather than a status report.
We talk real numbers on the intro call, once we understand what you're trying to do. Thirty minutes is usually enough to give you a range.
You never have to guess. The fixed price comes to you inside the Blueprint, before you commit to building anything. Pricing is never improvised on a call, and it never changes after you've agreed to it unless you ask for something new.
What actually moves the number
Almost none of it is what people expect. Looks are cheap. Logic is expensive.
How many systems have to talk
One system doing one job is straightforward. The cost climbs with every integration — your CRM, your accounting package, your payment processor, a supplier's feed — because each one has its own rules, its own failure modes, and its own opinion about what a customer record is.
How many exceptions exist
"We always invoice on the first — except for these six accounts, and except in December." Exceptions are the single largest driver of cost in business software, and they're the thing people forget to mention until week three. We dig for them in the Blueprint on purpose.
Who has to use it
A tool for one team is cheaper than a tool for the whole company, which is cheaper than a tool your customers touch. Every additional audience adds permissions, error handling, and the polish required for someone who will not call you when they get stuck.
What happens when it breaks
Something that inconveniences you for an hour is built differently from something that stops you taking payments. We'll ask what failure actually costs you and build to that standard — not above it, which is how budgets get wasted.
The comparison nobody runs
Subscription software is priced per seat, and the bill grows every time you hire — with a price increase most Januaries on top. A team of fifteen paying $40 a seat spends $7,200 a year, every year, and the tool still doesn't do the thing you asked about in year one.
A system built around how you work is a one-time build plus hosting, and it doesn't get more expensive as your team grows. Over a few years, that often comes out ahead.
This does not always favor building, and we'll tell you when it doesn't. For commodity needs — accounting, payroll, email — buying wins, the products are excellent, and building your own would be a bad use of your money. The case for custom is strongest exactly where your business is unusual, which is usually the same place your current software fits worst.
How an engagement works
Step 1
Intro Call
Free30 minutes
A conversation about what you're trying to do. Nothing is sold on this call.
Step 2
Blueprint
Fixed feecredited toward your build
A written plan and a fixed quote. Yours to keep either way — including if you hand it to a different developer.
Step 3
Build
Fixed pricequoted in your Blueprint
Milestone delivery, a deposit to start, and documentation that ships with the system. Changes are re-quoted openly, never absorbed silently.
Step 4 · Optional
Run
Monthlybilled annually
Hosting, support, monitoring, and fast turnaround on feature requests. Quoted inside every build proposal so it's never a surprise.
Straight answers
How much does custom software cost?
It depends almost entirely on two things: how many systems have to talk to each other, and how many exceptions your business logic contains — not on how the software looks. Every project gets a fixed price, quoted in the Blueprint before you commit, and we're happy to talk ranges on the free intro call.
Is custom software cheaper than SaaS subscriptions?
Often, over a few years — and that is a recent change. Subscription costs grow with every seat you add and every annual price increase. A system built around how you work is a one-time build plus hosting, and it doesn't get more expensive when you hire.
It does not always favor building: for commodity needs like accounting, payroll, or email, buying wins and we will say so.
Why do you charge for the planning session?
Because the planning is the valuable part, and free planning gets rushed. The Blueprint is a paid working session that produces a written plan and a fixed quote. Its fee is credited in full toward your build if you proceed within 30 days — so deciding to move forward makes the planning free. If you don't proceed, you keep the plan and can hand it to any developer.
Do you charge hourly?
No. Every build is a fixed price, quoted from the Blueprint before work starts, with milestone payments. Hourly billing puts you and your builder on opposite sides — you want it done fast, they get paid for it taking long. Fixed price puts us on the same side.
Change requests are re-scoped and re-quoted openly rather than absorbed silently or surprise-billed.
What if we get halfway through and it isn't working?
Milestones exist for exactly this. You see working software at each one, not a status report. If something's wrong, it surfaces at the first milestone rather than at delivery — and if the answer turns out to be that we shouldn't finish, we'd rather stop and say so than bill you to the end of a bad plan.
Not sure how big your problem is? That's genuinely what the free call is for. Thirty minutes usually gets you a range, and it costs you nothing to find out.