How we price engagements.
Custom engineering doesn't fit on a price list. Here's what actually drives the cost of an engagement, how we structure the work, and how a real number gets into your hands.
Two reasons.
Real custom engineering varies too much for a list. A WordPress marketing site and a React SaaS platform share almost nothing in effort, risk, or operational surface — putting both on the same price sheet would mislead you about one and undersell the other.
And sophisticated buyers don't want a price list anyway. You want a scoped proposal written against your actual situation — your problem, your constraints, your success criteria — not a number pulled from a tier you don't fit.
Five things that move the number.
Understanding these factors before the discovery call makes the conversation shorter — and the proposal sharper.
Scope complexity
A marketing site and a multi-tenant SaaS platform aren't the same project. Custom domain logic, multi-tenancy, and complex workflows move the number the most.
Integration count
CRM, ERP, payment gateways, marketing automation — each integration adds engineering and testing surface, and not linearly.
Performance & security requirements
Sub-2s LCP, WCAG 2.2 AA, SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI scope. Performance and compliance budgets are committed in writing — and they cost real engineering.
Timeline pressure
Compressed timelines add team-capacity cost. Realistic timelines cost less. If the deadline is real, we meet it — but speed is a line item.
Operational support depth
A clean project handover and a multi-year operational partnership are different commitments. Maintenance, monitoring, and content ops are scoped separately as retainers.
Three ways we work.
Different problems need different commercial structures. We'll recommend the right one in discovery — you don't have to know going in.
- Project engagements. Fixed scope, fixed price, fixed timeline. Greenfield builds, replatforms, and bounded discovery-to-launch work.
- Monthly retainers. Continuous capacity at a predictable monthly investment. Maintenance, performance ops, SEO, paid media, content engineering — scoped by team hours per month, renewable quarterly.
- Strategic partnerships. Multi-discipline, multi-quarter — project and retainer combined. For organizations who want senior execution as a sustained capability, not a one-time purchase.
How estimates actually happen.
No mystery, no sales-funnel theater.
Project brief
Send it via the project page or call directly. You get a response within 24 business hours with an honest fit assessment.
Discovery call
30–60 minutes to understand the problem, scope, constraints, and success criteria. Scheduled within 2–3 business days of confirming fit.
Written proposal
Within 5 business days of the call: engagement model, scope, team, timeline, and investment — in one document.
Refine & commit
One or two iteration rounds, then a signed agreement. Most engagements start the first business day of the following month.
Quick honesty about misfit.
- We don't quote without a discovery call. A real number requires understanding the actual problem.
- We don't compete on lowest-bid procurement. Our floor covers senior execution, not pricing arbitrage.
- We don't do unpaid speculative work, mock-ups, or pitches. Discovery is paid above a minimum threshold.
- We don't take engagements where the primary concern is the lowest possible number. Mismatched expectations end badly for everyone.
Ready to talk specifics?
Send a brief or call directly — and have a real number in your hands within 5 business days.