What it costs, and how we get to that number
Every honest answer to what does it cost starts with it depends. So here is what it depends on, what you pay for before anyone writes code, and what you walk away with if you decide not to build with us.
You get a number before you commit to a build
Discovery
Fixed price, known before you startA short engagement to establish what you are trying to change, what already exists, and what actually constrains the work. It is paid and it is fixed - you know the cost of this step before you agree to it.
What you get
You leave with a written plan: the stack, the sequence, the risks, and a number for the build. It is yours whether or not we build it. If you take it to another firm, it still works.
Build
Quoted against the planThe build is priced from the plan discovery produced, not from a guess made before anyone read the code. Work lands in small reviewable increments behind CI, with something running in a staging environment early rather than a single delivery at the end.
What you get
Weekly demos against the written plan. If the scope changes because you learn something, we re-quote the delta in the open rather than absorbing it quietly or billing for it later.
After handover
Support window includedEvery engagement ends with a documented handover and a support window at no extra cost. Longer arrangements are available where they genuinely help - connected hardware in the field is the usual case, since fleet monitoring and over-the-air updates are ongoing rather than launch tasks.
What you get
Code in your repositories, infrastructure in your accounts. The goal is that you do not need us for the next thing.
The five things that actually change what a build costs
None of these are surprises we spring later. If any of them apply to you, they are in the plan and in the number.
Integrations you do not control
A third-party system with good documentation is a week. The same system with no sandbox, no documentation and a support queue is a month, and no amount of planning changes that.
Compliance and data residency
Keeping records in Canada, or meeting a specific regulatory bar, is usually straightforward if it is a requirement from day one and expensive if it arrives late.
Hardware in the loop
Anything physical adds procurement, bring-up and field testing that software alone does not. It also adds a lead time you cannot compress by working harder.
The state of what exists
Working in an unfamiliar codebase used to mean weeks of archaeology. AI-assisted reading has shortened that considerably, which is why our discovery is short - but a system with no tests and no documentation still costs more to change safely.
A deadline that cannot move
A fixed date is a legitimate constraint and we will plan to it. It costs more, because it removes the option of solving a problem the cheap way and waiting.
What we will not do
Most of the ways software projects go wrong financially are decisions someone made at the start.
- Bill hourly with no cap and let you discover the total at the end
- Quote low and make it back on change requests
- Staff the pitch with principals and deliver with juniors
- Charge for a discovery whose output you cannot use elsewhere
- Hold your code or your infrastructure as leverage
Want a number for your project?
Tell us what you are trying to ship and what constrains it. We will tell you how we would approach it, and what discovery would cost, before you commit to anything.
More questions about how we work? Read the FAQ - it covers ownership, stacks, AI, and what happens after launch.
Ready to build something that lasts?
Tell us what you are trying to ship. We will tell you how we would approach it - scope, stack, and timeline - before you commit to anything.