Pricing & engagement

What it costs,
and why.

We quote per engagement after discovery rather than from a rate card. An estimate given before the process is mapped is wrong in both directions — usually expensively so. This page explains the models, what drives the number, and what is included regardless of size.

Engagement models

Four ways to work with us

Most clients start with discovery and move into a build. Programme and retained arrangements follow from there.

Discovery

The problem is clear, the solution is not.

Fixed feeQuoted before it starts · credited against a subsequent build
Interviews with the people doing the work
Written map of the current process
Bottlenecks identified and costed
Technical options with trade-offs
Phased estimate for the build
Request a quote
Most engagements

Build

Scope is agreed and ready to ship.

Fixed scopePriced per phase from the discovery estimate
Everything in discovery
Working software in reviewable increments
A running environment you can open
Automated tests and pre-release checks
Architecture notes and runbooks
Team training at handover
Start a project

Retained

Live systems needing support and iteration.

MonthlyRolling, with an agreed notice period
Maintenance and dependency hygiene
Monitoring and incident response
An agreed monthly change allowance
Priority on capacity
Quarterly review against the baseline
Discuss a retainer

Programme engagements — several linked systems delivered across three to six months — are priced as a sequence of build phases with a roadmap agreed up front. Agency partnerships run on agreed rates with a named engineering contact. Both are quoted individually.

Cost drivers

What actually moves the number

If you want a cheaper engagement, these are the levers. We would rather tell you where they are than pad an estimate.

Before you speak to anyone — us included — the payback calculator works out what a manual process costs you over a year and whether a build earns that back. It returns do not build this when the running cost would exceed the saving.

Integration surface

How many systems the build has to talk to, and whether they have documented APIs. One legacy system without an API can cost more than three modern ones.

Clarity of the process

If the workflow is already documented and agreed internally, discovery shortens considerably. If three people describe it three ways, it does not.

Number of user roles

Each distinct role adds permissions, screens and test paths. Two roles is not twice one — it is closer to three times.

Compliance requirements

Audit trails, data residency, retention rules and access reviews are all buildable, and all add scope. Tell us early rather than at UAT.

Data migration

Moving history from an old system is frequently the largest single line item, and the one most often left out of a first estimate.

Decision speed on your side

The cheapest projects have one named decision-maker who replies within a day. This is genuinely the largest variable we see.

Included as standard

Not billed separately

These are part of delivery on every engagement, at every size. If another supplier quotes them as extras, that is worth comparing.

Written scope with an explicit out-of-scope list
A running environment available throughout the build
Automated tests on the paths that matter
Code review on everything, regardless of author
Architecture notes, environment setup and runbooks
Team training session at handover
Intellectual property transferred on final payment
A defect-correction window after go-live
Commercial terms

How billing works

ItemHow we handle it
CurrencyInvoiced in INR for clients in India; other currencies quoted on request
Payment scheduleStaged against delivery milestones rather than calendar dates
TaxesGST applied as applicable and shown separately on every invoice
Change requestsQuoted and approved in writing before work starts — never absorbed silently or billed as a surprise
Third-party costsHosting, licences and API usage billed at cost, or paid directly by you on your own accounts
ContractStatement of work per engagement; we work under your MSA and NDA where you have them

On the first call we will give you a range. Not a number we then defend for six weeks — a range for work of a similar shape, with the assumptions behind it stated out loud so you can tell us which ones are wrong.

Before you ask for a quote

Work out whether it is worth building.

The cost of leaving a process alone is the number most people never put a figure on. Put your own numbers in — nothing is sent anywhere, and there is no email gate.

The process as it runs today

What that means

Costing you now, every year
Recovered each year, after the build
Payback

Assumes automation removes about 70% of the hours — the rest is judgement, exceptions and the cases software should not touch. It is a prompt for a conversation, not a quote.

What moves the price

Takes the figures straight to the enquiry form below, with the assumptions attached. No charge, and nobody will chase you afterwards.

Get a range on the first call.

Describe the process and the constraints. We will tell you the shape of engagement it needs and roughly what that costs — including when the answer is that you should not spend the money yet.

Considering a build? Describe the process and we will come back with a scope and a cost range — including if our view is that software is not the right answer. Get a range Message on WhatsApp