Cost guide
What custom software costs, and why.
Every price for custom software is really the answer to a handful of questions. Two builds that sound alike on the phone can be very different in size, which is why we don't publish a price list.
Here's what actually moves the number, so you can size your own build before you call.
What moves the number
How much of it we've already built
Most business software is made of the same parts: sign-in, payments, scheduling, messaging, document parsing, e-signature, QuickBooks sync. We've built each of those before and we keep them in a library we own.
The more of your build is made of parts that already work, the less of it you pay for from scratch. You pay for the part that's yours.
How much of the logic lives only in your head
Paul's prices lived in his head. Twenty-four months of his own invoices already held every number, so the tool could learn them from his history.
When the rules are written down somewhere, even in old invoices or a binder, they can be read. When they exist only in one person's judgment, getting them out is part of the work.
How many other systems it has to talk to
Every connection is work: accounting, calendars, text messages, email, e-signature. Connections we've built before cost less. One nobody has built before costs more.
What shape your documents and data are in
A clean export is cheap to work with. A stack of PDF sign-in sheets is not. It needs to be read, turned into rows, and checked by a person before anything is billed, which is how the Parentz@Work tool works.
Where it gets used
A tool used at a desk in a browser is one thing. A tool used on a phone next to a motorhome is another. Taking a card on site means an iPhone app, and Inertia holds Apple's Tap to Pay on iPhone entitlement for exactly that.
How sensitive the data is
Records for a court-referred program need more care than a parts list. Data privacy and cybersecurity specialists from our extended team are part of builds like that, and that care is part of the price.
How it's paid for
Some builds are a fee, and you own what gets built. Some are a fee plus a piece of what gets built, when we're building the thing itself alongside you. The second kind asks for less cash up front. Which one fits is decided on the first call, and it's written down.
What it costs to run afterwards
The build is one cost. Running it is another: hosting, and the services it uses, like text messages or email, which usually bill monthly by use. Ask for those numbers before you commit, not after.
The other side of the ledger
Every tool we build does one of three things: saves time, increases capacity, or makes money. If we can't say which, we don't build it. So price it against what it gives back.
RVDesk
About two hours a day back in peak season, by Paul's count.
Parentz@Work
Monthly billing went from twenty hours to two.
RevWin
Doubles what one business-development pro or seller-doer can carry.
When it isn't worth building
- When a no-code tool or an off-the-shelf product already fixes it. Use that, and we'll tell you so.
- When the problem is the product, not the process around it.
- When we can't get to one sentence: “the thing in my way is ___.” No sentence, no project.
- Sometimes the answer is something we already run. RVDesk is $199 a month for mobile RV techs, no build required.
Questions
- Why don't you publish prices?
- Because the questions above swing the size of a build more than anything else, and a price quoted before anyone has found the real problem is a price for the wrong build.
- Can a small business afford custom software?
- Often, yes. That's what the code library is for: the parts every business needs are already built, so a small business pays for the part that's specific to it.
- Who owns the code?
- On a fee build, you own what gets built. If we keep a piece, it's written down before we start.
- Is there a cost after it's built?
- Yes. Hosting and the services the tool uses, such as texting or email, usually bill monthly. Ask for those numbers up front.
Thirty minutes. Tell us what’s in your way.
If it’s worth building, you’ll know what drives the price of yours. If it isn’t, we’ll say so.