Discovery & scoping
We map the process as it really runs, including the exceptions people handle by hand. Half of what saves you money is decided here.
Services
Three ways to work with us.
Every engagement starts the same way — a free call where we scope the real problem. What changes is how the work is shaped and paid for after that.
Fixed-scope project
You know what you need. We define it precisely, price it once, and ship it.
$6k – $60k typical
4 – 16 weeks
- Written scope, fixed price, fixed date
- Weekly demos on a live staging URL
- Deployment, handover and team training included
- 30 days of bug fixes after launch, no charge
Embedded team
You have continuous work and want developers who already know your system.
$3,500/mo and up
Monthly, cancel anytime
- A set block of senior development hours each month
- Direct line to the developers — your Slack or ours
- Hosting, monitoring, backups and updates handled
- Roadmap reviewed with you every month
Product partnership
You have the industry and the customers. We have the engineering. We build it together.
Reduced rate + equity
Case by case
- Lower cash cost in exchange for a real stake
- We've done this for ourselves five times — we know the traps
- Billing, onboarding, admin console and support tooling from day one
- Selective — we take on a small number of these
Prices are ranges for planning. You get one exact number in writing before anyone starts.
Services in detail
Six things we do. Open any one for the full picture.
What each involves, what's included in writing, what we've already shipped in it, and a realistic price band.
Custom web applications
Dashboards, portals, quoting engines, back-office tools.
6–16 weeks · $15k–$60k What's involvedMobile apps
iOS and Android from one codebase, store submission included.
6–12 weeks · $18k–$50k What's involvedSaaS platforms
Multi-tenancy, billing, onboarding, admin console.
3–6 months · from $40k What's involvedAutomation & integrations
Accounting, payments, marketplaces, supplier feeds.
1–5 weeks · $3k–$18k What's involvedAI features
Document extraction, classification, drafting, triage.
2–6 weeks · $6k–$25k What's involvedWebsites & e-commerce
Marketing sites, live catalogues, custom WordPress themes.
1–4 weeks · $2.5k–$12k What's involvedCapabilities
What's actually included when we say "we build it".
Not a list of buzzwords — the specific work that happens between your first call and software your team uses on a Monday.
Interface design
Screens designed around the job, not the database. Fast, obvious, and usable on a phone in a truck or a warehouse.
Architecture
A data model that won't need a rewrite in year two, and a stack chosen for what it costs to run and hire for — not for what's trending.
Development
Web, mobile and API. Written by senior developers, reviewed before it merges, deployed behind a staging environment you can see.
Integrations
Payments, accounting, telephony, marketplaces, EDI, shipping, e-signature. If it has an API — or a CSV — we can wire it in.
AI features that earn out
Document extraction, classification, drafting, triage. We benchmark the cheap path first and only spend on models where accuracy actually pays.
Deployment & DevOps
Docker, nginx, automated backups, TLS, monitoring and alerting. On your cloud account or a private VPS that costs less than a per-seat SaaS bill.
Handover
Documentation, a recorded walkthrough, admin training and the credentials. Written so your next developer isn't stuck calling us.
Support
From "call us when it breaks" to a monthly retainer with response times in writing. Your choice, revisited whenever you like.
Stack
Boring technology, deliberately.
We pick tools with ten years of runway and a hiring pool, so the system outlives the people who built it — including us. When something exotic genuinely fits, we'll say why in writing before we use it.
Everything runs in your accounts: your repository, your cloud, your domains, your app store listings. We're a vendor you can fire without losing your software.
- Backend
- Node.js, TypeScript, Express — plus Python where the job calls for it
- Frontend
- React 18 + Vite, or server-rendered templates when a SPA would be overkill
- Mobile
- React Native / Expo — one codebase, iOS and Android
- Data
- PostgreSQL, Redis, BullMQ for background jobs and retries
- Infrastructure
- Docker Compose, nginx, private VPS or AWS — whatever's cheapest to run correctly
- AI
- Claude API, OCR pipelines, prompt caching and batch processing to keep cost down
- Sites & commerce
- Hand-built static sites, WordPress custom themes, Stripe and marketplace APIs
Straight talk
Things we'll tell you before you spend money.
"You don't need custom software."
Sometimes a $40/month tool and two hours of setup beats a build. We'd rather say it on the first call than take the project.
"That's a v2 feature."
The fastest way to kill a build is to put everything in version one. We'll push hard for the smallest thing that's genuinely useful.
"That number is wrong."
If your estimate of the savings doesn't survive arithmetic, we'll do the math with you before either of us commits.
FAQ
The questions everyone asks.
Who owns the code?
You do — all of it, from the first commit, in the contract. We work inside your repository and your cloud accounts wherever possible. If we host for you, you can take the whole thing elsewhere whenever you want.
How long does a project take?
A landing page or marketing site: one to two weeks. An internal tool or portal: four to eight weeks. A full platform like a TMS or CRM: three to six months for a real v1, then continuous improvement. You get a date in the proposal, and weekly demos so you never have to trust a status update.
What if I only have a rough idea?
That's normal and it's the part we're good at. Bring the spreadsheet, the whiteboard photo, or the process one employee keeps in their head. The scoping call turns it into a written plan — and that plan is yours to keep whether or not you hire us.
Can you take over an existing project?
Yes, and we do it often. We start with a paid audit — a few days reading the code and the infrastructure — and give you an honest read on whether it should be continued, refactored or replaced. Sometimes the answer is "keep it, fix these four things".
Do you work with businesses outside Chicago?
Yes. The team is distributed and most of our work is remote. We're in the Chicago area if an in-person kickoff matters to you.
What does it cost to run after launch?
Usually far less than people expect. A typical internal platform runs on a private server for tens of dollars a month plus whatever third-party APIs you use. We put the monthly running cost in the proposal so it's never a surprise.
Start with the free call.
Thirty minutes, no pitch deck, no obligation. You'll leave with a plan and a realistic number either way.
Book a scoping call