Your technology investments should pay for themselves.
In an industry that’s infamous for cost overruns and low-ball bids, we go to great lengths to make the most of your budget. Here’s how we handle your money, and what every kind of work we do typically costs.
No gimmicks. No gotchas.
Custom software is expensive. If it doesn’t work for your business, nothing else about it matters. So we treat your budget the way you would.
We work to a fixed budget
We match the scope to the capital you actually have and hold ourselves to that number. When we learn something mid-project, and we always do, the scope flexes to fit the budget. The budget does not flex to fit the scope.
A strong first release comes first
The first thing we agree on is what a strong first release looks like and whether the budget can carry it. If it can’t, we say so before you spend a dollar, not after.
You control the trade-offs
Every week we ask the same question: how do we get the most value out of the remaining budget? You see the list, you make the calls, and nothing gets cut without you knowing.
The value has to beat the fee
We only take on work where what you get back should clearly exceed what you pay. If a project can’t pass that test, we’ll tell you, even when it costs us the work.
Where the risk sits depends on the contract.
Fixed price, fixed scope
Scope, price, and date are locked. Every new fact you learn becomes a change order. Vendors protect themselves by padding the estimate or cutting corners.
When we use it. Only when the scope is truly nailed down and unlikely to change. We do quote it in that case.
Time and materials
The meter runs. You control scope, but nothing stops the cost from running past the plan, and the vendor has no reason to make it stop.
When we use it. When scope is still forming, for ongoing development, or for advisory work. Always with a monthly cap.
Fixed budget, controlled scope
Budget and quality are fixed. Scope flexes. We prioritize together inside the envelope, and we are not constrained by a contract that keeps us from using what we learn.
When we use it. Our default for projects. It is how the ranges on this page get delivered without surprise invoices.
Two questions. A realistic range.
Pick the kind of project and how complex it is. You get a typical budget, a typical schedule, and the first step we’d propose. It’s a range, not a quote. The range narrows once we’ve done the planning work.
What projects like yours typically cost.
The low end is a tightly scoped first release; the high end has more integrations, more user types, or compliance scope. Every row starts with a fixed-fee planning step that narrows the number before you commit.
| Type of project | What it is | Typical schedule | Typical budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web or mobile utility | Does a few simple things well. One or two screens, one workflow, maybe one integration. The kind of tool a department has been running out of a spreadsheet.e.g. A field data-capture app · a quoting calculator · an internal request tracker | 4–8 weeks | $25K–$75K |
| Prototype or demo software | Something real enough to put in front of users, investors, or a board, built to learn from rather than to run the business on yet.e.g. A clickable proof of concept · a demo for a trade show · a pilot for one location | 4–12 weeks | $25K–$125K |
| Mobile app that complements an existing web application | A native or cross-platform app for the field, the floor, or the customer, wired into the system you already run.e.g. A technician app for a dispatch platform · a customer app for a portal · a driver app for a TMS | 3–6 months | $75K–$250K |
| AI assistant or automation across your business systems | An AI workflow wired into the tools you already run: it reads documents or messages, takes action in your systems, and hands judgment calls to a person. Measured against a number.e.g. Document intake and extraction · an assistant that answers from your own data · an agent that works a queue in your CRM or ERP | 6–12 weeks | $15K–$150K |
| Integration and reporting layer | Connect the systems that don’t talk, define one version of every number, and put dashboards and alerts on top that people actually open.e.g. ERP + CRM + field system into one view · month-end close from five days to one · job- or unit-level profitability | 2–5 months | $100K–$350K |
| Basic new application, rewrite of an existing product, or first phase of a complex system | A complete first release with a handful of critical features and integrations. Deployed, used every day, and built to be expanded.e.g. A v1 of a new operations tool · a rewrite of the platform a vendor abandoned · phase one of a larger system | 3–7 months | $150K–$500K |
| Modernization or takeover of a system you already run | Take over a system built by someone else, stabilize it, and modernize it in slices behind the running version. No big-bang rewrite, no downtime you didn’t plan for.e.g. A legacy platform on a dead framework · a stalled project the last vendor walked away from · an AI-generated prototype that hit its ceiling | 3–9 months | $150K–$750K |
| Customer-facing product or MVP | A commercial-grade web or mobile application with a polished interface and a complete first release. Usually the first phase of a multi-phase product.e.g. A mobile app for your customers · a SaaS product from a consulting practice · a marketplace or booking platform | 4–9 months | $250K–$750K |
| Security-conscious or compliance-heavy system | Software where the controls are part of the product: access, audit trails, encryption, retention, and the evidence an examiner asks for. The controls and the testing are a real share of the budget, so we plan them up front.e.g. HIPAA, PCI, or SOC 2 scope · AML and financial reporting · anything an auditor or regulator will review | 6–12+ months | $400K–$1.5M+ |
| Complex, multi-phase application | Many user types, many integrations, configuration, and a long life. Delivered in phases, each one live and earning before the next starts.e.g. Order-to-cash for a distributor · a job-costing and dispatch platform · the system a multi-site operator runs on | 6–18+ months | $500K–$3M+ |
| Custom ERP or operations platform | The system the business runs on, built for how your business actually works: modules, roles, integrations, reporting, and years of headroom.e.g. Replacing an ERP that never fit · unifying five systems into one operating platform · a franchise or multi-location backbone | 9–21+ months | $750K–$5M+ |
Most real projects are a combination of two rows. Book a 30-minute intro and we’ll tell you which rows apply and roughly what they add up to.
Six things that move the number.
Integrations
Every system the software has to talk to adds work, and the older or less documented the system, the more.
User types and workflows
A tool for one team is a fraction of a platform that serves customers, staff, and partners with different needs.
Data quality
If the data is fragmented or wrong, fixing it is part of the project. It is usually where the real cost hides.
Compliance and security
Audit trails, access controls, encryption, and the evidence to prove them add scope on purpose.
Speed
Moving faster means more people or more experienced people, and both cost more per month.
How much is already decided
A validated plan shrinks the range. That is what the assessments and the VDP Sprint are for.
What people ask about cost.
What happens if the project runs over?
On a fixed-budget project it does not, because the budget is the fixed part. When we learn something that would push scope past the budget, we look at the rest of the plan together and move less critical work to a later release or simplify it. You decide the trade-offs, and you never get an invoice you were not expecting.
Who pays for bugs?
Bugs are part of building software. You are paying the team to catch and fix them as part of the work, not to financially own every one. Bugs found while we are building are fixed inside the project. After launch, fixes are covered by maintenance and support, which is priced as reserved hours.
Can we break the project into phases?
Yes, and we usually recommend it. A strong first release that is live and earning, then the next phase. It lowers the risk, gets value into the business sooner, and lets what you learn from real users shape what comes next.
Do you do fixed-price work?
Yes, quite a bit. When the planning step has produced a scope we both believe in, we fix the price. Larger projects are broken into milestones, each with its own fixed fee, and we set the fee for the next milestone as the one before it wraps up, so the number reflects what we have learned rather than what we guessed at the start. Where the work is still taking shape, our default is a fixed budget with controlled scope, and ongoing or advisory work is time and materials with a monthly cap. We recommend the model after the Deep Dive rather than asking you to pick one up front.
How does payment work?
A standard master services agreement, then a short statement of work for each engagement. Fixed-fee work is billed in installments tied to milestones, with part of the fee up front. Retainers are billed monthly in advance. Invoices are due in ten days. You own everything we build once it is paid for.
Why not just hire an hourly team?
Because hourly work with no budget shifts all the risk to you and gives the vendor no reason to finish. We use hourly billing where it fits, for ongoing development and advisory work, and we cap it monthly. For a project with a defined outcome, a fixed budget is the honest way to buy it.
Can we start smaller than these ranges?
Yes. A System Evaluation or a VDP Sprint is a fixed fee and is the smallest way to start. You leave with a plan and a cost you can take anywhere, and many clients start there before committing to a build.
Budgets held. Promises kept.
Everyone was so thrilled about having a modern system that’s easy to log into, and everyone was happy with the reporting. We almost didn’t have to do any training anymore because the system was intuitive.
Frogslayer is easy to work with — they communicate in a detailed, professional manner without wasting time, and the work product is top level. They suggested an approach we hadn’t considered and built a product that works even better than we envisioned.
Want a real number instead of a range? Let’s find a better way.
30 minutes, no slide deck. Tell us what you’re trying to do and we’ll tell you what the planning step would cost and what it would tell you.