What It Costs to Stop Doing Everything Yourself
Custom-built platforms for small businesses — designed around how your business actually works, priced so you can actually say yes.
What Custom Business Software Actually Costs
A custom-built system that runs your business — dashboards, scheduling, invoicing, team management, client portals, reporting — typically costs $200,000 to $400,000+ to build. That's before you pay for hosting, security, or a single update.
After the build, maintenance alone runs 15-25% of the original development cost every year. On a $250,000 system, that's $37,500 to $62,500 per year — just to keep it running. Feature upgrades, server costs, and security patches are all extra. Over a 10-year lifecycle, maintenance alone can cost double the original build.
We built a different model. Custom code, self-hosted infrastructure, no middlemen. The costs that drive those prices don't exist here. Every plan below includes the build, the hosting, the maintenance, the security, and ongoing improvements. No hidden fees. Nothing extra to buy.
Sources
IEEE Standard 1219 — Software maintenance cost categories and lifecycle analysis
IEEE Software Engineering Studies — 15-25% annual maintenance is the documented industry standard
O'Reilly 60/60 Rule — 60% of total software lifecycle cost goes to maintenance
Core
Your whole business, one screen.
For businesses that need one system instead of five tools. We bring your scheduling, invoicing, client info, and daily operations into one custom-built dashboard — so you stop bouncing between apps and start running your business from one place.
Setup: $5,000 one-time
Build time: ~1 month
- Every tool you use — scheduling, invoicing, email, CRM — connected into one custom dashboard
- See your entire operation at a glance: jobs, clients, revenue, team activity
- Built around your industry and your specific workflow — not a template you adapt to
- Your own private system with your own database — nobody else sees your data
- One face-to-face enhancement meeting per year to evolve your platform as your business grows
Operations
The busy work handles itself.
For businesses with moving parts that need to work together automatically. Emails route themselves, schedules sync across departments, invoices generate when jobs complete, and follow-ups fire without anyone touching them.
Setup: $10,000 one-time· split payment available
Build time: ~2 months
- Everything in Core, plus the repetitive work handles itself — emails route, schedules sync, invoices generate
- Follow-ups, reminders, and notifications fire automatically — nothing slips through the cracks
- Rule-based automation across your entire workflow: when something happens, the next step follows, every time
- Connects departments that currently operate in silos — office, field, and management see what they need
- Two face-to-face enhancement meetings per year to plan improvements and expand what's working
- Source code escrow — if anything ever happens to us, your software is safeguarded
Intelligence
Your business runs itself — and gets smarter every day.
For businesses that want their platform to learn, predict, and optimize. Machine learning studies your patterns, an AI assistant handles analysis and reporting, and the system gets better every single month it runs.
Setup: starting at $15,000· split payment available
Build time: ~3-4 months
20-25% below standard rates — locked for life
- Everything in Operations, plus machine learning that studies your business patterns and improves decisions over time
- Predictive capabilities: anticipate problems before they happen, optimize routes, forecast demand
- AI Executive Assistant that handles analysis, recommendations, and reporting you'd normally need a manager for
- Consumable optimization, staffing predictions, seasonal pattern recognition — it gets smarter every month
- Quarterly face-to-face enhancement meetings to evolve your platform as your business and the AI's understanding grow
- The technology doesn't just work for you — it thinks with you
Start Where You Are. Grow When You're Ready.
Every platform starts with a conversation. Many businesses begin with Core and upgrade as they grow. Upgrade setup fees are reduced because the work we've already done carries forward. You never pay twice for the same thing.
Compare All Three Tiers
| Feature | Core | Operations | Intelligence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $999/mo | $1,999/mo | $3,999/mo |
| One-time setup | $5,000 | $10,000 | Starting at $15,000 |
| What it does | Consolidates your tools into one dashboard | Automates your daily operations | Learns your business and optimizes decisions |
| Enhancement meetings | 1/year (face-to-face) | 2/year (face-to-face) | 4/year — quarterly (face-to-face) |
| Build time | ~1 month | ~2 months | ~3-4 months |
| Split payment on setup | — |
Compare all features
| AI / Machine Learning | — | — | Included |
| Rule-based automation | — | Included | Included |
| Source code escrow | — | ||
| Upgrade setup fee | — | ~$3,000-$5,000 from Core | ~$3,000-$5,000 from Operations |
| Private system (your own database) | |||
| Custom dashboard | |||
| Emergency fixes | Included | Included | Included |
| Data export guarantee | Always yours | Always yours | Always yours |
| Discovery phase | 1-2 weeks on-site | 1-2 weeks on-site | 1-2 weeks on-site |
| Minimum contract | 12 months | 12 months | 12 months |
See What a Platform Looks Like
Here's an early look at a platform we're building for a hot tub service company in Sunriver, Oregon. This is a development preview — a snapshot of the system as it's being shaped around how their business actually runs.
Spa Health
2026-04-04 — Real-time fleet overview
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Active Routes
0/10
Stops Done
0
Check-ins
0
Overdue
0.0%
Dump Rate
0
Alerts
Today's Completion
0%
Today's Stops
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Across 3 routes
Active Dumps
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2 in progress, 1 scheduled
Check-ins
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Next 7 days
Every platform we build is this thorough. Yours would be designed for YOUR business.
What We Guarantee
We put this on the pricing page because most companies bury it in a contract.
Price lock
Your price is set the day you sign. It never goes up. What changes is how much value you get — bill credits start at year three.
Your data, always
Export it anytime, in standard formats, no questions asked. Your data is always yours. Period.
No hidden fees
Hosting, maintenance, security, support — all included. No surprises on your bill. Ever.
Emergency fixes
If your system breaks, we fix it. Included at every tier. No extra charge. No ticket system.
Discovery first
We spend time inside your business before building anything. If we're not the right fit, we'll tell you.
Source code escrow
Operations and Intelligence tiers include legal escrow — if anything happens to us, your software is safeguarded.
Your price stays the same. What you get doesn't. Every year you stay, you earn more — bill credits starting at year three, referral rewards, and scheduled meetings to make your system even better.
Common Questions
Every path starts with a conversation.
Tell us what's working, what's not, and what you wish ran itself — and we'll tell you exactly what we'd build.
Ready to talk about your business?