Frequently Asked Questions

A retainer buys a workstream, not a block of hours. You keep a prioritized list of requests, we work on the one at the top until it ships, then start the next. One workstream is $4,500 a month and two are $7,500. You get a demo and a written report every week, and you can change or cancel with 30 days notice.

Our core stack is React and TypeScript on the frontend, Go on the backend, and PostgreSQL for the database, deployed with Docker on Hetzner or your own servers. We also build and maintain Python backends, data pipelines, and AWS infrastructure managed with Terraform.

You’ll have direct access to the engineers working on your project via Slack or Discord. No ticketing systems, no project managers in between. We also do weekly video calls to demo progress and gather feedback.

It happens, and we’re flexible. For fixed-price projects, we’ll discuss the change, estimate the impact, and provide an updated quote before doing any additional work. For retainers, we simply adjust priorities.

Yes, we love working with startups. Our retainer model is perfect for early-stage companies who need senior engineering help but aren’t ready to hire full-time. We’ve helped several startups go from idea to launched product.

Every project includes 90 days of bug fixes and support. After that, you can continue with a maintenance retainer, or we hand off the codebase with full documentation. Either way, you own the code completely.

All retainers include a dedicated workstream, direct communication channels, source code ownership, GitHub access, infrastructure access, monthly progress reports, and architecture documentation. You also get a 30-day cancellation notice period.

Yes, you can move between one and two workstreams, or to an hourly block, at any time with 30 days notice. We’ll prorate the billing for the current month and adjust for the following period.

A workstream is capacity held for you, so the price is the same in a quiet month. If you expect a longer gap, cancel with 30 days notice and start again when you are ready. On an hourly block, unused hours do not roll over.

Yes, for teams that want a fixed block of time. Hourly retainers are $150 an hour, from 24 hours a month ($3,600). Most clients choose a workstream instead, because the price does not depend on counting hours.

For Website Care, cancel before your next renewal; your care plan stays active through the current paid billing period. Take your site with you. Development retainers require 30 days notice to cancel. During that period, we’ll complete any in-progress work, provide documentation, and ensure a smooth handoff of your codebase and infrastructure.

Retainers don’t include design work, 24/7 emergency support, or third-party service costs (hosting providers, domains, external APIs). These can be added as needed at their respective rates.

Yes! For custom software with a defined scope, we offer fixed-price development starting at $25K. For a local business that needs a simple website, the Local Website Starter is a flat $2,500. Contact us to discuss your project requirements and timeline.

Yes. The Local Website Starter is a flat $2,500 for up to five simple pages, a mobile-friendly design, click-to-call, a contact form, basic page titles and descriptions, and two rounds of revisions. An optional Website Care Plan covers hosting, updates, backup checks and small content edits for $149 a month. We don’t promise leads or search rankings.

For $149 a month we host your Local Website Starter site, apply security and software updates, check backups, and make small content edits such as hours, prices, text and photos. It is optional and month to month. Cancel before your next renewal; your care plan stays active through the current paid billing period. Take your site with you.

An AI agent pilot starts at $7,500 and covers one workflow connected to your tools, with human review. An MCP integration starts at $5,000. A SaaS product is priced as Custom App Development, from $25,000. Setting up AI inference on hardware you own starts at $7,500. We agree on deliverables, access and timeline before work begins.

Yes. Local AI Inference Setup starts at $7,500. We help you choose the hardware, install and tune the inference stack, and give your apps a standard API to call, so prompts and documents stay on machines you control. You buy the hardware; we advise and set it up.

Yes. AI agents draft much of our code and its tests. A senior engineer directs the work, checks it, and answers for every change, and nothing merges without passing automated checks. The How We Work With AI page explains the process and its limits.

AWS bills can be unpredictable and expensive, especially as you scale. Self-hosted infrastructure on providers like Hetzner gives you significant cost reduction, better performance, predictable billing, and full control. We handle the migration with zero downtime.

Infrastructure migrations typically take 2-6 weeks depending on complexity. We start with a staging environment, test thoroughly, then do a zero-downtime production cutover. You’re involved at every step.

Every infrastructure setup includes automated daily backups, Prometheus metrics, and Grafana dashboards. You’ll have full visibility into your system’s health and performance.

Yes. React, Go and PostgreSQL are our core, and we also work in Python, on AWS with Terraform, and on data pipelines. If your project needs something we would not do well, we will say so and can recommend trusted partners.

PostgreSQL is the most advanced open-source database. It’s rock-solid, feature-rich, and handles everything from simple CRUD to complex queries and JSON data. It’s also free and has excellent tooling.

Yes, we can take over existing projects or integrate with your current systems. We’ll start with a code audit to understand the architecture, then provide recommendations before starting work.

We break projects into specific features and estimate each one conservatively. For fixed-price projects, we add buffer time. For retainers, we work through your queue in priority order and tell you each week what is next.

For retainers: we work through your queue and send a weekly update with a demo. For projects: we follow a sprint-like cadence with weekly check-ins and bi-weekly demos.

Yes, we’re happy to sign NDAs and other standard agreements. We take confidentiality seriously and can work within your security requirements.