Pricing tailored to your scope
Flexible consulting models designed for short-term discovery or long-term production builds.
These options show how we typically structure engagements. Find the approach that fits your project, and we’ll customize it to your needs.
Discovery — Phase 0
Uncover technical risks, define architecture, and map out a build timeline prior to a larger commitment.
- Technical discovery & architecture review
- Success criteria & deliverable roadmap
- Detailed build plan and cost estimation
Dedicated team
Dedicated engineering, staff augmentation, consulting, and other services.
- Flexible team sizes from ~0.5 FTE (full time equivalent) to multiple FTEs
- Hourly equivalent: $140 – $200 / hr
- Preferred rates available for long-term engagements
Alternative pricing
A hybrid model combining an upfront fee with milestone payments.
- For well-defined scopes with measurable success criteria
- Tailored for fixed-deliverable or milestone-driven initiatives
- See FAQ for details
All pricing is in USD, and based on estimated hours and scope.
Smaller Projects & SDK Support
Building with a budget under $5,000?
Start for free with our Switchboard SDK. Get pay-as-you-go support at $200/hr, or choose a flexible monthly plan for ongoing needs.
Frequently asked questions
This model requires a very clear, mutually agreed definition of scope and outcome. For the early-stage projects we tend to work on, that clarity is uncommon — so it's a fit for only a small minority of engagements.
If your project has well-defined outcomes and measurable success criteria, we're happy to discuss whether an outcome-based structure could work.
Rates vary by scope, service type, specific expertise, AI tools required, project duration, and total hours committed. Longer engagements and larger commitments often benefit from more favorable rates.
We are a specialized engineering team. If your scope aligns, we will likely be more cost effective overall than any alternative, even if you're comparing against much lower hourly rates or building internally.
If you are using our free Switchboard SDK and getting our help, cost efficiency grows further, potentially by multiples.
If you need to build a business case around a large project, we can help you understand why we're able to accomplish more, with fewer hours. And if we can't, we'll tell you, because your project may not be the best fit. We focus on projects that are.
In addition, for projects in our niche, we will likely have ideas and potential solutions you may not have considered. This can lead to bottom line improvement through new revenue channels and reduced costs.
Smaller engagements typically run a month or two at roughly half an FTE — focused builds, integrations, or bounded R&D. Larger engagements can scale to multiple FTEs for over a year of continuous work on productionizing complex systems or long-running platform work.
Yes — hourly rates include normal AI token usage as part of our standard engineering workflow. In cases where AI usage is substantially higher, or where specialized tooling or hardware are required, we can tweak our agreement accordingly.
Ready to define your build?
Share your project goals and we'll outline the best engagement model — starting with a Phase 0 discovery roadmap.