pricing
What I do, and how it's priced.
I don't publish a rate card, and I'd rather explain that up front than have you hunt for a number that isn't there.
Two businesses asking for the same thing — "a simple inventory app," "get the office network sorted" — routinely turn out to need different amounts of work. One has clean data and three users. The other has fifteen years of history in a spreadsheet, a system that has to keep running while we switch, and a landlord who won't allow new cabling.
Quoting either of those from a price list would mean padding it to cover the bad case, and you'd be paying for that padding. So the number comes after I've looked at the actual situation, and it comes as a fixed figure rather than an open meter.
What I can tell you in advance is exactly what you'd be paying for and how it's structured. That's what this page is for. If you're earlier than that and still working out what any of this should cost, I've written up how IT work is priced and how to compare two quotes.
custom software
Software built for your business
Four shapes, and which one fits depends on how you work rather than on what I'd prefer to build.
Hosted web app
I build it, I run it, your staff reach it from a browser anywhere. Small improvements are part of the arrangement as your needs shift; larger pieces of work get quoted on their own.
Monthly subscription
Desktop app, local database
Runs on your own machines with the data on your own disk. Bug fixes are free for as long as you use it. New features are quoted when you want them. Backups are yours to handle — I'll help you set something up, but you maintain it.
One-time build
Cloud backup
Periodic off-site copies of your data, available whether or not I host the app itself. Worth having the moment losing the data would genuinely hurt.
Monthly, based on storage
In-office server
Hardware specified, built, and configured so your software runs in your own building. Handed over documented, so you're not dependent on me to keep it going.
One-time build, optional support
None of these are priced per seat. Hiring your tenth employee doesn't change the bill. If you're weighing this against an off-the-shelf product, I've written about when building is actually the right call — including when it isn't.
it support
Networks, devices, and the things that break
The infrastructure side, for businesses that don't have someone in-house — and don't need someone full-time.
Network setup and configuration
Routers, access points, and the layout that makes them work in your actual building. Guest networks kept separate from the network your business runs on.
One-time, or ongoing
VPNs and remote access
Private access to your office network from home or the road, without exposing anything to the open internet. The setup people actually use, rather than the one they work around.
One-time setup
Security and access control
Authentication and permissions that fit how your team works — who can reach what, multi-factor where it matters, and a clean process for someone joining or leaving.
One-time, or ongoing
Device cleanup and software management
Machines that have slowed to a crawl, updates nobody's run, software nobody can account for. Cleaned up, brought current, and kept that way if you'd rather not think about it again.
Per visit, or monthly
One-time or recurring
Most of what I do lands in one of two buckets, and you're free to use one, the other, or both.
| Shape | What it covers | Suits you when |
|---|---|---|
| One-time | A project with a defined end — a build, an install, a cleanup, a migration | You want the thing done, handed over, and off your books |
| Recurring | Hosting, backups, monitoring, and support you can call on | You'd rather it stayed working without you managing it |
What actually drives the cost
Roughly in order of how much they move the number:
- How much has to keep running while we change it. Replacing something nobody depends on is straightforward. Replacing the system your business runs on today, without downtime, is a different job.
- How much existing data has to come across, and what state it's in.
- How many systems have to talk to each other. One tool is simple. Three tools that have to stay in sync is where the work is.
- Whether it's on-site or remote, and how much of it needs someone physically in the building.
- How much of it you want to own afterwards — a documented handover you can hand to another developer takes longer than something only I can maintain, and it's worth it.
How it works
We meet — in person if you're near Princeton, Hopewell, or Flemington, and remotely if not. I look at what you're running and what it's costing you in money and in hours. Then I tell you what I'd do, what it would cost as a fixed number, and how long it would take.
That conversation doesn't cost anything, and it doesn't obligate you to anything. A fair share of the time it ends with me telling you the thing you already have is fine, or that a cheaper fix will do. I'd rather say that than sell you a project you didn't need.