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Guides for buyers

Plain answers on buying software, with the sources showing.

What things cost, how to choose between the options, and what to ask before you sign. Every statistic links to where it came from. Every price comes from our own estimator, worked out when you open the page.

// guides

Read before you commission.

Written by the people who do the building, about the decisions you actually face as a buyer.

Pricing 9 min read

What a custom web app costs in 2026, by role

See where the hours on a custom web app go, role by role, and which of your decisions move them. With a small, a medium and a large web app priced live from our rate card.

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Pricing 5 min read

How deposits protect both sides

Know what you pay and when: why we ask for a deposit, how the rest is split by milestone, and what the 10% holdback is for. With two schedules worked out by our estimator.

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AI 8 min read

Frontier, open-source or custom LLM

There are three routes to a language model in your product. Compare them on build cost, running cost, control and where your data goes, then pick yours. With the same assistant priced three ways.

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AI 7 min read

RAG or fine-tuning: which your project needs

Retrieval gives a model knowledge it can cite. Fine-tuning changes how it behaves. Work out which problem you have and when you need both, with three projects priced live.

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AI 7 min read

Putting limits on an AI agent

You want an AI agent to act on your systems without doing damage. Decide which tools it gets and with what permissions, where people approve, what budgets cap its steps and spend, and how you evaluate it before and after launch.

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Blockchain 8 min read

Supply chains: private or public chain

Decide when your supply chain needs a private permissioned chain, when a public chain fits better, and when a well-run shared database is the honest answer. With the same portal priced three ways.

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Security 7 min read

What a smart contract audit covers

Know what a smart contract audit checks and what it leaves out, how to prepare so yours is worth it, and the security work that has to continue after the report. With two projects priced live.

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Bots 7 min read

Discord bots: what to build first

Decide which Discord bot features earn their keep in your first release and which can wait. Then see the platform rules on commands, intents and rate limits that shape the build. With two bots priced live.

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Bots 7 min read

Telegram bots for business

See what a Telegram bot can do for your business: answer customers, take payments and open full mini apps inside the chat. With the platform rules that shape each one, and three projects priced live.

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Mobile 7 min read

React Native or native?

Decide when one React Native codebase for iOS and Android is right for you, and when separate native apps earn their extra work. See what the app stores require either way, and when a web app beats both.

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Hiring 7 min read

Build vs hire a team

Hiring your own developers in British Columbia costs more than the salary. See what it really costs, when hiring is the right call, when a studio is, and the hybrid that often beats both.

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Planning 7 min read

How we deliver faster without cutting corners

See how your project gets built and checked. Our engineers direct AI agents to build the foundations, senior people stay on the parts that matter most, and every line goes through tests, reviews and verification.

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Planning 7 min read

Writing a brief for an accurate quote

Know what to put in your software brief so quotes come back accurate and comparable: users, screens, integrations, data and constraints. With a one-page template and a brief priced live.

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Pricing 7 min read

What software costs after launch

Plan for what your custom software costs to run after launch: hosting, third-party services, maintenance and support, and AI models. See what drives each, how to keep them down, and four products priced live.

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Integrations 5 min read

Connecting to QuickBooks Online

One-way, two-way or several companies at once. See what each level of QuickBooks Online integration involves, where each one goes wrong, and what you should decide before anyone writes code.

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Tracking 5 min read

QR, RFID or GPS: how to track assets

Choose the right tracking for each item you need to find. See what each technology is good at, where each one fails, how most sites end up mixing them, and what a tracking system costs once the hardware is counted.

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Compliance 5 min read

SOC 2, ISO 27001 or neither

Find out which security report your customers are likely to ask for, what each one involves and which ones are not certifications at all. Then plan the work and the auditor's fee together.

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EPC 5 min read

Closing the gap to the laydown yard

Your materials system knows what was ordered, but not where it is. See what your yard and site warehouse actually need, and how to join the two without replacing anything.

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Warehousing 5 min read

3PL billing without the month-end spreadsheet

If you run a third-party warehouse, you can bill storage, handling and accessorials from the events your own scanners record. See how to show clients why each charge is there, and stop losing billable work.

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