Why this page exists
The stressful part is rarely the build.
It is the moment before you commit, when you are handed a single number and asked to trust it, with very little shown above it. Where did it come from? What are you actually paying for? And what happens if the hard parts were guessed wrong?
We built our whole process to answer those questions before you have to ask them. Here is exactly what working with us looks like, step by step, and what lands in your hands at each one.
The journey
Six steps, and what you get at each one.
Every engagement follows the same path. Each step builds on the one before it, and each leaves you with something concrete in hand.
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The first conversation
We listen and map what you actually need, which is often a little different from the initial brief. We do not price anything yet, because we do not know enough yet.
You receive: a written summary of your goals and scope, confirmed with you before any number exists.
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A proper assessment
We review your real platform, the code, the integrations, and the risks, not just the description of it. We name the class of each issue, so it reads as a clear picture rather than a scare document.
You receive: a clear, honest report you can act on and share. For a straightforward review, this is often free.
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A transparent quotation
We price the work from a standard rate card, line by line, adding a buffer only where there are genuine unknowns. One rate, applied the same way for every client.
You receive: two complete options, hand-built and AI-assisted, with the hours shown and nothing hidden.
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Your approval
You review the scope, the timeline, and the price, with a validity window and no pressure. Nothing begins until you have approved the shape of the work.
You receive: a fixed, agreed number before a single line of code, and a plan you have signed off.
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The build
We work in short sprints with a steady rhythm you can follow, testing from day one rather than leaving it to the end. The tooling that keeps us fast is open source, so it can be inspected.
You receive: a weekly update on hours and budget, and working software you can watch take shape.
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Go-live and handover
We handle the release, the go-live, and the handover to your team, so nothing is left dangling once we step back.
You receive: a platform your team can actually run, with documentation, not just something that works the day we leave.
No black box
See how we build the number.
Most agencies keep their pricing hidden. We do the opposite, because a number you can take apart is a number you can trust. Every project is assembled from the same rate card, so the price is just the hours and how confident we are in them. To show you what that means in practice, here is a real kind of project priced in full: a mid-market Drupal 9 site moving to Drupal 11.
The estimate
Every line, in plain language.
We have grouped the work into plain-English categories rather than internal codes, but the hours and costs are exactly as our process produces them. In this example we price at $200 an hour plus GST. The rate never moves, so the only things that change the price are the hours and the confidence.
| Work | Hours | Confidence | Cost (ex GST) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technical assessment | 6 | Very high | $0 (free) |
| Project setup onto the existing codebase | 14 → 21 | Moderate (buffered) | $4,200 |
| Feature and template work (19 items, XS to XL) | 84 | Very high | $16,800 |
| Module upgrades and standards cleanup | 25 | Very high | $5,000 |
| Automated tests (15 scenarios) | 40 | Very high | $8,000 |
| Manual integration testing (2 systems) | 16 | Very high | $3,200 |
| Go-live | 12 | Very high | $2,400 |
| Documentation | 8 | Very high | $1,600 |
| Subtotal | 212 | $41,200 |
Notice the setup line. It is the only one carrying a buffer. Setting a project up on top of an existing, years-old codebase carries real unknowns, so we rate our confidence as moderate and lift the estimate from 14 hours to 21, openly. Everything else is work we have done many times, so it passes through at face value. Where we are certain, the number stands. Where we are not, you see the buffer instead of a surprise later.
From the work to the price
Two things sit on top, and we show you both.
| Work subtotal (212 hours) | $41,200 |
| Project oversight (weekly updates and tracking, +10%) | $45,320 |
| Safety net (20%) | $54,384 |
| Quoted total (ex GST) | $54,384 |
| GST (10%) | $59,822 |
| Total (inc GST) | $59,822 |
Project oversight is the running of the project: the weekly update that tells you where the hours and the budget stand, the tracking, and the escalation of anything that turns into a risk.
The safety net is there to protect you as much as us. It is twenty percent, and it is not a markup on the work. It is what lets us hold a fixed price when a project turns up a surprise, the cover for a warranty when something needs a second look after go-live, and the cushion that keeps us a stable business, still here to support you in a year. On a fixed-price project we carry that risk, not you, and the safety net is what makes that promise real. Then GST on top, because we are an Australian business. That is the entire path from hours to the figure on the quote. Nothing else is hiding in there.
This is what you would receive
Two complete options. You choose.
We can build a project by hand, or AI-assisted, using the testing and review harness we developed ourselves. The rate does not change, so the difference is entirely in the hours, and only on the work that genuinely compresses: the development, the migrations, the automated tests. The assessment, the testing, and the coordination do not move, so we do not pretend they do.
| Hand-built | AI-assisted | |
|---|---|---|
| Hours | 212 | 146 |
| Total (ex GST) | $54,384 | $36,960 |
| Total (inc GST) | $59,822 | $40,656 |
On this project the AI-assisted path lands about 32 percent below the hand-built one, because a migration is development-heavy and a lot of it compresses. Same rate, same automated tests, same review, same quality bar, roughly a third fewer hours. Every change is reviewed and every build is tested before it ships. You choose the trade-off up front, and we never quietly put your work through the harness to pad the bill.
What holds it together
The habits that keep it honest.
The point of all this
A quote should never be a mystery.
When you can see how the number was built, from the first conversation through the assessment, the line items, the confidence calls, the safety net, and the two ways to deliver it, you can trust it. And just as importantly, you can hold us to it.
See what your project would take.
Send us your site and a little about what you need, and we will start with a free assessment. No commitment, just a clear picture of where your platform stands and what the work would involve.