Custom Software FAQ: Ownership, Pricing & the Demo

Custom web apps, AI agents, automation systems, marketing platforms, and internal tools — the kind that replaces recurring SaaS costs or unlocks a capability no off-the-shelf product covers. We've shipped 47 live products across real estate, home services, B2B lead-gen, agencies, and more.

You put down a $100 refundable deposit, we scope your project, and we ship you a working demo — before you commit to a full engagement. Don't want to move forward after seeing it? You get your deposit back, no questions asked.

Yes — fully. You get the source code, the repositories, and all IP. We don't retain licenses, usage rights, or vendor lock-in of any kind. Owning it outright instead of renting it indefinitely is the whole point of custom software.

Engagements are scoped per project rather than billed by the hour — you know the cost before work starts, with scope, timeline, and deliverables defined upfront. Reach out at [email protected] or start with the 1-Day Build for a concrete quote.

Simple tools and automation can be live within days; full-featured platforms with multiple integrations typically run four to eight weeks depending on scope. We move faster than a traditional agency because a senior operator leads every engagement directly.

Python, FastAPI, Node.js, Next.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Redis, AWS, Docker, Cloudflare, and AI tooling including Claude, local LLMs via Ollama, and the major ad-platform APIs. Mikee Shattuck leads every build directly — you're not handed off to a team you've never met.

Over a two-to-three-year horizon, owned custom software is usually cheaper than a stack of per-seat SaaS, because SaaS recurs forever while a build is a one-time cost that becomes an asset you own. The break-even depends on how many seats and tools you're replacing — we replace about $3,496/mo of SaaS for a typical client. Build when the workflow is core to how you win or keep customers; buy when an off-the-shelf tool already fits.

We've displaced 28 commercial tools so far — CRMs, lead-gen and outreach platforms, ad-automation tools, customer-success and reporting SaaS, and stacks of single-purpose subscriptions. If a tool charges per seat or per contact for something core to your acquisition or retention, it's usually a candidate to own instead of rent.

Yes — we'll sign an NDA, and you own all of the intellectual property outright: source code, repositories, and rights. We don't retain licenses, resale rights, or any vendor lock-in. The software is yours the moment it's handed over.

Yes. We build against the APIs you already run — CRMs, ad platforms like Google and Meta, payments, email and SMS, calendars, data warehouses, and internal systems — so the software fits your stack instead of forcing a rip-and-replace. Owned software integrates on your terms, not a vendor's roadmap.

You own the code and infrastructure, so you can run it yourself, hand it to your team, or keep us on for changes and support — your call, with no mandatory retainer. Because you own it, there's no per-seat fee that grows as you scale and no vendor that can sunset the product out from under you.

A senior operator builds your software directly — no account managers, no offshore handoffs, and no per-seat SaaS we resell you. You get a working demo before you pay, you own the result outright, and the person who scopes the project is the person who ships it. Most agencies rent you a retainer; we hand you an asset.

That's the norm for our clients. We translate the business outcome you want into working software, ship a demo you can actually use before you commit, and hand over something your team can operate without an engineering background. You don't need to know the stack — just the result you want.

Real estate, home services, marketing agencies, B2B lead-gen and services, ticketing, and local directories — anywhere a team is stacking per-seat SaaS and agencies to win and keep customers. The thesis is industry-agnostic: if growth is core to your business, owned software beats rented tools.

Start with the 1-Day Build: a $100 refundable deposit, then we scope your project and ship a working demo before you pay for the full engagement. If the demo doesn't impress you, you get the deposit back and keep what we built. Email [email protected] or use the working-demo button to begin.