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Pricing & engagement

Clear scope and pricing for every phase of work.

Start with a no-charge conversation to explore mutual fit. If you choose to work together, every subsequent phase has a clear scope, transparent pricing model and explicit decision point.

Four-phase engagement

From initial qualification to dependable production

Our four-phase model gives your organisation full control over investment decisions, with direct technical accountability at every step.

  1. Phase 01Mutual fit

    Fit & qualification

    No charge

    Initial call and follow-ups as needed

    Understand the operational challenge and confirm mutual fit before committing to paid work.

    Deliverables

    • 45-minute initial software consultation
    • Follow-up alignment calls as needed
    • Brief summary of findings and proposed next step

    Decision: Decide whether to commission a paid discovery phase.

  2. Phase 02Fixed fee

    Discovery & validation

    €2,500 – €10,000+

    Fixed-price flat fee

    Map operational rules, review risks and test critical UI workflows before building software.

    Deliverables

    • Clear problem definition and scope boundaries
    • Mapped business rules and workflow exceptions
    • Interactive clickable prototype for UI workflows
    • Proposed system architecture and full-build budget

    Decision: Review prototype and approve build scope with confidence.

  3. Phase 03Sprint retainer

    Build & integrate

    €5,000 – €10,000 / wk

    Retained capacity · ~€100/hr per expert

    Implement production-ready custom software, APIs and integrations in two-week sprints.

    Deliverables

    • Working custom software delivered each sprint
    • Clean APIs and verified system integrations
    • Automated test coverage and deployment pipelines
    • Early production releases to deliver immediate value

    Decision: Product Owner sets priorities at the start of each sprint.

  4. Phase 04Monthly SLA

    Aftercare & continuity

    Tailored monthly fee

    System-specific SLA

    Maintain system reliability, security and support once active feature development completes.

    Deliverables

    • Agreed uptime monitoring and alert management
    • Security patches and dependency updates
    • Incident response according to system criticality
    • Smooth handover to your team when you choose

    Decision: Continuous protection or structured transition to internal teams.

* All figures below are indicative planning ranges in EUR, excluding applicable VAT. Your specific proposal details the exact deliverables, schedule and provider costs before work begins.

Deep dive

Phase 02: Discovery and prototyping in practice

Discovery prevents costly false starts. For projects involving user interfaces, we build interactive prototypes so your team can test and refine the workflow before writing production code.

Fixed fees matched to complexity

  • €2,500 – €5,000: Focused workflow or single integration question with low complexity.
  • €5,000 – €10,000: Multi-system workflow, complex business rules or multiple stakeholder groups.
  • €10,000+: Broader operational landscape or multi-system transformation.

Disposable interactive prototypes

Prototypes built during discovery are meant for rapid iteration with your team. They allow you to test and refine workflows early. We do not reuse prototype code for production: production software is engineered separately to meet professional standards for security, performance and reliability.

Crystal clear definition of done

To prevent scope creep, every discovery proposal states upfront:

  1. 01The specific operational question or workflow in scope
  2. 02Required participants from your organisation
  3. 03What is explicitly excluded from the investigation
  4. 04Whether an interactive UI prototype will be built
  5. 05The review criteria and final decision point
No silent scope growth: Any additional workflows, systems or stakeholders discovered during this phase are sized explicitly and agreed upon before work expands.

Build & Continuity Details

Deep dive

Phase 03: Agile sprints with technical accountability

We work in disciplined two-week sprints. Your Product Owner directs business priorities, while Direct Software takes full technical responsibility for architecture and engineering quality.

Flexible team capacity

A typical core sprint reserves €5,000–€10,000 per week of engineering capacity. Additional specialist experts can join when project scope or speed demands it. Sprints are planned at approximately €100 per expert hour.

Early production releases

We do not believe in lengthy big-bang deliveries. Where the operation allows, we put the first useful end-to-end workflow into production quickly, then expand capabilities through subsequent sprints.

Deep dive

Phase 04: Aftercare and operational continuity

Reaching production does not mean the end of responsibility. Active development can continue while the system is already live. Once new feature requests slow down, our aftercare phase takes over.

System-specific SLA

We agree on support hours, response times and maintenance windows matched to your operational risk. We do not make generic uptime claims; we commit to a service level tailored to your operation.

No vendor lock-in

Your organisation owns all software and documentation. You can keep Direct Software on monthly aftercare or transition cleanly to an in-house engineering team whenever you decide.

Cost transparency

How AI and infrastructure costs are billed

We keep third-party services and AI consumption transparent and separate from our engineering fees.

AI development tools

AI tools used by our engineers to accelerate analysis, coding and testing are fully covered by our engineering rates.

Live AI & API usage

Production AI model usage and external API fees are tracked transparently and billed with an agreed handling markup.

Hosting & infrastructure

Cloud hosting (Azure, AWS, Google Cloud) and platform licences can be billed directly to your organisation or passed through transparently.

Budget limits & alerts

We establish strict budget thresholds and usage notifications so monthly API and AI expenses remain predictable and controlled.

Questions & answers

Frequently asked questions

Does every project follow all four phases?

No. The four phases show our typical engagement path. A straightforward project may move straight to build, while an existing system may only require an assessment or modernisation.

Is the prototype created in discovery reusable in production?

No. Prototypes created during discovery are designed for fast experimentation and stakeholder feedback. Production software is built separately to satisfy strict standards for security, performance and maintainability.

How are variable AI token and API costs controlled?

We define expected usage, alert thresholds and spending limits in advance. Live provider costs appear transparently on invoices alongside the agreed handling markup.

What happens if our priorities change during a sprint?

Your Product Owner controls priorities. Work for the upcoming sprint can be reprioritised at any time. Changes during an active sprint are managed by trading off planned items, keeping capacity and cost steady.

Can we transfer the software to our own team later?

Yes. All source code, architecture documentation, test suites and deployment scripts belong to your organisation. We provide structured handovers whenever you choose to take ownership in-house.

Ready to discuss your project?

Start with a no-charge initial conversation.

We discuss your software situation, answer your questions and assess whether Direct Software is the right partner for your operation.

Schedule a conversation