Pricing
Starting points for serious platform work.
Platform systems and AI agent systems have different scope, risk, and delivery economics. The pricing tracks below keep those offers distinct, alongside ongoing platform operations, maintenance, and continued delivery.
Every engagement starts with a free 30-minute discovery call. If the fit is wrong, I will say so directly.
Ways to work together
Platform Architecture Sprint
Starting at $15K
3 weeks
A platform architecture decision document, in 3 weeks.
You bring an open question: Shopify Plus alternative, FileMaker rewrite, or a move from SaaS to AWS. You leave with a practical assessment your business can act on. No code ships. The deliverable is the decision.
What’s included
- Current-state architecture audit (system diagrams + risk surface)
- Identified failure modes ranked by likelihood + business impact
- Migration / build roadmap with sequencing + effort bands
- Cost analysis (build, run, opportunity)
- Live walkthrough + Q&A with you and up to 3 stakeholders
What’s NOT included
- Implementation work (separate Platform Build engagement)
- Embedded participation in your team's standups
- Vendor selection beyond the recommendation memo
Best fit
You're 60–80% sure of the path forward and need an outside read before committing $200K+ of build budget, or you're stuck and want a senior architect to map the actual choices.
Platform Build
Starting at $80K
3-6 months
A production platform with its operating path defined before launch.
I scope it, build it, ship it, run the cutover, and stay available to operate and improve it. You get production code on AWS, CI/CD, observability, and a migration from the system you are replacing. Before launch, we define whether I remain the primary operator, work beside your team, or transfer routine operation to someone you choose. Fine's Gallery chose the ongoing model, and I still run and extend the platform after cutover. That relationship spans multiple build phases and ongoing operation; it is not the scope represented by the $80K starting price.
What’s included
- Production AWS environment (Terraform-managed, multi-account)
- Custom application + integrations (payment, email, search, etc.)
- CI/CD pipelines + observability + on-call runbook
- Rehearsed cutover with rollback criteria and an agreed downtime objective
- 30 days of launch stabilization plus a written operating plan
- A defined path into ongoing AWS operations, maintenance, and feature delivery
What’s NOT included
- Marketing, paid ads, SEO services (recommend specialists)
- Mobile apps (iOS / Android / React Native)
- Generic Shopify theme work (this is custom platform engineering)
Best fit
You've decided to build and want the same senior engineer accountable for architecture, implementation, cutover, and the operating plan. Typical: $5M to $50M businesses outgrowing SaaS, or regulated firms needing custom data architecture.
Agent Architecture Sprint
Starting at $10K
3 weeks
A production-ready agent architecture, in 3 weeks.
Bring one recurring workflow that consumes senior attention. The sprint maps the systems it crosses, the tools the agent may use, approval boundaries, failure modes, model and infrastructure costs, and the smallest production scope worth building.
What’s included
- Workflow and system-boundary map
- Tool contracts, permission scopes, and approval gates
- Failure-mode and operational-risk register
- Model, AWS, and implementation cost model
- Written production architecture and delivery roadmap
What’s NOT included
- Production implementation (separate Agent Production Build)
- A generic chatbot or unbounded assistant
- Replacement of unreliable source systems or undefined business processes
Best fit
You have one high-value operational workflow, know what a wrong action would cost, and need a defensible architecture before granting an agent access to real systems.
Agent Production Build
Starting at $25K
6-8 weeks
One bounded agent workflow running in production.
The build implements the approved architecture inside your AWS environment: runtime, business-specific tools, required integrations, scoped access, human approval, operator experience, observability, and audit evidence.
What’s included
- Client-owned AWS runtime and deployment pipeline
- Business-specific tools and required integrations
- Scoped access and human approval for consequential actions
- Operator experience in Slack or an existing internal interface
- Observability, verification, and auditable run evidence
What’s NOT included
- Unlimited workflows under the entry price
- Marketing-content automation as the primary use case
- Opaque third-party agent platforms that retain operational control
Best fit
The architecture is settled and one workflow has enough repeat volume, operational cost, or risk to justify production implementation.
Ongoing Platform Engineering
Starting at $10K / month
3-month minimum
Ongoing platform engineering after the build.
Keep the engineer who knows the system accountable for operating it and moving it forward. I can remain the primary technical operator for your AWS infrastructure and application, or work beside an internal engineer or agency. The scope combines maintenance, incident response within defined coverage, reliability, cost control, and continued delivery. It is the model already proven after the Fine's Gallery cutover.
What’s included
- AWS and application operations with explicit coverage and response targets
- Monitoring, incident triage, security patches, dependency upgrades, and restore testing
- Cost, performance, reliability, and observability improvements
- Direct feature delivery and integration work within reserved monthly capacity
- Vendor and architecture decisions tied to the operating roadmap
- Monthly written operating report: shipped work, incidents, risks, cost, and next priorities
What’s NOT included
- 24/7 follow-the-sun operations or a staffed network operations center
- People management, recruiting, performance reviews, or compensation decisions
- Generic IT help desk, device management, or office network support
- Unlimited feature scope or unbounded on-call availability
Best fit
Owner-led businesses with a valuable custom platform and no desire to build an internal AWS and application operations function. Also fits teams that already have engineers but want the original architect to retain responsibility for the highest-risk parts of the system.
Custom Engagement
Scoped after discovery
Scoped after discovery
Scoped when the problem does not fit a standard lane.
If your situation does not match a sprint, build, or ongoing platform engagement, send the relevant context. Security review, regulated data architecture, due diligence, and migration rescue can be scoped separately before money changes hands.
What’s included
- Discovery call (30 minutes, free)
- Scoping document, fixed-price or T&M depending on shape
- Defined deliverables, defined timeline
What’s NOT included
- Hourly contract dev work at staffing-agency rates
- Anything that requires more than one full-time engineer (let me refer you)
Best fit
Work that is valuable enough to define carefully before it starts. Examples: a regulated registry's UTXO ledger design, a confidential due-diligence engagement, or a difficult migration rescue.
Decide quickly
Which engagement is the right shape?
Read this top-to-bottom. The first row that matters to you usually decides which platform engagement fits. Agent work has its own sprint/build track above. Custom is scoped after a discovery call.
| Decision / condition | Platform sprint | Platform build | Ongoing engineering |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get a written architecture decision document | |||
| Code shipped to production | Partial | ||
| Vendor / build-vs-buy decisions made for you | Partial | ||
| Ongoing AWS and application operation | Partial | ||
| Fixed scope, fixed price | Partial | ||
| Done in under a month | |||
| Useful when you already know what to build | Partial | ||
| Monitoring, maintenance, and incident ownership | Partial |
FAQ
Common questions
Platform and Agent sprints and builds are fixed-price with a 50% deposit at start and the balance on delivery. Ongoing Platform Engineering is a monthly engagement billed in advance, net 15. Custom work is usually milestone-based.
Platform Architecture Sprint: 3 weeks. Platform Build: typically 3 to 6 months. Agent Architecture Sprint: 3 weeks. A focused Agent Production Build is usually 6 to 8 weeks. Ongoing Platform Engineering: 3-month minimum, then month-to-month with 30 days' notice.
No. Fixed-price builds or defined-capacity monthly engineering only. Equity-for-services creates incentive misalignment that I've seen damage too many engagements. If equity makes sense, it would be a separate conversation.
Yes. Ongoing Platform Engineering can make me the primary operator or place me beside your existing engineer or agency. The statement of work names who owns incidents, deploys, maintenance, vendor coordination, and roadmap delivery so responsibility is not implied or duplicated.
No. Client-owned does not mean client-operated. I can continue running the AWS infrastructure and application, handling maintenance and incidents within the agreed coverage, and shipping the next roadmap items. You keep control of the accounts, code, data, and billing while delegating the work to me.
Standard mutual NDAs, yes. Public-reference rights, case-study rights, and treatment of pre-existing IP are agreed separately in writing. I do not assume permission to identify a confidential engagement.
No. $80K is the entry point for a tightly scoped first production phase. Fine's expanded across multiple build phases, legacy migration, commerce, integrations, ongoing operation, and AI work. Comparable scope is assessed in the Architecture Sprint and priced from the documented roadmap; the case study is not an $80K reference build.
Pick "Custom / not sure yet" in the contact form. The 30-minute discovery call exists for exactly this. By the end of it we'll either know which engagement structure fits, or it'll be clear that I'm not the right person and I'll tell you so directly.
Pressure-test the platform decision before you commit budget.
Schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation to align on objectives, stress-test your architecture, and leave with a concrete set of recommendations. No obligation, no sales pitch. Just actionable technical guidance.