Custom software development company, built end to end
For a new product or an MVP, 160 h × USD 55–60 + 160 h × USD 45–50 = USD 16,000–17,600 a month: a Lead and a Senior engineer with AI agents, at published rates.
The example, line by line
| Role, hours and rate | Subtotal |
|---|---|
| Lead / architect160 h × USD 55–60 an hour | USD 8,800–9,600 |
| Senior engineer160 h × USD 45–50 an hour | USD 7,200–8,000 |
TotalUSD 16,000–17,600 2 people · 320 h | |
What is a custom software development company?
A custom software development company designs, builds and releases software made for one client's process, instead of selling a packaged product. At Clouditive a Lead and a Senior engineer work with AI agents on your product, you own the code from day 1, and the price is the published hourly rate times the hours worked.
Mat Caniglia leads every project end to end, and you interview every engineer before they start. We present candidates within 1 week.
How the price is built, and why the team is small
You pay the published hourly rate for the hours worked, and a month is 160 hours. The sheet above prices a new product: a Lead at USD 55–60 an hour and a Senior at USD 45–50, 160 hours each. It is an example, not a quote.
The team is two people instead of six when we have access from day one: the repositories, the environments, CI/CD, the cloud and one decision-maker. It is not a multiplier we promise every client, and the conditions are part of the offer.
Team size by situation
- A new product, with access from day one2 people · 1 monthUSD 16,000–17,600
- Evolving an existing product4 people · 1 monthUSD 30,400–33,600
- Behind change boards, tickets and no production access5 people · 1 monthUSD 37,600–41,600
- Proof: Autonomah went from first commit to production in 15 days, built by one engineer directing AI agents, with every push gated for secrets, types, dead code and architecture.
- With change boards, tickets and no production access we still accept the work and state a realistic timeline up front. There we sell delivery cadence, not fewer people.
- We pay for the AI tools: Claude Team or Enterprise seats, where your code never trains models. If your policy forbids AI or requires your own accounts, we staff a classic team at the published rates, with timelines that account for it, and you pay for those accounts.
What you get from a custom build
- The product end to end: design, backend, frontend, data, infrastructure as code and the release pipeline, in your repositories.
- Every push gated before it leaves the engineer's machine: secrets, types, dead code and architecture boundaries.
- Releases that are signed images, deployed by digest, with migrations run before the new version gets traffic.
- Automated tests and accessibility checks on the critical flows, running in your CI.
- Screens designed and approved in Figma before they are built, when the product has a UI.
- All code and intellectual property are yours from day 1, and we sign an NDA before the call if you ask.
For startups: an MVP in two steps
A minimum viable product (MVP) is the smallest version of a product that real users can use, built to learn what to build next. We do not sell an MVP package. You start with Discovery, USD 7,000, which takes 1 week when we have access and a decision-maker from day 1 and 2 weeks otherwise. Then a team builds it at the published rates.
The scope comes out of Discovery, so there is no fixed MVP price. The sheet below prices Discovery plus two months of a Lead and a Senior as an example. We publish how fast these products reached production, not market traction, funding or sales: we claim none.
| Role, hours and rate | Subtotal |
|---|---|
| Discovery, fixed price | USD 7,000 |
| Lead / architect320 h × USD 55–60 an hour | USD 17,600–19,200 |
| Senior engineer320 h × USD 45–50 an hour | USD 14,400–16,000 |
TotalUSD 39,000–42,200 2 people · 640 h · plus Discovery | |
The two steps of an MVP
Step 1: Discovery, USD 7,000
1 week with access and a decision-maker from day 1, 2 weeks standard, up to 4 for estates with several systems. You leave with the backlog, the roles and the critical changes.
Step 2: A team at the published rates
A Lead and a Senior with AI agents are USD 16,000–17,600 a month. Discovery plus two months is USD 39,000–42,200, as an example.
What we have shown, and what we have not
Every claim is on its case page with its dates. Strong means built end to end with figures; Partial means a smaller or weaker proof, stated as such.
AI marketing / MarTech. Read the case
Strong An AI marketing platform built from zero: 15 days from first commit to production, 6,031 commits in 28 days and 89 releases in 10 days.
Not shown: No uptime, user or revenue figures are published.
GovTech & enterprise coordination. Read the case
Strong A govtech client portal designed and built end to end: 43 screens, 12 bounded contexts, in production in 20 days.
Not shown: No usage figures are published.
Housing & credit / PropTech. Read the case
Strong A housing platform built end to end: 18 domain modules and 326 commits in 10 days.
Not shown: We make no claim about launch, users or revenue.
Gaming. Read the case
Strong An online game from zero: a Unity 6 client, an authoritative Java 25 server and a launcher, in 286 commits in 2 days.
Not shown: No player counts or monetisation are published.
Work we have not shown. Not in our published case studies: native mobile apps, e-commerce stores and modernization of legacy applications. We staff mobile work; for e-commerce and legacy rewrites, ask us before assuming.
Changes and warranty after delivery
- A change of the same size as a backlog item swaps that item at no cost.
- New scope that is not swapped is quoted at the published rate before it is done.
- Defects against what was agreed, found within 30 days of delivery, are fixed at no cost. Changes and new features are not defects.
The rates behind every example
Engineers and designers are priced on the same seniority table, per hour worked. Add or remove people as the work changes; the arithmetic stays the same.
How staff augmentation works- Lead / ArchitectUSD55–60per hour
- SeniorUSD45–50per hour
- MidUSD35–40per hour
- JuniorUSD30per hour
USD per hour, drawn to one scale
Other ways we build
- Web application developmentExample: USD 16,000–17,600 · 1 month
- Web portal developmentExample: USD 16,000–17,600 · 1 month
- Product design (UX/UI)Example: USD 8,960–9,920 · 1 month
Frequently asked questions
What is a custom software development company?
A firm that designs, builds and releases software made for one client's process, instead of selling a packaged product. Clouditive does it with a small senior team that directs AI agents. The code and intellectual property are yours from day 1.
What does a software development company do?
It takes a product from idea to running software: design, backend, frontend, data, infrastructure, tests and releases. On our published cases one team did all of it, from the first commit to a signed, tagged release.
How much does custom software development cost?
You pay the published hourly rate for the hours worked: Lead USD 55–60, Senior USD 45–50, Mid USD 35–40, Junior USD 30. A Lead and a Senior for a 160-hour month cost USD 16,000–17,600, and a team of four evolving an existing product costs USD 30,400–33,600. Every price here is an example, not a quote.
How much does it cost to outsource software development?
A Senior engineer is USD 45–50 an hour and a Lead or Architect USD 55–60, with engineers in LATAM working in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Multiply by the hours: 160 hours of a Senior is USD 7,200–8,000. If the scope is open, Discovery costs USD 7,000 first.
What does a product development company do?
It covers the work around the code: what to build and in what order, how it looks and behaves, how it is built and how it reaches users. Our published cases include design approved in Figma before it was built, a backlog and roles from Discovery, and a gated release pipeline.
What is SaaS development?
Building software that many customers use over the web, usually with an account per customer. Our AI marketing platform has a client portal and an admin console. We have no published subscription-billing build, so we do not claim one.
What is a minimum viable product (MVP) in software development?
The smallest version of a product that real users can use, built to learn what to build next. We start it with Discovery, USD 7,000, and then bill a team at the published rates.
How much does an MVP cost?
There is no fixed MVP price. Discovery is USD 7,000 and takes 1 week with access and a decision-maker from day 1, 2 weeks standard. Then a Lead and a Senior cost USD 16,000–17,600 a month: Discovery plus two months is USD 39,000–42,200, as an example.
Who owns the code?
You do, from day 1. We sign an NDA before the call if you ask.
What happens after delivery?
A change of the same size swaps a backlog item at no cost. New scope is quoted at the published rate before it is done. Defects found within 30 days of delivery are fixed at no cost.
Do you build mobile apps?
Yes. A senior team builds the mobile app together with its web and backend, at the published rates. Our published case studies are web applications designed at 390 pixels, not a native iOS or Android app, so Discovery is where we settle the stack, native or cross-platform, and the scope.
Tell us your case.
We reply to every request within 1 business day. We sign an NDA before the call if you ask.