Pricing, honestly framed.
How Birchline Digital engagements are priced: six investment bands from $7,500 focused builds to $250,000+ programs, plus paid Systems & AI Discovery from $2,500 to scope larger work precisely.
Custom software does not price like a product off a shelf — but it should not be a mystery either. Every Birchline engagement falls into one of six investment bands, set by scope, complexity, integrations, and the consequences of the system failing.
These bands are real ranges, not starting lures. After a conversation about what you are actually trying to build, we can usually tell you which band you are in — and a paid Systems & AI Discovery turns the band into a precise number with a written architecture and delivery plan.
The six engagement bands
Focused builds
$7,500 – $15,000
A single, well-defined deliverable with a narrow surface area and few moving parts.
- Premium marketing websites
- A targeted automation for one workflow
- A small internal tool with a single purpose
Defined systems
$15,000 – $30,000
Custom software with a handful of workflows, clear roles, and a small number of integrations.
- Internal tools with a few core workflows
- Workflow automation across two or three systems
- A focused AI assistant over a bounded knowledge base
Multi-workflow platforms
$30,000 – $50,000
Operational platforms with several workflows, meaningful data models, and real integration surface.
- Operational dashboards and client portals
- Cross-system automation with reporting
- A bounded customer-facing application
Substantial products
$50,000 – $100,000
Multi-surface applications or a first production version of a software product, engineered for real users.
- SaaS or subscription product MVP through production
- Multi-role platforms with complex permissions
- AI systems with retrieval and decision support
Complex platforms
$100,000 – $250,000
High-consequence systems: deep integration, regulated or sensitive data, high availability, or significant scale.
- Multi-tenant platforms with complex access control
- Systems integrating many external services
- Products in regulated or high-consequence domains
Large-scale programs
$250,000+
Multi-phase programs spanning several systems, teams, or business lines — planned and delivered in stages.
- Company-wide operational rebuilds
- Product families across web and mobile
- Long-horizon platform engineering
Not sure which band you are in?
Systems & AI Discovery — from $2,500
A paid discovery engagement that defines the problem, captures requirements, and delivers a written solution architecture and delivery plan — with a precise investment range. Timing is agreed before kickoff based on scope and current engineering capacity. The plan is yours outright, whether or not we build it.
Explore Systems & AI DiscoveryHow to read these bands
A band is a range, not a quote. Where an engagement lands inside it depends on clarity of requirements, number of workflows and integrations, data migration, security and availability needs, and timeline pressure. Published starting investments for each capability live on the Investment page, and ongoing care after launch starts at $4,000/month.
If your project is small and well-defined, we will tell you — and price it accordingly. If it is larger than you assumed, you will hear that before any commitment, not after.