Custom software that works on day one and still works in year five.
Most agencies hand you a working app, take their fee, and disappear. The app starts breaking, and now nobody owns it. We build software like we'll be running it for years — because we usually are.
Why custom builds usually disappoint.
Built fast, broke faster.
Agency rushed to ship. No tests, no monitoring, no documentation. Six months later, can't make a change without breaking three things.
The original developer disappeared.
Freelancer or offshore team. Now you're stuck with code only they understood.
Scope drift turned into budget chaos.
Started at $80k, ended at $240k. Most of the overage was change requests nobody documented.
Looked great in demos. Hated in production.
Slow, awkward to use, doesn't fit how your team actually works.
How we build.
- 01
Senior-led team
Senior engineer + product designer + tech lead on every project. No junior staffing on critical code.
- 02
2-week sprints
Working software every two weeks. You see and use it. Course-corrects before things drift.
- 03
Automated tests
Real test coverage from day one. You can change the code in year three without fear.
- 04
CI/CD pipeline
Every commit builds, tests, and deploys to staging automatically. Releases are routine, not events.
- 05
Monitoring + alerting
Errors, performance, uptime tracked from launch. We see problems before users do.
- 06
Ongoing ownership
Most projects move from build into maintained operation. Same team. Same understanding. No handoff cliff.
How a project flows.
- Weeks 1–2
Discovery + design
Joint sessions with stakeholders. User flows, data model, architecture sketched. Cost estimate confirmed.
- Weeks 3–4
Foundation sprint
Repository, CI/CD pipeline, monitoring, auth, base framework. Boring infrastructure done first.
- Weeks 5–onward
Feature sprints
2-week cycles. Each sprint ends with working software demoed to stakeholders. Course corrections welcomed.
- Pre-launch
Beta + hardening
Friendly users hammer the app. Edge cases caught. Performance tuned.
- Launch + after
Production + support
Go-live with monitoring. Bug fixes and small enhancements continue under maintenance SLA.
Three ways to build custom software.
| Offshore agency | Local agency | Senator | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day rate (effective) | $200–$400 | $1,200–$2,500 | $1,400–$2,200 |
| Senior involvement | Pitching only | On critical projects | Every project |
| Long-term support | Rare | Sometimes | Standard |
| Knowledge transfer | Documentation theater | Mixed | We stay on; no handoff cliff |
| Tech stack choice | What they know | Per project | Match to your team + future maintainability |
| Time-zone overlap | Limited | Full | Full |
Stacks we use most.
How our builds perform.
Of apps we've built. Long-tail support is the norm.
Bugs found in production in the first 30 days as a share of features delivered.
Across apps under our maintenance, measured 12-month rolling.
Working software demoed every two weeks. No 6-month black boxes.
“We'd been burned twice by agencies. Senator was honest about timelines and scope from week one. Shipped on time, on budget. Then they kept maintaining it. Four years later, still running, still being improved. Best $180k we spent.”
Who needs this.
- Firms whose business is moving faster than off-the-shelf software can.
- Anyone with a workflow nobody else has built a tool for.
- Firms that have a failed previous custom build and need a do-over.
- Mid-market companies needing a customer-facing portal that reflects their brand.
Q01What size projects do you take?
What size projects do you take?
Most are $80k–$600k for v1. Smaller proofs of concept on request. Larger multi-year platforms also doable.
Q02Fixed price or time and materials?
Fixed price or time and materials?
Both. Fixed-price for clearly-scoped work. T&M for evolving products. We're transparent about which fits which.
Q03Will we own the code?
Will we own the code?
Yes. You own the IP fully. We sign IP-assignment as part of the contract.
Q04What about AI features?
What about AI features?
Common ask. We build with LLM integration (OpenAI, Anthropic, Azure AI) where it genuinely improves the product. We don't bolt it on for marketing.
Free 60-minute scoping session.
Tell us what you're trying to build. We'll sketch an approach, a rough timeline, and a cost band — in writing, after the call.