Fixed-price vs hourly app agencies
Day rates hide the bill until the invoice. A fixed package forces the scope onto the page first — or admits the job is Custom.
Hourly and daily rates are not cheaper. They are unread. The number you wanted was the finished app. A fixed package writes that number down before anyone opens Figma.
UK agencies still sell “a team at £650 a day” because it is easy to start and hard to finish. The invoice then grows with discovery, with “small” extras, with the project manager who exists to explain the extras. Cracking flipped it: four published packages, a £49 call, a quote in writing. If it will not fit, we say Custom — we do not run a meter and hope.
Why do hourly app agencies cost more in the end?
Because the scope is still being invented after you have started paying. Discovery workshops, design revisions, “we should add chat”, a second platform, a CRM, testing that was never in the first estimate. Each of those is reasonable. None of them were in the day-rate you were shown. A typical UK first version still lands at £20,000–£80,000 for that reason. The cost guide breaks the range down; this page is about the billing model that produces it.
What does fixed-price actually include?
The screens, platforms and integrations written in the package and the quote. Launch is five screens, one platform, no payments. Build is twelve screens, a backend, one integration. Scale is cross-platform with up to three integrations and an account manager. Revisions are in the package (one round on Launch, two on Build). Work outside that list is quoted before we do it. You are not buying a discount. You are buying a boundary.
When is hourly or a retainer the honest answer?
When the product will keep changing after launch, or the integrations are not knowable yet, or you need a crew on tap. That is our Custom package: still a scoping call, still a quote, often a phased roadmap or a retainer with an SLA. We will not ram an enterprise rebuild into Build to win the job. If we would have to pad a daily rate to survive the unknowns, we would rather name it Custom up front.
Is a cheap fixed quote just cutting corners?
It can be, if the studio has not said what is out. Ours is on the site: Launch has no payment gateway and no custom backend. Store developer accounts are yours. Stripe’s fees are Stripe’s. Hosting and SMS are yours. The £49 call is credited if we go ahead and kept if you no-show. Those exclusions are how a £1,999 or £3,999 founding price stays true. A “fixed” £8k that quietly omits test, store submission help, or a backend is not fixed. It is a teaser.
How do you stop scope creep on a fixed build?
Write the brief before the deposit. Launch and Build then run through a client portal: feedback, bugs and feature requests in one place, not a WhatsApp archaeology. New features get a price and a date before they hit the board. Scale and Custom add an account manager because those jobs have more moving parts. The process is in how long a build takes — the same boundary that protects the calendar protects the invoice.
What does “fixed” look like when something changes?
You asked for a booking calendar. In week two you also want SMS reminders. That is a new integration, not a mood. We price it, you approve it, the date moves if it has to, and the original Build price does not quietly absorb it. Hourly studios call that “agile.” It is a timesheet. The difference is whether you saw the extra before the work started. Launch and Build put that conversation in the portal so it is written down. Scale puts a person on it every week. Custom writes milestones into the quote so a phase can change without pretending the whole job was always that phase.
Should I get three hourly quotes anyway?
If you like. Ask each one to write the screens, platforms and integrations in a sentence, and to say what happens when you add a fourth. Compare that to a published package. If their day-rate still looks cheaper, multiply it by the weeks they will not commit to. Then book a £49 scoping call with us and see whether Launch, Build or Scale actually covers it. If it does not, you will leave with a Custom shape, not a surprise timesheet.
Four packages. Zero surprise invoices.
Every package is a fixed price. A founding offer is on until 30 September — then prices go back to list. A £49 scoping call gets the ball rolling.
Launch
A single-purpose app that needs to exist fast. No payments, no custom backend.
- Up to 5 screens, one platform
- Content, forms and email capture
- 2-week delivery
Build
A proper product you can put in front of real users.
- Up to 12 screens, iOS, Android or web
- Custom backend, database and accounts
- 1 integration — payments, auth, maps
Scale
A cross-platform product ready to handle real growth.
- iOS + Android or full web app
- Up to 3 integrations, including payments
- Dedicated account manager
Custom
Ongoing products, complex integrations, or a dedicated crew.
- Multi-platform and enterprise work
- Phased roadmap or retainer
- SLA-backed support after launch
Founding prices end 30 September — list is £2,499 / £4,999 / £9,999. The £49 scoping call is credited toward your package if we go ahead. Launch does not include a payment gateway.