Costs, comparisons & buying guides

Software development cost and contracting guides: India vs US rates, fixed price vs time and material, and how to write a brief teams can quote.

Buying custom software is a decision most companies make only a handful of times, which is why the same mistakes keep repeating. This category is our attempt to make the buying side less painful. It covers how to evaluate a development company, how to write a project brief that developers can price accurately, what a discovery phase is and why it saves money, and the red flags that should make you pause on a proposal. It also compares contract models, fixed price against time and materials, and delivery approaches such as agile and waterfall for outsourced work, and it explains the costs that catch buyers out, from Power Apps licensing to business intelligence tools. If you are about to talk to vendors, start with the evaluation guide and the brief. If you already have proposals in hand, read the red flags first. The services page lists what we build.