There is no single right way to buy software development. A clearly defined store or billing system suits a fixed price; an evolving product suits a dedicated developer; a live system suits a monthly retainer.
Below are the six ways clients work with RED SAG, how each is billed, the honest pros and cons, and typical budgets in rupees, US dollars, pounds, Australian dollars and Canadian dollars.
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| Model | Typical budget | Billing | Scope | Your involvement | Cost risk | Commitment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed-price project | ₹15,000–24 lakh+ (≈ $200–36,000+)Typical budgets across our published solution pages | Per milestone | Fixed; changes quoted separately | Medium: approve scope, review demos | Mostly on us | One project |
| Dedicated developer or team | ₹65,000–1.7 lakh/month (≈ $1,700–3,500/month)Per full-time developer | Monthly per person | Flexible; you set priorities | High: you direct the work | Shared; you control scope | Monthly, with notice |
| Hourly (time and material) | ₹450–1,150/hour (≈ $15–30/hour)Hourly rate | Per hour, in arrears | Open; estimate per task | Medium to high | Mostly on you (use a cap) | None beyond the task |
| Monthly retainer (maintenance and support) | ₹3,000–25,000/month (≈ $40–350/month)Website and store care plans | Fixed monthly fee | Care tasks + included hours | Low | On us for included tasks | Monthly |
| White-label partnership for agencies | ₹450–1,150/hour (≈ $15–30/hour)Hourly work₹65,000–1.7 lakh/month (≈ $1,700–3,500/month)Dedicated developer | Per project, hour or month | Per brief | Medium: you manage the client | Depends on model chosen | Per brief or monthly |
| Paid discovery sprint or pilot | ₹450–1,150/hour (≈ $15–30/hour)Priced from our hourly rate, quoted as a fixed fee | Fixed fee, upfront | Research and specification | High for a short time | Low: small, fixed cost | One sprint |
Indicative ranges, not quotes. Your price is fixed only in a written proposal. Converted amounts are rounded.
One agreed scope, one agreed price, paid in milestones.
We write the scope into the proposal and quote a fixed price. Payments are split across milestones such as kick-off, design sign-off, first working version and go-live. Changes outside the agreed scope are quoted separately, and only go ahead when you approve them.
Full-time people working only on your roadmap, billed monthly.
A monthly fee per person, depending on seniority and technology. The developer works your priorities, joins your stand-ups during the overlap window and uses your tools. You can scale up or down with a notice period agreed in the contract rather than a long lock-in.
Pay for the hours actually worked, reported transparently.
We log hours against tasks and share the timesheet with every invoice, usually monthly or at agreed checkpoints. We give an estimate before each piece of work and tell you early if it is going to be exceeded. You can set a monthly cap.
A fixed monthly fee to keep live software healthy and improving.
A fixed monthly fee covering routine care (updates, backups, monitoring, security checks) and a set number of hours for fixes and small changes. Work beyond the included hours is billed at the hourly rate or quoted.
We build under your brand and NDA; you keep the client.
Choose per project: a fixed quote for each brief, a dedicated developer billed monthly, or hourly work for smaller tasks. Everything is under NDA, unbranded or in your agency name, and we never contact your clients unless you ask us to.
A short, fixed-fee first step that turns an idea into a plan.
A fixed fee quoted upfront, sized to the questions to be answered and priced at our standard hourly rates. The output is yours: specification, wireframes, data model, integration notes and a firm quote for the build. A pilot is a small real piece of work, delivered the same way as a full project.
If you can describe what you need in a list of features and screens, start with a fixed-price project. If you have a continuing roadmap and someone to set priorities, a dedicated developer is usually better value. If the work is hard to define, such as extending an unfamiliar codebase, hourly works best with a monthly cap. If the product is large or regulated, begin with a paid discovery sprint.
Yes, and many clients do. A common path is a paid discovery sprint, then a fixed-price first release, then a dedicated developer or retainer for ongoing improvements. The agreement for each phase is separate, so switching does not mean renegotiating everything.
No. They are indicative ranges based on our typical work, shown in your local currency for convenience. A price becomes binding only when it is written into a proposal or agreement that we both accept. Currency conversions are rounded and do not track exchange rates daily.
Indian clients are invoiced in INR with GST as applicable. Clients abroad can usually be invoiced in USD, GBP, AUD or CAD; we confirm the currency and payment method in your proposal.
With fixed price, the scope and price are agreed in advance and we carry the risk of the work taking longer than estimated. With time and material, you pay for the hours actually worked, which is more flexible but leaves the final cost open. Fixed price needs clearer scope; time and material needs more of your attention.
No long lock-in. Dedicated developers are billed monthly with a notice period, written into the contract, to scale up or down. That notice gives us time to plan and gives you time to arrange a handover if you move the work elsewhere.
Typically user flows, clickable wireframes of the main screens, a data model, research into the integrations and regulations that affect the build, a technical plan and a firm quote for development. The exact deliverables are listed in the sprint proposal, and you own all of them.
The full delivery process: NDA, discovery, proposal, sprints and demos, QA, launch and handover.
For agencies: build under your brand and NDA, with dedicated developers or fixed quotes per brief.
What each monthly care plan includes: updates, backups, monitoring and hours for changes.
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