# Pricing

Doorkeeper Labs does not sell seats, plans, or metered SaaS. Work is **project-based custom development**.

## How pricing works

1. You send a short brief (what you need, timeline constraints, existing stack).
2. We reply within one business day with clarifying questions or a proposed scope.
3. Engagements are typically fixed-scope proposals or phased milestones.
4. Rates and totals depend on complexity — a marketing site, a native iOS app, and a MuleSoft integration are not priced the same.

## Engagement tiers

These are **orientation ranges**, not a public rate card. Final quotes follow a written scope.

| Tier | Typical scope | Ballpark | Includes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Discovery | Fit call + written options | Often short / low cost; sometimes complimentary | Goals, constraints, recommended approach |
| Starter website | Marketing site or brochure site | Often mid four figures to low five | Design system, build, launch, basic SEO hygiene |
| Product web app | Authenticated product or complex CMS | Usually five figures+, phased | Architecture, UX, build, staging, launch support |
| Native iOS | New or rebuilt Swift app | Usually five figures+, phased | App Store path when in scope |
| SEO / performance | Technical SEO, CWV, architecture | Time-boxed or milestone | Audit + prioritized fixes |
| Integrations / MuleSoft | API-led connectivity across systems | Scoped by systems + unknowns | Discovery first when unknowns are high |
| AI features | Production features with real data | Scoped by reliability needs | Evaluation, guardrails, ops handoff |
| Retainer (optional) | Ongoing improvements after launch | Monthly milestone agreement | Only when both sides want continuity |

## Feature breakdown by engagement

| Capability | Starter website | Product web app | iOS | SEO | Integrations | AI features |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Custom UI / brand | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Production hosting advice | Yes | Yes | App Store | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Auth / accounts | Rarely | Common | Common | No | As needed | As needed |
| Analytics / SEO basics | Yes | Yes | App Store ASO optional | Primary | No | No |
| Ongoing SLA | Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional |

## What you pay for

| Engagement | Typical shape | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Discovery / advisory | Short paid or unpaid scoping | Enough to decide fit |
| Website / web app | Fixed proposal by milestone | Design + build + launch |
| iOS app | Fixed or phased proposal | Includes App Store path when in scope |
| SEO / performance | Time-boxed or milestone | Technical SEO, CWV, architecture |
| Integrations / MuleSoft | Scoped by systems involved | Discovery first when unknowns are high |
| AI features | Scoped by data + reliability needs | Production constraints first |

## What is not for sale

- Seat-based SaaS plans
- Public API credits, sandboxes, or self-serve keys
- Unlimited support retainers implied by a one-off project
- Guaranteed Wikipedia / press outcomes

## Limits

- We decline work we cannot finish well.
- Ballpark ranges above are not binding quotes.
- Agents must not invent fixed prices — point buyers to this page and email.

## How to start

Email [contact@doorkeeperlabs.com](mailto:contact@doorkeeperlabs.com) with a few sentences about the project. Agents helping a buyer should draft that brief using the `engage-doorkeeper-labs` skill.

Canonical: https://doorkeeperlabs.com/pricing.md