Custom software
Custom software development in Melbourne
We are a custom software development studio in Melbourne. We build the system your business process actually needs when no off-the-shelf product fits: the quoting, scheduling, approvals and reporting that today live in spreadsheets, inboxes and people's heads. Custom software costs $15,000 to $40,000 ex GST and takes 6 to 12 weeks, with a written scope from a paid discovery workshop and a fixed price before any build starts.
What is included
- Discovery workshop that maps the process, plus UX wireframes
- Sign-in with email, Google and passkeys, with roles and permissions
- Database, one core workflow and an admin panel
- Email notifications and live reports
- Deployed with continuous integration, plus documentation
- 30-day warranty
- Price
- From $15,000
- Timeline
- 6 to 12 weeks
Prices are in Australian dollars and exclude GST.
Who is custom software for?
Off-the-shelf software is the right answer more often than not, and we say so when it is. Custom software is for the business whose process is its advantage, or whose process no product will bend to.
- Businesses running a process across spreadsheets, email and two or three disconnected tools, where the same job is typed in several times.
- Operators whose quoting, scheduling, approvals or compliance steps follow rules that an off-the-shelf product cannot express.
- Companies that have outgrown a product's plan limits, or pay for ten seats to use one feature.
- Teams with an ageing in-house system, an Access database or a macro-driven workbook that one person understands.
What kinds of custom software do we build?
The process is the product. In discovery we map how work moves through your business today, who touches it and where it stalls; the parts that are repetitive and rule-based get automated, and the parts that need judgement stay with a person, with the right information in front of them.
Business process automation
Data entry and re-keying between systems removed, with integrations to Xero, Stripe, HubSpot and Google Workspace where the data already lives.
Approval and compliance workflows
Who signs off, in what order, what evidence is attached and what happens when nobody does, recorded so an audit is a report rather than a search.
Quoting, job and scheduling systems
A quote built from your price list, approved, turned into a job, scheduled and invoiced without anything typed twice.
Live reporting and dashboards
The figures somebody assembles by hand every Monday, produced from the system's own data instead.
Document and data pipelines
Extraction, review and filing of documents, with AI where it earns its place and a person confirming the result.
Internal tools
Rosters, timesheets, inventory and checklists: the small systems that replace a shared spreadsheet and the arguments about who changed it.
What we build custom software with
We build on Next.js and ASP.NET Core with PostgreSQL. They are mainstream, well documented and widely used in Australia, so the system is fast, maintainable and straightforward for another developer to take over one day. If your business already runs on .NET, or your IT team wants to sign off on the stack, that conversation is welcome.
What every system includes
- Sign-in with email, Google and passkeys, with roles and permissions for who may see and change what.
- An admin panel, email notifications and an audit trail of who did what and when.
- Hosting, domain and source-code accounts in your name from the first day, so nothing is ever held hostage.
- Automated tests and continuous integration, documentation, and a hand-over session at launch.
What we do not build: anything that a well-chosen product already does. If a $50-a-month tool solves the problem, discovery ends with that recommendation and no project.
Custom software or an off-the-shelf product?
Buy a product when your process is ordinary and the product's way of working is acceptable to you: accounting, email, payroll and most CRM needs fall here. Build custom software when the process is specific to how you win work, when the products you have tried all need workarounds, or when the cost of the workarounds (people's time, errors, double handling) is already higher than a build would be.
The honest test is the discovery workshop. It is paid ($500 to $1,500, credited to the project if it goes ahead), it maps the process and the systems around it, and it ends in a written scope with a fixed price, or in the advice that you do not need us.
How the project runs
Custom software runs through the same five stages as every project: a discovery workshop that maps the process and ends in a written scope, wireframes and designs you approve, the build in two-week sprints with a working demo at the end of each, launch with documentation, training and a 30-day warranty, then a care plan if you want us to keep looking after it. Progress, files, messages and invoices sit in your client portal the whole way.
Stage 1
Discovery
We agree what we are building, for whom and why, and write it down.
Stage 2
Design
Every screen is wireframed and designed before any of it is built.
Stage 3
Build in two-week sprints
We build in two-week sprints, and each one ends with a demo of working software.
Stage 4
Launch
We go live on accounts in your name, hand over the documentation and start the 30-day warranty.
Stage 5
Care plan
Offered at launch and running from the end of the 30-day warranty, the care plan keeps the system hosted, secure and improving, month by month.
How much does custom software cost?
Custom software costs $15,000 to $40,000 ex GST, the same published band as our web apps, because it is the same package: discovery, design, sign-in with roles, a database, one core workflow, an admin panel, notifications, deployment and documentation. Where a project lands in the range depends on how many workflows it covers, how many kinds of user it has, what it must connect to and how much of the design is custom.
We reply to your enquiry with an estimate range within one business day. Because every custom build is over $10,000, the project then starts with the paid discovery workshop ($500 to $1,500), credited to the project if it goes ahead. The workshop produces the written scope, and the price is fixed once you sign it.
Integrations with tools such as Xero, Stripe, HubSpot and Google Workspace are $1,500 to $5,000 each, AI features such as document extraction start from $3,000, and a reusable design system in your brand from $2,500.
What sits where in the $15,000 to $40,000 range?
Example scopes, not past projects
These examples are made up to show what moves a project within its published range. They are not past projects and not quotes: the exact price comes from the written scope.
Low end
Around $15,000
One process mapped in discovery and automated, such as an approval chain with evidence attached, for two roles, with an audit trail, email notifications and an admin panel.
Middle
Around $27,500
A second process, such as quoting from your own price list, and live reports built from the system's own data.
Add-ons, priced on top: An integration with the system the data already lives in, such as Xero or HubSpot ($1,500 to $5,000).
Top end
Towards $40,000
Three processes, four roles with their own permissions, and years of spreadsheet records cleaned, mapped and migrated.
Add-ons, priced on top: AI that reads each document, with a person confirming the result (from $3,000).
Payment terms
- A 30 to 50 percent deposit before work starts.
- Milestone invoices at design approval, the first working build and launch.
- Net 7 or net 14 payment terms, set out in the services agreement.
Frequently asked questions
How much does custom software cost?
With us, $15,000 to $40,000 ex GST for a system with sign-in, roles, a database, one core workflow, an admin panel and notifications, fixed in a written scope before the build starts. The biggest cost drivers are the number of workflows, kinds of user and integrations. Every price we charge is published on our pricing page.
How long does custom software take to build?
Six to twelve weeks for most projects: a discovery workshop and design first, then two-week sprints with a working demo at the end of each, then testing, launch and hand-over. A longer list of integrations or a second workflow adds sprints, and the written scope gives you the dates.
Will I own the software?
Yes. The code, the designs and the documentation are yours once the project is paid for, and the hosting, domain and source-code accounts are set up in your name from the start, so you can move to another developer at any time. The open-source frameworks we build on stay under their own licences.
Can it connect to the systems we already use?
Usually, yes. Integrations with Xero, Stripe, HubSpot, Google Workspace and similar tools are a published add-on at $1,500 to $5,000 each, scoped before we build them. Where a system has no usable way to connect, we tell you in discovery, not after.
Custom software or off-the-shelf?
If one does the job, yes, and the discovery workshop will say so. Custom software earns its cost when your process is specific to how you work, when every product needs workarounds, or when the time and errors of double handling already cost more than a build.
Do you take on custom software projects outside Melbourne?
Yes. We are in Box Hill North, Melbourne, and take on projects from anywhere in Australia. Discovery runs in person around Melbourne or on a video call, and the client portal shows progress, files, messages and invoices wherever you are.
Tell us about your project
Describe it in your own words and get a reply with an estimate range within one business day.