What you’ll learn: A transparent, no-pitch breakdown of what custom digital systems actually cost — broken down by project type, what’s included, and why prices vary. No “contact us for a quote” — just real numbers.
Why most agency pricing pages are useless
Most agencies hide their prices behind a “book a call” button. This creates an information asymmetry: the agency knows what things cost, the client doesn’t, and the discovery call becomes a negotiation rather than a conversation about fit.
We think this is backwards. If you know what a website, ordering system, or automation project typically costs — and what goes into that cost — you can make a more informed decision about whether to build at all, and who to build with.
Real project categories and price ranges
These ranges reflect builds by a small senior team (not a large agency, not a solo freelancer working below market rates) delivering production-ready systems for businesses in Southeast Asia:
Business Website: $1–1illion
What you get:
- 5–10 pages (homepage, about, services/products, contact, plus individual product or service pages)
- Custom design (not a template — designed for your brand)
- Fast loading (under 2 seconds on mobile)
- SEO structure (meta descriptions, title tags, schema markup, proper heading hierarchy)
- Mobile-responsive across all devices
- Contact form with WhatsApp integration
- Google Business Profile setup and optimisation
- Basic analytics (so you can see who visits and what they look at)
What drives cost up or down: Number of pages, complexity of design (custom illustrations vs. stock imagery), whether you need a product catalog with filtering, and how much content you need written.
Typical timeline: 4–6 weeks.
Ordering System with Catalog & WhatsApp Integration: $1,600–2,500
What you get:
- Product catalog (unlimited products, categories, search and filter)
- WhatsApp-integrated ordering (customer selects products → order appears in your team’s dashboard → automated confirmations via WhatsApp)
- Order management dashboard (view, filter, update status for all orders)
- Inventory tracking (stock updates automatically when orders are placed)
- Customer database (purchase history, contact info, notes)
- Payment tracking (bank transfer confirmation, manual verification workflow)
- Multi-user access (different staff can manage orders simultaneously)
What drives cost up or down: Number of integration points (connecting to existing systems like Shopee or accounting software), complexity of inventory rules, reporting requirements, and whether you need multi-location support.
Typical timeline: 8–12 weeks.
Internal Automation System: $1–3illion
What you get:
- Workflow automation (automatically route data, send notifications, generate documents based on triggers)
- Dashboard for monitoring (see what’s running, what’s pending, what needs attention)
- Integration with your existing tools (CRMs, spreadsheets, marketplace APIs, email)
- Reporting pipeline (automated reports generated and delivered on schedule)
- Error handling and alerts (system notifies you when something goes wrong)
What drives cost up or down: Number of systems being integrated, complexity of the automation logic, data volume, and whether AI/ML processing (document scanning, image recognition) is involved.
Typical timeline: 8–16 weeks.
What’s included in every build (regardless of type)
Every project we deliver includes discovery, design, development, testing, documentation, and a 30-day post-launch warranty. These aren't optional add-ons — they're what makes the difference between a system that works on day one and a system that breaks on day two.
- Discovery (included): We document your workflow, identify edge cases, and agree on scope before development starts.
- Design review (included): You approve the design before we build.
- Progress check-ins (included): You see the system at regular intervals, not just at launch.
- Testing (included): Tested on real devices, with real data volumes.
- Documentation (included): Written guide for your team.
- 30-day warranty (included): Fixes and adjustments covered at no additional cost.
What’s typically NOT included (so you can budget)
- Content writing: If your website needs 10 pages of text and you don’t have a writer, this is extra. We can handle it, but it’s not part of the base build price.
- Ongoing hosting: Typically $6–300,000/month depending on traffic and data volume.
- Feature additions after launch: New functionality requested after the warranty period is scoped and quoted separately.
- Major third-party API fees: If you need WhatsApp Business API (not the free WhatsApp Web), this costs $1.25–50,000/month depending on message volume.
Why prices vary between agencies
Two agencies quoting the same project at $750 and $1,900 are not selling the same thing. The difference is in what’s included:
| Lower Quote | Higher Quote | |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery process | Assumed, not done | Structured, documented |
| Design | Template with your logo | Custom, built for your brand |
| Testing | Basic click-through | Cross-device, cross-browser, edge cases |
| Documentation | None | Written guide + training session |
| Post-launch | None or charged hourly | 30-day warranty included |
| Source code | May not transfer ownership | You own it, in writing |
The lower quote is not a better deal. It’s a different product — one that will cost more in fixes and time within 6 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most projects use a milestone-based payment structure: a percentage upfront to begin, a percentage at design approval, and a percentage on launch. This spreads the cost across the project timeline and keeps both sides aligned on deliverables.
Every project is scoped individually. The prices above are ranges for full systems — if you only need a product catalog website (no ordering system), the price sits toward the lower end of the website range. The first step is always a conversation about what you actually need.
At $2–3, you're paying for 2-3 months of senior development work. A full-time hire at the same skill level costs roughly $1–2/month in salary alone — plus recruitment time, training, and the risk of them leaving mid-project. The agency delivers the system; the hire delivers availability with no guarantee of timeline or fit.
