How our projects work.

Last updated: 16 October 2026

Plain-language summary. The full client agreement applies to every quote and takes precedence. Unclear on anything? Ask before you pay a deposit.

1. Scope

Every project has a fixed scope, agreed in writing before we build: what's included, revision rounds and delivery. Anything outside it is a change request.

2. The deposit

For fixed-scope projects you only pay it after you've seen and accepted a fixed quote. Telling us what you need and getting the quote cost nothing.

• Tell us what you need (a form, the Project Builder or a call) → free.
• We send you a fixed quote online: scope, price and timeline.
• You accept it online and pay the deposit by card → it comes off your total and we start building.
• You decide not to go ahead (including because of the price) → just don't accept the quote; you haven't paid anything.
• We can't take the project on after you've paid → refunded.
• For fixed-scope builds the deposit is 40%; on larger projects the balance can be split across milestones, set out in your quote. The Inbox Assistant is different: a R1,500 deposit, refunded in full if it doesn’t save your team 5 hours a week (section 7).

3. Payment & refunds

The balance is due as set out in your quote: before handover for standard projects, or across milestones for larger ones. Once work has started, amounts paid cover work done and are generally non-refundable (the Inbox Assistant deposit is the exception, see section 7), except where the Consumer Protection Act requires. Hit a snag? Talk to us.

How you pay:

• For projects, the deposit is 40% of your quoted total, rounded to the nearest R100. It is paid securely by card through Yoco when you accept your quote online, and comes off your total.
• The balance is sent as a Yoco invoice you can pay by card, or by EFT / bank transfer if you prefer: your choice.
• Card details are handled entirely by Yoco (or Paystack for a payment link); we never see or store them. You get a receipt for every payment.
• VAT: no VAT is added to our prices, because we’re not VAT-registered. If that changes, we’ll tell you before your next invoice, and quotes already accepted stay as they are.

4. Revisions & changes

Each project includes a set number of revision rounds: give feedback in one batch per round. Anything beyond that, or outside scope, is quoted as a change request and only done once you approve it.

5. Your part

Fast delivery needs your content, images, access and timely feedback. Missing pieces can move the date; we'll flag it when something's holding things up.

6. Third-party costs & AI usage

Domains, paid software, payment providers and AI/API usage are third-party costs, identified up front. AI/API usage is billed on actual use: never "unlimited" in a fixed price.

7. AI projects & monthly operations

• Starting prices. Fixed-scope builds start from R12,500 (websites), R15,000 (dashboards and automations), R25,000 (AI solutions) and R45,000 (custom software). Outside South Africa we quote in USD, EUR or GBP. Starting prices cover the simplest useful version; your proposal sets the actual scope and price before development, and ongoing costs (hosting, subscriptions, AI usage, support) are listed in it.
• International clients. Quotes and invoices are in USD, EUR or GBP from our published price list. Larger invoices (discovery, builds) are paid by bank transfer to our foreign-currency account; monthly fees can be paid by card through Paystack. Bank and card charges on your side are yours. VAT treatment is shown on each invoice.
• Stages, for larger AI process work. Automating a whole process runs in stages: a free process review, a fixed-price discovery (R15,000), a proof of concept (from R35,000) and production implementation (from R85,000). Each paid stage has a written scope and a fixed price, starts with a 40% deposit and ends with a decision to continue or stop. The discovery fee is credited in full against implementation if you go ahead within 60 days.
• The Prove guarantee. Before the proof of concept starts, we agree one target in writing (for example, minutes per enquiry) and how it will be measured. If, measured that way at the end of the proof of concept, the target isn’t met, we refund 50% of the proof-of-concept fee within 10 business days. It doesn’t apply if the information, system access or people agreed in the scope weren’t made available, or if the scope was changed during the proof of concept at your request.
• The Inbox Assistant: a refundable deposit, and you pay the rest last. A R1,500 deposit is paid before setup and comes off the setup fee (or off the first month, where the setup is waived). We set up a private page for your business, loaded with your prices and policies, within 3 business days of our day-one call, and your team uses it for two weeks with nothing further to pay. On day one we agree in writing how we’ll measure the time your team spends on customer email; during the trial, your team marks each reply as sent as is, sent after edits or not used. If, measured that way, it saves at least 5 hours a week, the rest of the setup fee is invoiced and the monthly plan starts (3-month minimum from that date, then month to month with a month’s notice). If it doesn’t, nothing further is payable, the deposit is refunded in full within 7 days, and we switch the page off and delete it. The deposit isn’t refunded if the trial couldn’t run because the access or information agreed on day one wasn’t provided. We don’t store the emails you paste. On Microsoft 365, the assistant can instead draft replies straight into your inbox; that connection goes live within 15 business days.
• Operations. Operate R7,500/month, Optimise R15,000/month, Partner R35,000/month. Operations starts at go-live, has a 3-month minimum and then runs month to month with a month’s notice. It includes monitoring, AI usage up to the plan’s allowance, maintenance, security updates, usage monitoring, accuracy checks, support to the service levels, the plan’s improvement hours and a monthly ROI report.
• Service levels. Business hours are Monday to Friday, 08:00–17:00 SAST, excluding public holidays. Response times (Operate / Optimise / Partner): critical: next business day / same business day / 4 business hours; high: 2 business days / next business day / same business day; normal: 3 business days / 2 business days / next business day. Monitoring alerts us automatically, so many problems are picked up before you report them. Emergency work outside business hours is by arrangement. A response is a person acknowledging the issue with a first assessment; it is not a guaranteed fix time. Third-party AI providers’ uptime is outside our control; we monitor them and design your system to fall back safely.
• Allowances. AI usage above the plan’s allowance is billed at cost; we warn you at 80%. Unused improvement hours don’t roll over, except on Partner (one month).
• Priced separately. Change requests beyond the plan’s hours R1,250/hour, quoted before work starts. New functionality is a separate project with its own fixed quote. Consulting R1,850/hour (half-day workshop R7,500). Emergency support outside business hours R2,450/hour, 1-hour minimum.
• Results. We measure a baseline before building and the same measure after, and report it monthly. Examples of results on this site are examples, not guarantees; your result depends on your process, data and adoption.
• Data. Your data is processed only to run your system, in accounts you own where possible, under POPIA. We tell you which third-party providers process it before anything is built.

8. Websites: hosting, domains & Care

• A site is only live while it's hosted, so some hosting is required: ours (paid monthly or yearly, cancel with a month’s notice) or your own.
• You own your domain: we can manage the tech, but you're the registrant and can transfer it away.
• Care covers small updates within its allowance; new pages, features and redesigns are quoted separately. Unused time doesn't roll over.
• Website plans: Managed hosting R450/month or R4,500/year; Care (hosting plus an hour of changes, updates and a monthly report) R1,450/month or R14,500/year. Monthly plans are paid by card link each month or by bank stop order, and can be cancelled with a month's notice. Existing clients keep the plan and price they signed up at until they choose to change.

9. Ownership

• On full payment you own the delivered solution and your data; we reuse only our own generic components and know-how.
• That includes the code, documentation, accounts set up for you, and the measurements we take. If you leave, you take it all with you.

10. Our two promises

• A reply by 17:00 the next business day, often sooner. Message us on WhatsApp, by email or through a form on this site, and a person (not an automatic email) replies. Business days are Monday to Friday, South African time; clients abroad can expect a reply within one business day of sending.
• Your website live within 3 weeks of approving the design, or your first month of Care is free. The 3 weeks start when you tell us in writing (WhatsApp or email) that you're happy with the design, and we have what we asked you for: your logo, photos, wording and prices, and access to your domain if you already have one.
• The clock pauses while we wait on you (changes you ask for after approving, or answers we need) and for things outside our control, like a domain registrar or a transfer from your old host. Larger builds such as online shops, booking systems and portals have their own promised date in the quote, with the same free month if we miss it.
• The free month is added to your Care plan (your renewal or next payment moves a month later). It can't be exchanged for cash.

11. Warranty, cancellation & support

We fix genuine bugs in delivered work free for a reasonable period after launch; new features and content changes go under a Care plan or a separate quote. Cancel anytime: work already done is payable, as set out in section 3. If a project goes silent for a long stretch, we may pause or close it and invoice for work completed.

12. Portfolio & privacy

We may feature finished work unless you ask us not to; we never publish your confidential data, and concept/demo work is never shown as a real client. Files you submit are used only to deliver your project, validated, size-limited, sent over HTTPS and kept out of search engines. See the Privacy Policy.