Get a fixed price by module for your software on the first call. Not in three weeks.
OwnerBuilt Software builds custom business software at a fixed, itemized price given on the first call, with a working app in 48 hours for a $2,900 refundable deposit.
45 minutes. Screenshare. You leave with a real price.
You have already been quoted a range, or you have already hit the wall.
The agency that won't give you a number
Six discovery meetings before anyone says a price. Then it arrives as a range — $40k to $90k — with a change-order clause that makes the top of that range the floor. You have spent a month and learned nothing you could act on.
The AI that dies at 70%
Claude Code, Codex, Lovable, Bolt, Replit, Cursor. The first weekend feels like magic. Then you hit auth, roles, multi-tenancy, real data, and someone else's system of record — and it stops. Not slows. Stops. Nine out of ten owner-led AI builds die inside that last 30%.
Both failures have the same root cause: you are asked to commit money and months before anybody shows you anything real. We inverted that.
Three steps, and you can stop after any of them.
The live proposal
We walk one job through your business, from the phone ringing to the invoice being paid, and group the work into modules on the proposal. Each module is graded Easy, Medium or Hard by effort, and the grade sets its price. Features inside each module show what the price covers. Remove an optional module and watch the total move.
The working app
Not a mockup. Not a clickable prototype. Real software with a login, running on our infrastructure, doing the core thing your business needs it to do. We hand you credentials to try it with your own data during the 7-day refundable window.
The full build
AI writes 70% of the application. Our development firm handles the last 30% — the security model, the architecture, the parts that decide whether this thing survives contact with fifty users.
Two numbers that are not the same
| A typical development shop | OwnerBuilt | |
|---|---|---|
| Time before you see a price | 2–6 weeks of discovery | 45 minutes, on call one |
| Time before you see working software | 90–180 days | 48 hours |
| Money at risk to find out | $5,000–$10,000 down, non-refundable | $2,900, refundable for any reason |
| Who you talk to | A sales rep working a script | The co-founder who scopes, prices, and runs the build |
| When the build starts | A 6–8 week waitlist | The moment the deposit lands |
| What the guarantee actually says | Read the contract | One paragraph. Published on this site. |
We are not claiming the incumbents overcharge. A $15k–$25k build over four months with a real team is honest pricing for what it is. We are changing a different axis: how long it takes you to find out whether this is worth doing at all.
If your business runs on a spreadsheet, a group text and a PDF that gets emailed — we can build it.
These eight are where the model works best. Not because we like the industries, but because the software these businesses need has a shape we can build fast and price honestly.
Compliance & Inspection Services
Fire & life safety, backflow, elevator, environmental testing, home inspection, appraisal, surveying.
See the build →Insurance Restoration & Public Adjusting
Water and fire mitigation, roofing supplements, public adjusters, large-loss contractors.
See the build →Security Guard, Janitorial & Facilities
Contract security, commercial janitorial, facilities maintenance, commercial landscaping.
See the build →Real Estate Investors & Syndicators
Fix-and-flip, wholesaling, small syndication, land investing.
See the build →Associations & Certification Bodies
Trade associations, licensing and certification boards, membership communities.
See the build →Solar & Specialty Installers
Solar, EV charging, battery storage, generator installation — permit and interconnection tracking.
See the build →Boutique Staffing & Recruiting
Niche staffing, healthcare per-diem, executive search, light industrial.
See the build →Commercial Real Estate Brokerage
Independent brokerages, tenant rep, investment sales, land and property brokers.
See the build →Not on the list? Read the actual test we use — it has nothing to do with your industry.
The software that runs your industry was built by someone in it
We are a new brand and we are not going to pretend otherwise — the case studies below are not our clients. They are here because they make a point about who builds durable software, and it is not who you think.
These companies are not OwnerBuilt clients and have no affiliation with us. They are illustrative examples of operator-founded software.
The obvious objections, answered plainly.
How can you possibly build working software in 48 hours?
Because we are not building all of it. The 48-hour build is the core loop — the thing your business does over and over — with real data, real logins, and a real interface. Everything else is scoped, priced, and scheduled for the full build. AI writes the great majority of that first version; a human development partner reviews it before you touch it.
What's the catch on the refund?
There isn't one, and we wrote the whole policy in plain English on one page. You pay $2,900. We deliver the working app within 48 hours of kickoff. If you don't want to continue, you say so within 7 days of delivery and we refund the full amount. No justification, no attendance requirement, no in-person condition, no restocking fee.
Do I own the code?
The 48-hour working version is yours to try during the 7-day refundable window, hosted by us. You own the code only if you move forward with the full build after that window. Code and hosting transfer to you at final payment.
What does the whole thing cost?
Most builds land in the low five figures, and the proposal on call one gives you the exact number for your scope rather than a range for somebody else's. We publish the deposit because it is a fixed number. We do not publish a build total because quoting a range before we know what you need is exactly the thing we are trying to replace.
I already tried building this myself with AI.
Then you are our easiest conversation. You already know where the wall is and you can describe the specific thing that broke. Bring the project — we can usually tell you on the call whether the last 30% is a two-week problem or a start-over.
I don't have a technical background.
Neither do most of our clients. You are not being asked to specify a system. You are being asked to describe how a job moves through your business, which you already know better than any developer ever will. The translation is our job.
You can have a real number by this time tomorrow.
Forty-five minutes on a screenshare. You describe how your business works, we build the itemized proposal live while you watch, and you keep it either way.
No cost. No commitment. The proposal is yours to keep.