Honest Comparison
Why Founders Choose Me Over Agencies
I've worked at agencies. I've seen the markup, the inefficiency, and the founder frustration. Here's the truth about agency vs solo development.
87%
Average Cost Savings
4.2x
Faster Time to Market
15+
Founders Who Switched
Cost
With Me
$4,997 - $12,000
- Transparent upfront pricing
- No hidden fees or scope creep
- 50% money-back guarantee
- 50/50 payment split (half upfront, half on delivery)
Traditional Agency
$25,000 - $100,000+
- Vague estimates that balloon 2-3x
- Constant change orders and upsells
- 10-30% markup on contractor costs
- Payment terms favor agency (often 3+ milestones)
Timeline
With Me
21-28 days
- Average 23 days to production
- Daily progress updates via Slack/Email
- No waiting for 'sprint planning' or meetings
- Rush delivery (14-18 days) available for +30%
Traditional Agency
3-6 months
- 2-4 weeks just for discovery/scoping
- Bi-weekly sprints with slow progress
- Delays from handoffs between teams
- Timeline slips are standard, not exceptions
Team & Communication
With Me
You + Me
- Direct access to the person building your product
- One throat to choke (no blame-shifting)
- Same person writes code, makes decisions, fixes bugs
- Respond within 2-4 hours during work hours
Traditional Agency
5-10 People You'll Never Meet
- Account manager (not technical) is your contact
- Junior devs in offshore teams build your MVP
- Designers, PMs, QA—all billable hours you're paying for
- Responses take 24-48 hours, often vague
Quality & Speed
With Me
AI-Augmented Development
- Claude, Cursor, and modern AI tools = 60% faster
- Clean, maintainable code (you own it)
- Built for scale from day 1 (no rewrites needed)
- 30 days of bug fixes included post-launch
Traditional Agency
Legacy Processes
- Slow waterfall or bloated agile ceremonies
- Junior devs write messy code you'll rewrite later
- Not built to scale—just MVP checkbox ticked
- Bug fixes are billable after launch ($150-$250/hr)
Flexibility
With Me
Founder-Friendly
- Scope changes handled pragmatically (within reason)
- Monthly retainer available ($2,997/mo) for ongoing work
- You can pause/resume as needed
- No long-term contracts or lock-in
Traditional Agency
Rigid Contracts
- Every tiny change triggers a change order
- Retainers start at $15k-$30k/mo minimum
- 3-6 month minimum commitments
- Early termination penalties in fine print
Real Founders, Real Savings
Sarah K.
AI Recruitment Tool
Agency Quote$45,000 (4-5 months)
My Price$4,997 (21 days)
Total Savings
$40,003 & 3.5 months
Outcome
Shipped in 21 days. 500+ users in first month. Now profitable.
Marcus T.
E-commerce Analytics Dashboard
Agency Quote$38,000 (3 months)
My Price$4,997 (23 days)
Total Savings
$33,003 & 2 months
Outcome
Replaced $299/mo SaaS tool. Saved $3,588/year. Now selling to clients.
Jamie L.
AI Content Repurposing Tool
Agency Quote$52,000 (5-6 months)
My Price$4,997 (19 days)
Total Savings
$47,003 & 4.5 months
Outcome
2,000+ users in 6 weeks. $8k MRR. Raising a seed round.
To Be Fair: When You SHOULD Choose an Agency
I'm not the right fit for every project. Here's when you should go with an agency instead:
- You need a full team (designers, multiple devs, QA, PM) working simultaneously on a complex enterprise product
- You're building a heavily regulated product (fintech, healthcare) requiring compliance specialists
- You have a $500k+ budget and need white-glove service with dedicated account management
- Your project requires niche expertise I don't have (blockchain, AR/VR, embedded systems)
My sweet spot: Founders with $5k-$15k budgets who need an AI-powered MVP in 3-4 weeks to validate their idea and start getting users.
Ready to Skip the Agency Markup?
Book a free 30-minute call. I'll tell you honestly if I'm the right fit or if you should go with an agency.