TOLEDO APPS — SENIOR-LED CUSTOM SOFTWARE
Internal tools, client portals, custom apps, and SaaS — commissioned by owners who need software that outlasts the contract.
Discovery in writing first, build second, owned forever. One senior hand from scope to launch, weekly demos, and a fixed-band quote you can budget against.
DISCOVERY $750–$15KBUILDS $15K–$750K+OWNED BY YOU, DAY ONE
02 — THE PROCESS
Every engagement passes through four stages, and each stage ends in something written — a brief, a specification, a working release, a set of keys. No surprises in the middle, no abandonment at the end.
The metal is studied before it is struck. Short workshops with the people who will use the thing, then a written scope, an architecture brief, and a fixed-band quote you can hold us to.
Data model, integration map, deploy plan — the production decisions are made on paper before a line of code exists. You approve the drawing before we strike.
Production from day one — auth, audit, and observability land in the first week, not the last. Weekly demos; you watch the edge take shape as it is ground.
You keep the keys: code, repo, deployment, runbook. An optional retainer is offered, never required. The blade is built to outlast the smith.
03 — THE WORK
Not every problem wants the same software. We forge in four shapes — each with its own rhythm, scope, and price band, each quoted in writing before anything is built.
LANE 01 — INTERNAL TOOLS
Replaces the spreadsheet, the Notion table, the half-Airtable. Real validation, real audit logs, real exports — built around the actual workflow, not bent to whatever a no-code form allows.
$15K–$45K3–10 WEEKS
Read the laneLANE 02 — CLIENT PORTALS
A branded surface where your customers see their orders, files, invoices, requests, and status — without a phone call to you. Plugged into Stripe, your CRM, your ops database.
$45K–$90K10–16 WEEKS
Read the laneLANE 03 — CUSTOM APPS
Shaped to your operation, scaled to your traffic, structured for the next ten years. Modern stack, real source, cloud-portable — a system you own outright, not one you rent.
$75K–$175K+4–8 MONTHS
Read the laneLANE 04 — SAAS, END-TO-END
Discovery, MVP, launch, growth — one senior team, one runway, one accountable build. Auth, billing, permissions, observability, audit: production from day one.
$60K–$750K+12 WEEKS – 18 MONTHS
Read the lane04 — THE SPECIFICATION
We don't compete with no-code, offshore agencies, or your future in-house team. The difference is what each path puts on paper before money moves — and what you hold when the engagement ends.
| Vector | No-code stack | Offshore agency | In-house hire | Freelancer | Toledo Apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speed | Fast to start, slow to scale | Cheap, uncertain | 3–6 months to hire and ramp | Variable, often slow | Senior cadence from day one |
| Ownership | You rent the platform | Repo handed off, no context | Yours, by employment | Yours, usually | Code, repo, deploy — yours |
| Audit | "Export" if you're lucky | Build it yourself later | Depends on the hire | Rarely built in | Living Ledger by default |
| Who builds it | You, plus vendor templates | A team you'll never meet | Your hire, eventually | One person, no review | The principal designs and ships |
| All-in cost · year one | $10–60K plus per-user fees | $40–120K plus risk | $180–280K loaded | $60–200K | $15K–$750K+ · fixed band |
| What you keep | Per-user fees, locked in | A repo and unread docs | A hire and salary obligations | A repo, sometimes docs | Code · repo · deploy · runbook |
05 — COMMITMENTS
Non-negotiable, at every band, on every engagement. If these sound like upgrades, we're not your shop.
Architecture you own, deploy, and audit. No vendor lock-in, no silent platform fees. The system you commission is the system you keep.
No offshoring, no junior leads, no team you'll never meet. The principal designs and writes the foundational code. Always.
Every action is an event, every event is auditable, every audit is one query away. Compliance becomes a side effect, not a project. See the architecture.
06 — PROVENANCE
07 — BEGIN
Every engagement starts with a paid discovery — the metal studied before it is struck. We map the work, talk to the people who'll use it, and return a written scope, a fixed-band quote, and a recommended path.
DELPHI APP DISCOVERY MOST COMMON
A short engagement to scope the build before you commit to it — the shape of the work, on paper, with a number you can plan around.
DELPHI PRODUCT STRATEGY SAAS & MVP
A deeper engagement to validate, scope, and architect the product — before the first sprint is bought.
CREDIT RULE — 50% OF THE DISCOVERY FEE CREDITS TOWARD YOUR KICKOFF PROJECT RETAINER WITHIN 30 DAYS.