Pricing
Real numbers, so you can plan with confidence.
Lifehouse Development publishes its prices. Websites are $2,500 to build plus $100 a month for hosting and unlimited edits. Software development and implementation is $8,500 a month. Hands-on support is $4,999 a month, advisory is $3,500 a month, and fractional CTO leadership starts at $12,500 a month. Migrations are quoted at a fixed price.
We publish the numbers because you're accountable to a budget, and maybe a board, a funder, or an investor. A free 30-minute call turns them into a written scope for your situation. No gated quotes, no sales stages, and no commission on anything we recommend.
Build something
One-time work, one known number.
Websites are a fixed price. Software development is billed by the month, and the blueprint fixes how many months before we start.
Website
$2,500
Fixed price for the build
Then $100 a month for hosting and unlimited edits
A fast, modern site your team never has to touch. We host it, we make every edit you ask for, and the number never changes.
Includes: Design, build, launch, hosting, and every content change after.
Software development
$8,500
Per month
Project-focused build and implementation work: a new tool, an integration, a full application. A focused tool usually takes one to two months. A multi-feature application takes four to twelve.
Includes: Discovery, blueprint, build, testing, launch, training, and full ownership of the code.
Migration
Fixed price
Quoted after a free call
Moving email, files, or a database from one platform to another with nothing lost and everyone trained on the other side.
Includes: Plan, move, verify, and train, for a number you approve first.
Keep it running
Ongoing help, month to month, no contract.
Three levels, from hands-on maintenance to a technology executive who owns the outcome. Cancel any month.
Support
$4,999
Per month
Hands-on. We fix what breaks, keep everything updated, and ship the small improvements that pile up after launch.
Includes: Priority response, maintenance, updates, and small enhancements.
Advisory
$3,500
Per month
Guidance only, no hands-on work. A standing technology advisor for roadmap, vendor, and build-versus-buy decisions, written so a board can act on them.
Includes: Monthly roadmap sessions, written recommendations, and a call that gets answered.
Fractional CTO
From $12,500
Per month
Executive technology leadership without the executive hire. Strategy, architecture, AI, hiring, and ownership of the outcomes.
Includes: Everything in advisory, plus accountability for delivery.
Which one?
Start from what you need.
Most people arrive knowing the problem, not the service. Find your line, and that is the number to plan around.
A website your staff never have to update
Website
Something built: a tool, an integration, an application
Software development
To move email, files, or data to a new platform
Migration
Software you already have kept running and improving
Support
Advice and a roadmap, not hands on the keyboard
Advisory
A technology executive who owns the outcome
Fractional CTO
Still not sure? The call is where we tell you if you don't need us.
What drives the number
Why one build is one month and another is six.
Development is billed by the month, so the total is the rate times the months. Here's what moves the months.
- How many features and integrations are involved
- How much data needs to move or be cleaned up
- Whether design and content are needed, or just engineering
- How much of the work your team can take on themselves
The other cost
The cost of doing nothing.
Custom software pays for itself when it removes a cost you're already paying — one that's just harder to see.
A grant-funded tool nobody can maintain after launch
Spreadsheets held together by one volunteer
Staff hours spent re-typing data between systems that don't talk
Board decisions made on guesswork instead of data
What's included
The price covers the whole job.
No line items that appear later. If it's needed to get from idea to software your team is using, it's in the number.
- Discovery call and feasibility workshop
- A written blueprint that fixes scope, months, and total before any code
- Design, engineering, and testing
- Launch, documentation, and hands-on training
- Source code, accounts, and full ownership at handoff
What's separate
The few things you pay someone else for.
We sell no software and take no commissions, so anything you pay a vendor, you pay at their price — never marked up through us.
- Hosting for custom applications, domains, and email (paid to the provider, often free for nonprofits). Website hosting is covered by the $100 a month.
- Third-party software licenses you choose to keep
- Payment-processing fees on sales your software takes
- Work outside the blueprint — quoted in writing before it starts
How the number is set
From a rate on this page to a total for your project.
The rates above are honest, but a monthly rate is not yet a total. Here's how it becomes a single number you can plan around.
- 01
We scope the problem, not the wish list
The feasibility workshop separates what would be nice from what would change your week. The months are built on the second list.
- 02
The blueprint fixes the number
You get a document that says what will be built, in what order, over how many months, for what total. It is written so you can hand it to a board, a funder, or an investor.
- 03
Changes are priced before they're built
If the scope grows, you see the cost and the timeline impact first and decide. If it shrinks, the total comes down with it.
The full sequence — discovery call, workshop, blueprint, delivery, launch — is on our how we work page, and you can see what it produces on work & outcomes.
Paying for it
Where the money usually comes from.
Different clients fund this differently. These are the three conversations we have most often.
Nonprofits: grants often cover this
Capacity-building grants routinely fund a defined technology project — a website, a database, an integration. The blueprint is written so it can be attached directly to an application, with scope, timeline, and cost already in the funder's language.
Technology help for nonprofitsSmall teams & founders: start smaller than you think
A one-month build at $8,500 exists so a small team or solo founder can ship the smallest version that proves the idea before spending more. Phase two is a separate decision, made with real users in hand.
Custom software developmentNot sure how many months you need?
Our estimator asks a handful of questions about your project and gives you a ballpark in under two minutes. It uses the same $8,500 monthly rate as this page — no email address required.
Try the cost estimatorFurther reading: our complete guide to custom software for nonprofits and the real numbers behind what a nonprofit website costs.
Questions
Pricing, answered.
How is software development billed?
At $8,500 a month for as long as the build takes. The blueprint fixes the scope and the number of months before we start, so the total is known up front. If the scope grows, you see the cost first and decide. We do not bill by the hour.
What's the difference between support and advisory?
Support is hands-on: for $4,999 a month we fix, maintain, update, and improve your software. Advisory is guidance only: for $3,500 a month you get a standing technology advisor who gives you a roadmap and written recommendations but does not touch the keyboard. If you need both, that is a fractional CTO engagement.
What does a fractional CTO engagement include?
Everything in advisory plus ownership of the outcome: strategy, architecture, vendor and hiring decisions, AI adoption, and accountability for delivery. It starts at $12,500 a month, runs month to month, and is sized to what your organization actually needs.
How much does a website cost?
$2,500 fixed for the build, then $100 a month for hosting and unlimited edits. There is no separate hosting bill and no per-change invoice. Send the change, we make it.
How are migrations priced?
At a fixed price quoted in writing after a free call, based on what is moving and how much of it there is. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 migrations are the most common.
Can a nonprofit pay for this with a grant?
Often, yes. Capacity-building and technology grants routinely fund a defined project — a website, a database, an integration. Our blueprint is written with scope, timeline, and cost already in the funder's language so it can be attached directly to an application. We'll also tell you when a free or discounted nonprofit tool would do the job instead.
Why do you publish prices when most studios won't?
Because you're accountable for the money and you need to plan. A published number lets you have an honest conversation with a board, an executive director, a funder, or a co-founder before you've spent a dollar with us.
What's included in the price?
Discovery, the blueprint, the build, testing, launch, documentation, and training. The blueprint spells out exactly what's in scope — and what isn't — before you commit.
What if my budget is tighter than these numbers?
Tell us. We'll often find a smaller first phase that fits — a single workflow, one integration, a one-month build — and grow from there. We'd rather build something useful than nothing at all.
Do we need someone technical on staff to work with you?
No. Most of our clients — nonprofit directors, church staff, small-business owners, solo founders — don't have a technical person on the team. We translate the technical into plain language, you decide on direction and budget, and we handle the rest. You stay in control the whole way.
Do you build MVPs and first versions for small teams?
Yes. Whether it's a nonprofit piloting a new program tool or a founder testing an idea, we help you ship the smallest version that proves it works, then decide together whether to grow it.
Want a number for your specific situation?
Book a free 30-min call