Pricing
Three engagement models. One transparent rate card.
Embedded engineers for ongoing capacity. Fixed-scope builds for defined deliverables. Phased AI / data engagements when the model is the work. Real ranges, real ceilings — no NDA required to see them.
Engagement models
Pick the shape that fits the work.
Most clients start with one model and stay there. Some blend two — an embedded engineer alongside a fixed-scope build, or a fixed build that transitions to embedded support.
Long-haul partnership
Embedded engineer
$4K–$9K / engineer / month
India delivery · US-rate tier available
Cadence: Monthly · net-30
Minimum: 1 senior · 8-week minimum
Teams that need ongoing engineering capacity — same Slack, same standup, same code reviews. Multi-year tenure is common.
- 1 pre-vetted senior engineer (5+ yrs)
- Full-time, US-hours overlap
- Tech lead oversight at no extra cost
- Shared QA + DevOps benches as needed
- 30-day rotation right if fit isn't right
Defined deliverable
Fixed-scope build
$25K–$200K / engagement
India delivery · scoped per project
Cadence: Milestone-based · 25/25/25/25 or 30/40/30
Minimum: 4-week minimum
Replatforms, custom builds, OMS rewrites, headless storefronts, or anything with a defined scope and outcome.
- Discovery + phased plan (free if we proceed)
- Dedicated pod (engineer + lead + QA)
- Weekly demos · monthly steering
- Code, docs, and runbooks owned by you
- 6-month post-launch support included
Specialist work
AI / data engagement
$15K–$90K / phase
India delivery · phased
Cadence: Phased · 6–12 week phases
Minimum: Phase 0 (discovery + eval): $10K
RAG, LLM integration, ML pipelines, data platform builds. Always starts with a Phase 0 to de-risk.
- Phase 0: eval harness + baseline + plan
- Phase 1+: production builds against measured baselines
- Cost ceilings + drift monitoring from day 1
- Model-agnostic — Anthropic, OpenAI, or open source
- Knowledge transfer + runbook included
Calculator
Ballpark your project in 60 seconds.
Pick the engagement shape, the roles you need, and the timeline. We show a range — the actual quote depends on scope nuance we'll uncover in the scoping call.
Delivery region
Mohali / India — Destm's primary delivery model. US-hours overlap available.
Fixed-scope projects are quoted against a phased plan after Discovery (free if we proceed). The number below is a ballpark; the real quote follows the scoping call.
Ballpark range
$29K – $57K
Shopify Plus / Hydrogen build · 2–4 months · ~3 engineers · India delivery
Real quote within 4 business hours of the call.
Ranges reflect typical engagements at standard scope. Compliance work (PCI / HIPAA-adjacent / sovereign cloud) adds 10–25%. Software license fees (Shopify Plus, Snowflake, etc.) and cloud infra bill separately to you.
The honest take
What actually moves the number.
Six things that drive variance. We name them upfront so the scoping call has nothing to surprise you with.
Stack complexity
Custom backends + JVM / legacy modernization land at the high end. Shopify themes at the low end.
Integration footprint
An OMS rewrite touching 8 SAP modules is a different animal than the same rewrite touching 2 webhooks.
Timeline pressure
Standard pace sits at the quoted range. Aggressive timelines mean parallel tracks and weekend cuts.
Team seniority
Most work runs on seniors (5+ yrs). Principal engineers (10+ yrs, system-design lead) carry a premium.
Compliance / regulated
PCI scope, HIPAA-adjacent retail, sovereign cloud — the trust layer + audit prep adds time, not magic.
Post-launch ownership
Build-and-handoff sits at the quoted range. Embedded ongoing support shifts to the embedded model.
One more model — rarely
Build-for-equity, when we believe in the idea.
We take very few of these. You bring the idea and the domain; we put a senior product team on it at reduced — sometimes zero — cash cost, in exchange for equity. Structure is case-by-case and papered properly.
The bar: a retail or commerce problem we understand deeply enough to hold conviction, a founder who owns the domain, and a build our stack fits. We say no to most pitches, quickly and politely.
Pitch us the ideaPricing FAQ
Most asked questions.
QWhy do prices have ranges, not single numbers?
Why do prices have ranges, not single numbers?
Because engineering work doesn't have single numbers. A 4-week Shopify theme refactor and a 4-month custom OMS rewrite are both 'fixed-scope builds.' Use the calculator below for a closer ballpark; we'll send a real quote within 4 business hours of your scoping call.
QWhat's not included?
What's not included?
Third-party SaaS license fees (Shopify Plus, Adobe Commerce, Snowflake, etc.) — those bill to you directly. Cloud infrastructure (AWS / GCP) bills to you, not through us. We handle the engineering; the recurring software bills stay yours.
QDo you do equity / revenue-share / outcome-based pricing?
Do you do equity / revenue-share / outcome-based pricing?
We've done equity engagements for select partners. We don't do pure revenue-share (the incentive structure usually breaks on long-tail work). Outcome bonuses on milestones — yes, for the right shape of project.
QHow does payment work?
How does payment work?
Net-30 invoicing for embedded engagements. Milestone-based for fixed-scope (typically 30/40/30 or 25/25/25/25). MSA + SOW per engagement. We accept wire, ACH, and crypto for international clients.
QCan we hire your engineer full-time after a contract?
Can we hire your engineer full-time after a contract?
Yes, on a buyout — typically 6 months of fully-loaded compensation. We disclose this upfront; it doesn't surprise anyone at the end of an engagement.
QWhat's the minimum we'd spend?
What's the minimum we'd spend?
Roughly $50K for a fixed-scope build (4 weeks, small scope, India delivery). Roughly $80K for an embedded engineer (8 weeks, 1 senior, India delivery). Below that, we typically refer you elsewhere — onboarding overhead doesn't earn its keep on smaller scope.
How an engagement starts
Three steps to a partnership
Intake call
30 minutes. We listen, you talk. No deck.
Diagnostic
We audit the surface, name the bottleneck, propose a path.
Kickoff
Senior engineer in your standup by week two.
Ready to see your number?
Run the calculator above, or skip straight to a scoping call — we'll send a real quote within 4 business hours.