initial consultation
$300
paid gate for cold inbound meetings: learn the client's issues and map next steps for working together
pricing
what you can actually buy
This is the real offer ladder, not a fake SaaS tier sheet. The public default is simple: start with the paid 4-hour diagnosis. Use the fit call only when the work is unusual, sensitive, or still too fuzzy to justify checkout. Move into deeper work only if the diagnosis earns it.
Current working bands: session $800-$1,400, sprint $12k-$30k, setup $1.5k-$12k, stewardship $1.2k-$3.5k/mo.
Private Agent Box Setup & Migration is the first Skillbox-shaped follow-on and is scoped after the diagnosis.
offer nodes
the clean rule is simple: the $300 consultation routes cold meetings, the 4 hour diagnosis produces the engineering artifact, and deeper nodes only open if the session earns them.
4 hour work session
$800-$1,400
hands-on diagnosis in the real stack, with working output and a defended next move
if the paid session earns more work
Implementation sprint
$12k-$30k
shared-core implementation or carve-out work with named deliverables
Private Agent Box Setup & Migration
$1.5k-$12k
one operator or small team gets a working private agent box, migration brief, and handover path before any retainer
Box Stewardship
$1.2k-$3.5k/mo
recurring ops layer for agencies, fractional operators, and small teams whose AI coding workflow now depends on the box working
high-judgment domain work
custom scope
Used only when the work genuinely overlaps finance, HOA, or health judgment surfaces where the artifact and the downside of being wrong matter more than the software shell.
honest no-go branch
the buyer can keep shipping alone or the portfolio is not the right fit. money shape: no forced upsell.
what the paid diagnosis should produce
- a real code delta or working workflow improvement
- a written diagnosis of what is brittle, blocked, or mis-scoped
- one explicit next-step recommendation with price shape and reason
source of truth
The pricing logic below is kept in sync with the concept layer that defines the operator-tooling cluster.
Commercial Contract State: Offer, Handoff, and Proof
updated Jul 9, 2026
Direct-to-Consumer Monetization: Own the Relationship
updated Jul 17, 2026
Buildooor: Forward-Deployed Engineering for Vibe Coders
updated Jul 9, 2026
how the money shape works
distribution + proof
Earn trust, capture intent, prove real capability
money shape: mostly free; attention + trust capture
paid diagnostic / build
Fastest direct paid working session for builder/operator buyers
money shape: same-week cash
recurring operations spine
Run the client's private agent box and surrounding workflow reliably
money shape: setup fee + monthly retainer
high-judgment escalation
Sell defended judgment, domain artifacts, and higher-error-cost delivery
money shape: project/service pricing
current public offers
initial consultation
paid gate for cold inbound meetings: learn the client's issues and map next steps for working together
$300
time to money: same-week
- $300 paid gate for cold inbound "can we meet?" requests; learn the client's issues and map next steps for working together
4 hour work session
hands-on diagnosis in the real stack, with working output and a defended next move
$800-$1,400
Implementation sprint
shared-core implementation or carve-out work with named deliverables
$12k-$30k
time to money: 1-3 weeks
Private Agent Box Setup & Migration
one operator or small team gets a working private agent box, migration brief, and handover path before any retainer
$1.5k-$12k
time to money: 1-3 weeks
Box Stewardship
recurring ops layer for agencies, fractional operators, and small teams whose AI coding workflow now depends on the box working
$1.2k-$3.5k/mo
time to money: 2-6 weeks
high-judgment domain work
Used only when the work genuinely overlaps finance, HOA, or health judgment surfaces where the artifact and the downside of being wrong matter more than the software shell.
custom scope
not every buyer starts in the same place
builder / operator cluster
The canonical paid front door is buildooor-acquisition; OSS surfaces are trust builders and self-serve on-ramps.
accounting close / reconciliation cluster
Use the accounting route for the dedicated buying path: workflow proof/demo, paid start, trust boundary, and follow-on CTA.
open accounting routehealth cluster
The cheap recurring execution layer is repo-local; higher-error-cost escalation goes into [redacted] guided care.
finance / HOA cluster
The front door is owner pain and anxiety, not operator tooling; see upstream-industry-leverage.
if the session turns into more work
Hardening / implementation sprint
the problem is bounded and can be solved with concrete production hardening, rescue, audit, or explicitly scoped code / deployment work
next money shape: fixed-scope project, usually 1-3 weeks
AI Operating Playbook
the buyer needs one real workflow made execution-grade for a team, with playbook artifacts that survive beyond the session
next money shape: scoped playbook / workflow sprint
Private Agent Box Setup & Migration
the client now needs a persistent private box and should get onto a stable owned environment before recurring support
next money shape: scoped setup fee or sprint
Box Stewardship
the client already depends on that private box for real shipping work and now needs ongoing reliability coverage
next money shape: recurring monthly retainer
Diagnosis only / no-go
the buyer can keep shipping alone or the portfolio is not the right fit
next money shape: no forced upsell
Diagrams Pro
Diagrams Pro · $15/month
Render and inspect diagrams locally for free. Upgrade for hosted durable diagram actions: private versions, hosted share links, library/history persistence, publish/access changes, and hosted write-back.
Pricing benchmark captured 2026-06-18: $15/month sits above Mermaid Chart Plus, Lucidchart Individual, Miro Starter monthly, and Whimsical Pro monthly. It stays below business collaboration tiers because the paid unit is a durable, agent-resumable hosted diagram record, not another full whiteboard suite.
- 1,000 hosted diagram records per month
- Local render, zoom, pan, nested exploration, and viewing shared diagrams stay free
- No global modal, no render-blocking signup, no repeated prompt
- Self-serve billing: update payment, view history, or cancel from your library
why this is not another whiteboard
agent-tools comparison
The comparison is about the job, not a customer-switching claim: keep one diagram source, click into the useful part, and preserve hosted agent-resumable records when the work needs to survive the browser.
| Option | Best for | Drilldown model | Durable record | Price posture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diagrams Pro | agent-resumable diagram records | clickable MMDX views | hosted share links, private versions, library/history | $15/month |
| Mermaid Live Editor | quick Mermaid previewing | single-chart editing | browser/session-oriented sharing | free editor surface |
| Mermaid Chart Plus | diagramming workspace | diagram collaboration | workspace-hosted diagrams | lower monthly individual tier |
| Miro / Lucid-style whiteboards | broad visual collaboration | board objects and canvases | team workspaces | starter/individual monthly tiers |
| Markdown-only Mermaid docs | repo-native source files | manual links or separate files | git history, not hosted app state | tooling-dependent |
what the Skillbox follow-on means
Private Agent Box Setup & Migration
Private Agent Box Setup & Migration — get one operator or small team onto a working private box with handover docs
money shape: scoped setup fee or sprint
Box Stewardship
Box Stewardship — drift review, backup checks, cost/log review, lightweight incidents, and a visible monthly steward report
money shape: low-thousands monthly retainer
private accelerators
client-specific blueprints, skill packs, and overlay templates that reduce repeated implementation work
money shape: add-on to setup or Box Stewardship
light SLA add-on
response targets and clearer severity handling for buyers with real production dependence
money shape: add-on to Box Stewardship, not default