APPLICATION SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE Part of Software Product Development

Application support and maintenance for apps already in production.

Your app has users and nobody is on the hook when it goes down. From $1,682 a month for 42 hours of engineering time, we monitor it, respond to incidents, patch it, fix bugs, and make the small changes your users ask for. Critical issues get a first response within 1 business hour, and there is no minimum term.

Get in touch See response times

Support retainer at a glance

FROM
$1,682/mo
INCLUDES
42 hours a month
CRITICAL RESPONSE
1 business hour
  • Monitoring and alerts
  • Incident response
  • Bug fixes
  • Security patches and upgrades
  • Small enhancements
  • An hours log you can read

Trusted by great companies.

  • Notary.io
  • ElephantCPA
  • Docbraces
  • Groundlight
  • Plannerd
  • GloFlow
  • Asana Rebel

WHAT THE RETAINER COVERS

Support keeps the app running today. Maintenance keeps it healthy next year.

Application support is reactive: someone answers when a user hits a bug or the app goes down. Application maintenance is proactive: the patches, upgrades, and small fixes that stop the next incident before it happens. The retainer covers both from the same monthly hours.

Monitoring and alerts

Uptime, error rates, and failed jobs watched on your hosting, with alerts tied to the severity levels below, so a problem reaches an engineer before it reaches your inbox.

Incident response

When production breaks, an engineer who knows the codebase picks it up, restores service, and writes down what happened and what prevents a repeat.

Bug fixes

Reported bugs triaged by severity, fixed, tested, and shipped through your deploy pipeline, each one logged against the hours it took.

Security patches and upgrades

Framework, library, and runtime updates on a schedule, and security advisories handled as they land, so the app never drifts into a state nobody can safely upgrade.

Small enhancements

A copy change, a new field, a tweak to an existing flow, the report your team keeps asking for. Work that fits in the monthly hours. A new feature is a separate build.

An hours log you can read

Every hour logged against the ticket it went to, so you always know what the month bought: what broke, what was fixed, and what was upgraded.

RESPONSE TIMES

How fast we respond, by severity.

Response targets apply in US business hours. If the app needs someone on call at night or on weekends, after-hours on-call coverage is added to the plan as a surcharge, priced before you sign.

Severity What it means First response How it is handled
Critical Production is down, or data or security is at risk Within 1 business hour An engineer stays on it until service is restored, then writes up the cause and what prevents a repeat.
High A core feature is broken for many users and there is no workaround Within 4 business hours Top of the queue, fixed and shipped as a hotfix.
Normal A bug with a workaround, or one that affects few users Next business day Fixed, tested, and shipped in the next regular release.
Low Small enhancements, copy changes, and questions Scheduled into the month Planned with you against the monthly hours.

A response means an engineer has acknowledged the issue and started on it. How long the fix takes depends on the problem; you get an estimate as soon as we have one.

PRICING

From $1,682 a month for 42 hours.

We publish the starting price so you can budget before a call. The plan includes 42 hours of engineering time a month, about $40 an hour. Hours beyond the plan are billed at the same rate, only with your approval. Unused hours do not roll over. No minimum term. Either side ends the retainer with 30 days’ notice.

WHAT MOVES THE MONTHLY PRICE

  • Hours: the starting plan is 42 hours a month. Platforms with more traffic, more integrations, or a steady stream of small requests take a larger plan at the same hourly rate.
  • Coverage: US business hours are included. After-hours and on-call coverage is a surcharge on the plan.
  • Starting point: an app we did not build starts with a Code Audit, so the plan is priced against what is actually in the codebase.

WHAT IT COSTS TO MAINTAIN AN APP

A rule of thumb quoted across the industry is 15 to 25 percent of the original build cost per year, and the real number depends on how often the app changes and how healthy the code is. Our starting plan comes to about $20,200 a year. For an app we did not build, the Code Audit tells you before you commit whether that plan is enough.

HOW A TAKEOVER WORKS

From an app you inherited to an app someone answers for.

If we did not build the app, we read it before we promise response times on it. The Code Audit is that first step.

  1. 01

    Code Audit, 1 to 2 weeks

    A senior engineer audits the codebase for a fixed fee of $4,000 to $12,000: security, architecture, tests, deployment, and monitoring. You get a prioritized fix list and a quote for the retainer.

  2. 02

    Access, permissions, and workflows

    We set up access to the repository, hosting, monitoring, and error tracking with permissions you control, and agree how issues reach us: your ticketing tool, a shared channel, or both.

  3. 03

    Critical fixes first

    Anything the audit marked as fix-before-the-next-customer gets fixed first, as priced in the takeover quote.

  4. 04

    Support starts

    The retainer begins, the response targets apply, and every hour is logged against the work it went to.

IS THIS YOU

When a support retainer is the right call.

The four situations behind most support conversations.

  • Nobody is on call for your app

    The app has paying users and the person who built it has moved on. When it goes down on a Tuesday afternoon, there is no one to call.

  • Your agency finished the build

    The launch went well and the build contract ended. Now you need bug fixes, upgrades, and small changes without starting a new project.

  • You built it with AI tools

    Lovable, Replit, Bolt, or Cursor got it live. Now it needs someone who reads the code, patches it, and answers when it breaks.

  • Your team should be building

    Your engineers are on the roadmap, and every production bug pulls one of them off it. A retainer takes those interruptions off their plate.

WHAT THIS IS NOT

Four things the retainer is not.

Not new feature development

The hours cover fixes, upgrades, and small enhancements like a copy change or a new field. A new feature or module is a build: we scope it as a milestone-based project or add engineers through a dedicated team.

Not a 24/7 operations center

Coverage is US business hours. If the app needs someone on call at night or on weekends, after-hours on-call is available as a surcharge, and we price it before you sign.

Not a rewrite in disguise

Support starts from the app you have. If part of it should be rebuilt, we say so and quote it separately. The monthly hours never turn into a rewrite you did not agree to.

Not a lock-in

No minimum term. Either side ends the retainer with 30 days’ notice, and you keep the code, the accounts, and the documentation.

START HERE

Taking over an app we did not build? Start with the Code Audit.

The audit is how we learn the app before we commit to response times on it. It stands on its own: the fix list is yours to give to any engineer.

Code Audit

One senior engineer reads the codebase: security, architecture, tests, deployment, and monitoring. You get a prioritized fix list, a certification checklist, and a quote to take the app over on this retainer.

FIXED FEE
$4,000 to $12,000
DURATION
1 to 2 weeks
WHO
One senior engineer
See the Code Audit

FREQUENTLY ASKED

Questions owners ask before handing over an app.

The questions we hear from people with an app in production and nobody accountable for it.

  • How much do application support and maintenance services cost?

    Our plans start at $1,682 a month for 42 hours of engineering time, about $40 an hour. Hours beyond the plan are billed at the same rate, only with your approval. Unused hours do not roll over. After-hours and on-call coverage is available as a surcharge on the plan. For an app we did not build, the Code Audit ($4,000 to $12,000) comes first and sets the plan.

  • How much does it cost to maintain an app per year?

    A rule of thumb quoted across the industry is 15 to 25 percent of the original build cost per year. The real figure depends on how often the app changes, how many integrations it has, and how healthy the code is. Our starting plan comes to about $20,200 a year.

  • What is the difference between application support and application maintenance?

    Support is reactive: responding when something breaks or a user reports a bug. Maintenance is proactive: security patches, dependency and framework upgrades, and small fixes that prevent the next incident. Our retainer covers both from the same monthly hours.

  • What response times do you commit to?

    Critical issues (production down, or data or security at risk): first response within 1 business hour. High (a core feature broken for many users with no workaround): within 4 business hours. Normal: next business day. Small enhancements and questions are scheduled into the month. Targets apply in US business hours unless you add after-hours on-call.

  • Do you offer 24/7 or after-hours support?

    Yes, as an add-on. The plan covers US business hours. After-hours and on-call coverage is a surcharge on the plan, quoted before you sign.

  • What can the monthly hours be used for?

    Bug fixes, incident response, security patches, dependency upgrades, and small enhancements such as copy changes, a new field, or a tweak to an existing flow. A new feature is a build, and we scope it separately as a milestone-based project.

  • Is there a minimum contract?

    No. The retainer runs month to month. No minimum term. Either side ends the retainer with 30 days’ notice. You keep the code, the accounts, and the documentation.

  • Can you take over an app built with Lovable, Replit, Bolt, or Cursor?

    Yes. The takeover starts with the Code Audit, a fixed-fee review ($4,000 to $12,000, one to two weeks) of security, architecture, tests, deployment, and monitoring. We set up access and workflows, fix the critical items first, and then the app moves onto the monthly retainer.

    See what the Code Audit covers
TRACK RECORD
BEFORE THE NEXT OUTAGE

Put someone on the hook for your app.

A 30-minute call with a senior engineer. You describe the app, how it was built, and what keeps breaking; we tell you whether it starts with a Code Audit and which plan fits.

Tell us about the app, how it was built, and what keeps breaking. A senior engineer will review it and tell you whether it starts with a Code Audit and which plan fits.

Get in touch Send Us a Message See the Code Audit