Monthly retainers
We take ongoing ownership of your systems: maintain them, improve them, debug them, integrate them, and evolve them as your business changes. Monthly retainers scale with technical complexity and operational load, not with how many pages a brochure has.
Share what you run today, what breaks, and where the product needs to be in six months. If we fit, we send a written proposal with retainer tier and first priorities.
Data models, roles, workflows, and how many moving parts must stay in sync.
How often production breaks, how much legacy exists, and how fast you need fixes.
User volume, SLAs, on-call expectations, and how much hand-holding the business needs.
Payments, ERP, messaging, identity, webhooks, and third-party APIs that must not fail quietly.
Environments, observability, backups, and the cost of running at scale in South Africa.
Roadmap velocity, experiments, and whether you are maintaining or actively growing the product.
A once-off build gets you live. A retainer keeps a senior engineer responsible for what happens next: fixes, integrations, releases, and architecture as the business changes. The table below uses the same ZAR planning bands as the 2026 cost guide.
Most SMME teams I work with start on Essential after a focused MVP or internal tool launch, then move up only when payments, integrations, or release pressure justify it.
| Typical launch spend | Product shape | Starting retainer | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
R45k – R120k Business marketing site band Common SMME path | Brochure sites, service businesses, early lead-gen | Essential from R18 000 / month | Patches, hosting hygiene, small content or form changes. No heavy product roadmap. |
R60k – R175k AI-Powered Rapid Build MVP Common SMME path | Accelerated SaaS MVP, fast internal workflow databases, client portals built in 2–4 weeks | Essential from R18 000 / month | High-impact pathway for early stage ideas. A 50% discount on traditional MVP bands. Starts with a ZAR 15,000 scoping sprint which credits back in full if we build. |
R120k – R350k Fundable MVP band Common SMME path | One core loop, basic admin, first paying users | Essential from R18 000 / month | Default path for many South African SMMEs after launch: keep the system stable, fix production issues, ship small improvements without hiring a bench. |
R220k – R550k Production web app band | Portals with roles, integrations, reporting, staging and monitoring | Growth from R45 000 / month | Monthly feature work, payment or CRM integrations, and a steady release rhythm. |
R200k – R450k Single-city marketplace MVP band | Two-sided booking or listing in one region | Growth from R45 000 / month | Ops load rises quickly once providers and payouts go live. Plan for Growth unless scope stays truly minimal. |
R450k – R950k Production marketplace band | Onboarding, in-app payments, disputes, multi-role admin | Ecosystem from R85 000 / month | Multi-sided products with payments and high incident load usually need Ecosystem-level ownership. |
R45k – R120k
Business marketing site band
R60k – R175k
AI-Powered Rapid Build MVP
R120k – R350k
Fundable MVP band
R220k – R550k
Production web app band
R200k – R450k
Single-city marketplace MVP band
R450k – R950k
Production marketplace band
Illustrative mapping for budget conversations, not a formula. We confirm tier after reviewing your stack, roadmap, and support expectations.
Three starting points. We confirm tier and scope after a technical review of your stack, roadmap, and support expectations.
Lightweight systems with predictable upkeep
R18 000 / month
From. Final retainer depends on technical review.
South African SMMEs, MVPs, internal tools, and marketing sites that need a steady technical owner after launch
Typical systems
Active product iteration for evolving businesses
R45 000 / month
From. Final retainer depends on technical review.
Products shipping features monthly and integrating payments or ops tools
Typical systems
Complex platforms that cannot afford downtime
R85 000 / month
From. Final retainer depends on technical review.
Multi-app platforms, marketplaces, and cloud-heavy products
Typical systems
Side-by-side view of what changes as operational load and product ambition increase.
| EssentialLightweight systems with predictable upkeep | GrowthMost commonActive product iteration for evolving businesses | EcosystemComplex platforms that cannot afford downtime | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly from | R18 000 / month | R45 000 / month | R85 000 / month |
| Best for | South African SMMEs, MVPs, internal tools, and marketing sites that need a steady technical owner after launch | Products shipping features monthly and integrating payments or ops tools | Multi-app platforms, marketplaces, and cloud-heavy products |
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Lightweight systems with predictable upkeep
South African SMMEs, MVPs, internal tools, and marketing sites that need a steady technical owner after launch
Active product iteration for evolving businesses
Products shipping features monthly and integrating payments or ops tools
Complex platforms that cannot afford downtime
Multi-app platforms, marketplaces, and cloud-heavy products
We stay with the system after launch. Maintenance, debugging, and improvements are part of the relationship, not a surprise invoice.
Decisions favour revenue, operations, and risk. We will tell you when a feature should wait and when infrastructure matters more than polish.
Monitoring, incident response, and a predictable release rhythm so your team is not firefighting every week.
WhatsApp is the fastest path. Share what you run today, what breaks, and where you need the product to be in six months.
Greenfield build? Use Get an estimate for a rough scope ballpark before we talk retainers.