Frequently Asked Questions
Everything people usually ask before working with us — pricing, timelines, ownership, process. If your question isn't here, ask it directly; we reply within 24 hours.
How does pricing work at Cairn Labs?
Fixed-scope projects get a fixed quote after a scoping call — the price we agree is the price you pay. Ongoing work runs on monthly retainers from $3,500/month. We don't bill hourly, because hourly billing rewards slowness.
How much does a typical project cost?
Mobile apps: $15,000–$60,000. Marketing and e-commerce sites: $5,000–$30,000. Custom web applications: from $20,000. Automation packages: $5,000–$15,000. Every engagement starts with a free scoping call where we give you a real number, not a range.
How long do projects take?
A typical mobile MVP ships in 8–14 weeks; websites in 4–8 weeks; automation packages in 2–6 weeks. We commit to dates at scoping and have a four-year record of hitting them — if anything moves, you hear it from us first, with options.
What does your process look like?
Four steps: a scoping call where we define what done means; design and a clickable prototype; weekly build increments you can actually use (TestFlight builds, preview URLs); then launch with a 30-day stabilisation window included.
Who owns the code and IP?
You do, from the first commit. Code lives in a repository you control, infrastructure runs on accounts you own, and everything is documented for handoff. There is no scenario where leaving us costs you your product.
How do you communicate during a project?
One shared channel (Slack or email — your call), a weekly written update covering what shipped and what's next, and responses within 24 hours on working days. No account managers translating between you and the people writing your code.
How do you choose a tech stack?
We fit the stack to the product, not the other way round. Flutter for most mobile apps, native Swift/Kotlin when platform depth demands it, Next.js for web applications, Shopify for product commerce, and boring, proven infrastructure underneath all of it.
What happens after launch?
Every fixed-scope project includes a 30-day stabilisation window for fixes at no extra cost. After that you can take the codebase fully in-house or move to a monthly retainer — about 70% of our clients choose the retainer.
What exactly is the retainer?
A monthly engagement with a weekly shipping cadence: feature development, bug fixes, dependency updates, monitoring and a written weekly report. Tiers start at $3,500/month, scale up or down quarterly, and exit on 30 days' notice.
Can you work with our existing codebase?
Yes — roughly half our retainer clients arrived with code another team wrote. We start with a one-week paid audit and a written assessment of what we found. If the honest answer is 'rebuild', we'll say so and show our reasoning.
Do you work with clients outside your timezone?
Yes. Our clients span North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Weekly updates are written, decisions are documented, and we keep at least a four-hour daily overlap with your working day for anything synchronous.
How do we start working together?
Email info.cairnlabs@gmail.com or use the contact form with two or three sentences about what you're building. We reply within 24 hours, usually with a few clarifying questions, then book a free 30-minute scoping call. You'll have a written proposal with a fixed price within a week of that call.
Still have questions?
Two sentences about your project is enough to start.