Pricing for Operator Retainers

Operator

For owner-operators who want one big bottleneck removed cleanly each month.

$2,000 / month

What you get:

Quarterly automation audit and roadmap update
One workflow built or improved each month (8-10 hours of focused work)
Bi-weekly 30-minute check-in call
Email and SMS support during U.S. business hours
Full source code, documentation, and credentials handover for every workflow
30-day notice to cancel, pause one month per quarter at no cost

Apply for Operator

Operator Pro

For teams running multi-workflow systems who need weekly strategy and faster shipping.

$5,000 / month

Everything in Operator, plus:

Monthly audit and roadmap (instead of quarterly)
Two to four workflows shipped or improved each month (20 hours)
Weekly 45-minute strategy call
Shared Slack channel with same-day response
Attribution dashboard showing hours saved and revenue impact by workflow
One quarterly half-day on-site or video deep-dive (US only)

Apply for Operator Pro

Add-Ons

Available to active retainer clients only. Billed flat-rate, not hourly.

Rush Deploy

$2,500 flat

Add an extra workflow inside an existing month. Useful when a new bottleneck appears mid-cycle and cannot wait for the next sprint.

Legacy Integration

$3,500 flat

Custom integration with an older or self-hosted system that does not have a clean API. Includes scoping, build, and one round of revisions.

Team Training

$1,500 flat

Two-hour live training plus recorded walkthrough for your team on a workflow we have shipped, so they can support it without us.

Who Each Tier Is For

If you are not sure, apply and we will tell you which tier we recommend, including telling you if neither one is right.

Operator is right when...

You have one or two specific painful workflows in mind
Your team is small (1-10 people) and you do not yet have automation in place
You want monthly progress without a heavy management overhead
Annual revenue is roughly $300k to $1.5M
You can commit to a 30-minute call every other week

Operator Pro is right when...

You already run automations and need someone to consolidate them
Your team is 10-30 people with several departments touching workflows
You want weekly strategy and faster shipping cadence
Annual revenue is roughly $1.5M to $20M
You want measurable attribution of hours saved per workflow

What Is Not Included

We are honest about scope. The retainer does not cover these.

Custom mobile or web app development from scratch (we automate, we do not build product)
Marketing copywriting or paid-ad management (we automate the workflow around them)
SaaS subscription costs (HubSpot, Make, n8n cloud, Twilio, OpenAI tokens) - billed to your account, not ours
One-time data migrations from legacy CRMs over 50,000 records (priced as a separate engagement)
24/7 monitoring or pager rotation (we respond same-day during business hours)
Compliance audits or formal SOC 2 attestations (we follow best practices, not certified)

The 30-Day Pause Guarantee

A retainer that locks you in is a retainer working against you.

After your initial 90-day engagement completes, you can cancel any month with 30 days notice. You can also pause for up to one month per quarter at zero cost - the work waits for you, and your slot stays open. We do not believe in annual contracts for service work like this. If we are not earning the retainer every month, you should be free to walk away without negotiating against penalties or termination clauses.

The pause feature exists because real businesses have seasonality, slow months, and family events. A roofing company in the Northeast does not need new lead-intake automation in February the way they do in May. Pause February, save the spend, pick up where the roadmap left off in March. We would rather have you for ten engaged months than twelve obligated ones.

Final stop before applying: a 90-day commitment is non-trivial. Do not sign up if you cannot give us 30 minutes of your attention every other week, or if you do not have a single workflow that wastes more than five hours of your time per month. We have turned away more clients than we have signed because the math did not work for them, and that policy stays. Apply only if you are reasonably sure the retainer pays for itself.

Pricing FAQ

Is there a setup fee?

No. The first month's retainer covers the audit and roadmap. We do not bill setup fees on top of the monthly price.

What is the minimum commitment?

We ask for a 90-day initial engagement so the audit, first build, and iteration cycle can complete. After that, the retainer is month-to-month with 30-day notice.

Can I pause the retainer?

Yes. You can pause for up to one month per quarter at no cost. Your slot is held and your roadmap waits for you.

Do unused hours roll over?

No. Hours reset each month. We focus on shipping outcomes, not banking time. If we ship the month's roadmap early, we use remaining time to harden previously deployed workflows.

What if my needs grow mid-month?

Add a Rush Deploy ($2,500 flat) for an extra workflow that month, or upgrade to Operator Pro starting the next billing cycle.

Are tools and software included?

Build and integration time is included. SaaS subscriptions like HubSpot, Make, n8n cloud, OpenAI tokens, and Twilio are billed to your account directly so you keep ownership and pricing transparency.

Do you offer a one-off project price?

Rarely. The retainer model exists because workflows that touch operations need someone responsible for them. If you only want one workflow built and walked away from, we will refer you to a partner who specializes in that.