Software that ships.
We build the custom web applications, internal tools and integrations that real businesses run on. Senior U.S. engineers, fixed scope and fixed price, and you own every line of it.
You already know what’s broken.
Most of our clients did not come looking for software. They came looking for a way out of one of these.
The business runs on a spreadsheet. One person owns it, three people email versions of it, and nobody is certain which one is current.
Your systems don’t talk. Someone re-keys the same order into the website, the ERP and the accounting package. Every mistake costs a phone call.
The developer disappeared. There’s a system you depend on, no documentation, and nobody left who understands it.
The offshore build stalled. Twelve months in, the demos look fine and nothing works. The timezone gap makes every question cost a day.
Your site is a brochure. It looks acceptable, ranks for nothing, and hasn’t produced a qualified lead in a year.
You’ve been quoted a range, not a price. "Somewhere between $40k and $200k, depending." That is not an estimate. That is a hedge.
Six things, done properly.
We are deliberately not a full-service everything shop. This is the work we are genuinely good at.
Custom web applications
The system your business runs on, built to fit how you actually work. Auth, roles, dashboards, payments, reporting — on infrastructure you own.
Internal tools
Replace the spreadsheet that three people email around. One place for the workflow, with an audit trail and reports that reconcile.
Systems integration
Make the software you already pay for talk to itself. ERP, CRM, accounting, e-commerce, shipping — synced, monitored and alerting when something breaks.
Websites that convert
Not a brochure. A conversion instrument — fast, indexable, measurable, and wired into the systems behind it.
AI enablement
Practical AI on your own data, with a human in the loop. We build the boring parts — retrieval, evaluation, review queues — that make it trustworthy.
Project rescue
Inherited a codebase nobody can maintain, or an offshore build that stalled? We audit it, stabilize it, document it and give you a real plan.
The Blueprint Sprint
Nobody can honestly quote a fixed price for software they haven’t investigated. So we don’t pretend to. We start with two weeks of paid discovery that ends in a real number.
- Technical architecture and integration map
- Wireframes for every core screen
- A scoped, estimated backlog
- Risk register — what could go wrong and what it would cost
- A fixed-price build quote, good for 60 days
Week 1 — Understand
Stakeholder interviews, current-state mapping, data audit, constraint discovery. We sit with the people who actually do the work.
Week 2 — Design & price
Architecture, wireframes, backlog, risks, and a fixed price with a week-by-week schedule. Delivered live, then in writing.
Four phases. No surprises.
Blueprint
Two weeks of paid discovery. Ends in architecture, wireframes and a fixed price you can take to your board.
Build
Two-week sprints. Working software you can click at the end of every one. A written status report every Friday.
Launch
Migration, training, documentation and a monitored cutover. Then 30 days of defect warranty at no cost.
Care
Hosting, monitoring, patching and a monthly block of change hours. We stay. Software nobody maintains rots.
What actually makes this different.
You talk to the builder
No account manager, no handoff to a team you never met. The person who scopes your project is the person who writes it.
Fixed scope, in writing
A signed scope and a fixed price before a line is written. Changes get priced and approved — never billed as a surprise.
You own everything
Code, repositories, cloud accounts, domains, credentials — in your name from day one. We are not holding anything hostage.
We’re here in year three
Care Plans, not abandonment. The systems we build are still supported long after the invoice is paid.
Tools we build with
Published, because hiding it wastes your time.
Most shops make you sit through two calls before naming a number. Here are the real ones.
- 5–7 pages, custom design
- CMS you can actually use
- Technical SEO foundation
- Analytics & lead routing
- One workflow, replaced end to end
- Users, roles and audit trail
- Reporting and exports
- Training and documentation
- Auth, roles, dashboards
- Payments and billing
- Third-party integrations
- Admin tooling
Ongoing Care Plans from $450/month. Standard rate $165/hour. Full pricing and rate card
Why I started MainMTO.
I kept meeting good businesses stuck with bad software. Not because they were careless — because the way this industry sells makes it almost impossible to buy well. Vague estimates. Junior developers behind senior invoices. A quote that quietly doubles. A system delivered and then abandoned.
So MainMTO works the way I would want to be sold to. You get a real number before you commit. You talk to the person writing the code. You own everything we build. And when it launches, we are still here.
If that sounds like the way you would rather do this, call me directly.
Common questions
How much does custom software actually cost?
Most of our work lands between $16,000 and $95,000. Internal tools average around $32,000, web applications around $68,000, and websites run $8,500 to $38,000. Every package and range is published on our pricing page — we do not make you sit through a call to find out whether you can afford us.
How long does a project take?
A website is three to eight weeks. An internal tool is five to seven weeks. A full web application is ten to fourteen weeks. You get a week-by-week schedule in your Blueprint before you commit to a build, and we report against it every Friday.
Do I own the code?
Yes, completely, on final payment. Your repositories, cloud accounts and domains are in your name from day one — not ours. If you ever want to take the project in-house or hand it to another firm, you can do it the same afternoon. We keep a license to our own pre-existing tooling; everything built for you is yours.
Who actually writes the code?
Senior U.S.-based engineers, led personally by Michael. Nothing is offshored. You talk directly to the person building your system — there is no account manager layer between you and the work.
What if we already have a developer or an IT provider?
That is common and it works well. We are frequently brought in alongside an existing IT provider or in-house developer to handle a build they do not have capacity or specialization for. We will define the boundary in writing so nobody is stepping on anybody.
What happens after launch?
Every build rolls into a Care Plan — hosting, monitoring, backups, security patching and a monthly block of change hours, starting at $450/month. Software that nobody maintains becomes a liability in about eighteen months. We would rather still be here.
Let’s scope your project.
Tell us what’s broken or what you want to build. You’ll get a straight answer about cost, timeline and whether we’re the right shop — usually within one business day.