Start with a free estimate

Guessing at price creates stress on both sides.

You don’t want to book a long call just to learn you’re in the wrong ballpark. We don’t want to write a custom proposal for a project that was never going to fit this quarter. Both of those wastes are avoidable when scope shows up early — even in rough form.

That’s why we built a free live estimate on our pricing page. You pick what you need, choose a complexity level, add hosting or care if you want them, and watch a starting total update as you go. Then you can send it in with your name and a note. We review it. We talk. We confirm a final quote after the details are real.

It’s still an estimate. Not a trap. Not a binding spell. A shared map before anyone commits.

We’ve been pricing work across websites, apps, hosting, domains, multimedia, stores, and practical tools for a long time — more than forty years of solving problems for budgets that aren’t all the same size. Clear numbers beat mystery. Mystery is how resentment starts.

Why ballparks matter more than theater

A lot of agencies hide prices behind “contact us for a consultation.” Sometimes that’s fair — the work is weird, the variables are huge, a number on a webpage would mislead. Sometimes it’s theater. The call becomes a sales funnel dressed as discovery.

We’re not allergic to conversation. We like conversation. We just think you deserve a starting range before you invest an afternoon.

When someone can see that a simple brochure path and a custom app path live in different neighborhoods, they make better decisions. They stop apologizing for a small budget. They stop pretending a huge wishlist fits a theme-store number. Honesty gets cheaper when the map is visible.

An estimate is a flashlight, not a handcuff. Use it to see the room before you rearrange the furniture.

What the live estimate actually does

Open the pricing page. You’ll see starting points by category, then the Free Estimate builder.

You choose project size and complexity. That multiplier scales the creative and build items — not every monthly line. You open categories: websites, design, AI, hosting, audio, video, ongoing care — whatever we’ve published as available items. You check what you think you need. The total on the side updates live.

One-time work and recurring pieces stay visible so you’re not surprised that hosting isn’t a one-time line dressed as magic.

There’s a disclaimer for a reason: this is a free starting estimate. The final quote may change after we review the details with you. That isn’t fine print designed to bait you. It’s the truth about software and design work. Two “website” checkboxes can hide very different realities once we see your content, integrations, and timeline.

What you can learn in ten minutes

• Whether your mental budget and our published ranges even overlap
• How complexity changes the picture
• Which add-ons are optional versus load-bearing
• What hosting or care looks like beside the build
• What to ask us next — with less fog

Ten minutes won’t replace a kickoff. It will prevent a wrong-sized kickoff.

Scope before commitment

Commitment should come after shape. Shape means: what’s in, what’s out, what’s later, what “done” looks like for phase one.

Without that, every project becomes a feeling. Feelings are bad contracts.

We use the estimate as a first sketch of scope. If you checked half the catalog “just in case,” we’ll ask which half actually matters this quarter. If you checked almost nothing but described a complex portal in the notes, we’ll say the checkbox understates the job.

That push and pull is healthy. You’re not “failing” the form by being unsure. Uncertainty is data. We translate it.

A good note to attach

You don’t need a novel. A few sentences beat silence:

• What the business does
• Who the site or app is for
• What someone should do (call, book, buy, apply)
• Hard dates (fair, season, launch event, “no rush”)
• What already exists (old site, logo, domain, booking tool)
• What you’re afraid of repeating from a past vendor

If that’s all you send with the estimate, we can start a useful reply.

Not a trap — here’s what we mean

People have been burned. Free estimates that become high-pressure calls. “Quotes” that expire in forty-eight hours for no operational reason. Bait numbers that only exist if you accept a twelve-month upsell.

We’re not interested in that style. We’ve stayed in business by solving problems and keeping clients who can still look us in the eye.

So when we say free estimate, we mean:

• You can build a number without creating an account maze
• You can see categories and complexity in the open
• You can send it and get a human review
• You can walk away with no drama if it’s not a fit
• The final quote is allowed to differ once reality shows up — and we’ll explain why

If your estimate comes in lower than the real job, we won’t silently expand scope later to “make up for it.” We’ll say, “This part wasn’t visible in the checkboxes — here’s the adjusted path,” and you’ll decide.

If your estimate comes in higher than needed, we’ll also say so. Cutting vanity is part of the job.

Why final quotes still need a conversation

Checkboxes can’t see your photos. They can’t hear that your “simple contact form” must sync to three systems. They can’t know your board needs a staging site and a training session. They can’t feel the difference between five service pages with shared content and fifty location pages with unique offers.

Conversation turns the sketch into a buildable plan.

We ask about decision makers, content readiness, domain ownership, hosting, brand constraints, and the ugly truths — the Facebook page that’s more current than the website, the PDF menu, the booking process that only works by phone.

Those details change hours. Hours change price. Pretending otherwise is how “fixed bids” turn into quiet misery.

What can move a number up

• Custom workflows, roles, or integrations
• Large content migrations with redirects
• Stores with messy catalogs or special checkout rules
• Tight deadlines that compress review cycles
• Accessibility or compliance requirements beyond the usual baseline
• Multimedia production (real video, audio, photography direction)

What can move a number down

• Phasing: ship the spine first, add wings later
• Reusing a tool that already works (scheduling, payments)
• Clear content you already have
• Fewer pages with stronger jobs
• Accepting a simpler visual system that still feels like you

Budget flexibility isn’t a slogan for us. It’s a planning habit. We’d rather map a phase you can fund than sell a monument you resent.

Complexity without the jargon fog

On the form, complexity scales creative and build work. Think of it as: how many exceptions does reality have?

A straightforward brochure with a clear offer sits on the calmer end. A custom intake tied to staff roles, automated emails, and a private resource library sits further out. Neither is “better.” They’re different jobs.

People sometimes pick the lowest complexity hoping the price will obey. Then the notes describe a marketplace. We’ll catch that. Kindly. The form is a starting point, not a negotiation tactic against reality.

Pick the level that feels honest. If you’re unsure, pick the middle and write “not sure — here’s what we’re trying to do.” That’s enough.

Hosting, care, and the monthly lines people forget

Builds get the spotlight. Renewals pay the rent of reality.

Hosting, SSL, backups, updates, small content help — these are the quiet costs that keep a site from becoming a hobby of emergencies. Our estimate lets you see recurring pieces beside one-time work so you’re not ambushed later.

You can decline monthly care and still host elsewhere. You can host with us and handle content yourself. You can ask us to watch the boring stuff so you can run the business. Different lives, different mixes.

We’re blunt about ownership: the business should own the domain and the important accounts. We can manage; we shouldn’t be the only humans who can renew your name on the internet.

Estimates for the half-formed idea

“We’re not sure what we need” is a valid starting place — if it’s honest.

Use the form as a thinking aid. Check the things that sound close. Uncheck anything that was fantasy shopping. Send the note that says you’re exploring.

We’ll reply with options: a small repair, a rebuild, a phased custom path, or “keep your current platform and fix these three pain points.” Sometimes the best outcome of an estimate is permission not to build the big thing yet.

We’ve done this long enough to prefer a small right project over a large wrong one.

Comparing us to a template store price

Theme shops and DIY builders advertise tiny numbers. Some of those numbers are real for tiny scopes. Some omit the hours you’ll spend learning, fixing, and living with limits.

If a template truly fits, we may tell you to take that path. Seriously. Fit over fashion includes “don’t hire us for ego.”

If you’ve already tried the cheap path and you’re paying in lost leads and staff time, compare apples to apples: theme price plus your hours plus plugin subscriptions plus the opportunity cost of a form that doesn’t ask the right questions.

Our estimate won’t include the value of your Saturday mornings. You should.

How we handle the estimate after you send it

You submit. We receive it with the breakdown, complexity, and your note. We look for mismatches — checkbox versus story. We look for missing pieces that often hide: content migration, redirects, email deliverability, asset creation, training.

Then we follow up. Sometimes with clarifying questions. Sometimes with a cleaned-up proposal range. Sometimes with “this looks like two projects; here’s a sequence.”

You should leave that exchange with a clearer yes, no, or not-yet — not with fog and urgency tricks.

1. You build a live estimate and send it
2. We review scope against your note
3. We ask what still isn’t clear
4. We confirm a final quote or a phased plan
5. You decide with numbers in daylight

What we need before a final quote feels honest

Not everything — just enough:

• Primary audience and primary action
• Must-have pages or features for phase one
• Examples you like / don’t like (three is plenty)
• Timeline realities
• Who approves
• Access reality (domain, hosting, old site) or known gaps

If content will be late, say so. We’ll structure so design isn’t frozen waiting for a shipping-policy paragraph. Empty pages at launch help nobody.

Budget talk without the shame spiral

People whisper budgets like secrets. We get it — fear of being upsold, fear of being dismissed.

A range helps us stop inventing the wrong project. “We can spend X this quarter and more next” is a planning sentence. “We’re exploring” is also fine. “We need something live before October” changes the deadline math more than a vague “ASAP.”

We won’t mock a small number. We will map what that number can honestly buy. If the answer is “a strong brochure and a perfect contact path, with the portal next year,” that’s a solid plan — not a consolation prize.

Common estimate mistakes (easy to avoid)

Checking everything. Curiosity is fine; a Christmas tree of checkboxes isn’t a scope. Prefer a shorter list plus a clear note.

Hiding the weird part. The weird part is usually the whole job. Mentions of “also we need dealers to log in” belong in the first note, not week six.

Comparing only the big number. Look at what’s included: content help? multimedia? care? migrations?

Treating the live total as a final invoice. It’s a flashlight. We still confirm.

Waiting for perfect certainty. Perfect certainty is rare. A good estimate plus a conversation beats another month of guessing.

When you shouldn’t use the estimate form alone

If the work is highly unusual — a custom hardware integration, a regulated process with heavy legal review, a product that doesn’t exist yet — the form still helps as a conversation starter, but lean harder on the note and a call.

If you’re mid-emergency (site down, domain expiring, email broken), don’t leisurely shop categories. Contact us with the emergency. Estimates are for planned work. Fires get a hose first.

What “free” covers — and what it doesn’t

Free means you can build and submit a starting estimate without paying for the privilege of learning a range. It does not mean the project is free. It does not mean unlimited discovery calls with no endpoint. It does not mean we owe a forty-page spec because someone clicked every category once.

Respect goes both ways. You get daylight on numbers. We get enough information to avoid inventing a fantasy quote. If you need a deep dive before any numbers, say so — we’ll tell you what that deep dive involves instead of pretending the checkbox form can read minds.

Promo codes and seasonal discounts sometimes appear on the builder when we’ve enabled them. If one applies, you’ll see it in the breakdown. If not, the honest total is still the useful part.

Estimates for rebuilds versus net-new

Rebuilding an existing site is not the same job as inventing a first site — even when the checkbox says “website.”

Rebuilds often include content auditing, redirects, DNS coordination, email-care during DNS changes, cleaning inherited plugin debt, and deciding what not to migrate. Net-new work can skip some of that and trade it for brand decisions that haven’t been made yet.

In your note, say which world you’re in: “first site,” “replace a tired site,” or “keep the site, add a tool.” That single phrase saves a round of wrong assumptions.

If you have analytics, even rough ones, mention top landing pages. Preserving what already works is cheaper than guessing.

Teams, spouses, boards, and the quiet veto

Estimates die in committee when the person who submitted isn’t the person who can say yes.

If a partner, spouse, franchise desk, or board will review the number, loop them in early — or at least warn us. We’ll write the follow-up so a non-technical reader can understand what’s included without a translator.

One primary contact still helps day to day. Committees can approve milestones. They shouldn’t renegotiate scope by group text after the quote was built on different assumptions.

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How this fits the rest of how we work

Sciocore is a problem-solving studio. Web, apps, hosting, domains, multimedia, stores, practical AI when it earns its keep. The estimate form is one door. The contact form is another. A kickoff conversation is where doors become a hallway with a destination.

We speak plain language on purpose. You shouldn’t need our jargon to decide. If something’s a bad fit, we’d rather say that early than win a project we’ll both regret.

Forty-plus years teaches patience with messy beginnings and impatience with fake mystery. Numbers in daylight are a form of respect.

A short walkthrough you can do today

Set a timer for fifteen minutes. Open the pricing page. Skim starting points. Build an estimate that matches phase one only — not the dream palace. Add a note with audience, action, and deadline. Send it.

Then go run your business. We’ll reply with a clear next step: questions, a refined range, or a suggested phase plan.

If the number shocks you, don’t vanish. Tell us what you can fund. Constraints are design materials.

If the number feels workable, don’t rush into features you don’t need. Keep the spine strong.

The point

Guessing at price creates stress on both sides. Our free estimate form lets you pick what you need and see a starting total update live. Complexity, add-ons, and hosting are visible — so the conversation starts from something concrete.

It’s still an estimate. The final quote comes after we talk. But you’ll know the ballpark before you invest time.

Scope before commitment. Daylight before drama. That’s the deal.

When you’re ready, build the live estimate — or send a short note if you’d rather talk first. Either way, we reply with a path, not a fog machine.