Pricing
ZR Tech prices by scope rather than by package. After a discovery call you receive a written scope listing deliverables, exclusions and one fixed price, before any payment is requested. Anything not on that document is not included in the figure.
How pricing works
Pricing follows a fixed sequence with no step skipped. A discovery call establishes the requirement. A written scope lists deliverables, exclusions, assumptions, timeline and one fixed figure. You approve it in writing. Only then does work begin.
The reason for the sequence is that most disputes in this industry come from a difference of understanding about what was included, not from the number itself. Writing it down converts an argument at the end of a project into a conversation at the start of one.
No rate card is published because package tiers force every project into the same shape and that shape rarely fits. Two five-page websites can differ fourfold in effort depending on whether copy is supplied, whether payments are involved, and how many approval rounds the design passes through.
What moves a quote
These are the variables that actually change a figure, listed by practice area. If you can answer them before the call, the quote arrives faster and closer to final.
Web and hosting
- Number of unique page templates, not the number of pages. Twenty pages on three templates cost less than six pages on six.
- Whether copy and images are supplied or written and sourced for you. Content is the most common cause of a quote doubling.
- Transactions: payments, logins, bookings and stock each add build and testing effort.
- Integrations with external systems, because their behaviour is outside our control and needs error handling.
- How many rounds of review the design passes through before approval.
Software and systems
- Number of distinct user roles, since each one multiplies permissions, screens and test cases.
- Reporting depth. A list view is cheap; a filterable, exportable, reconciled report is not.
- Data migration from an existing system, especially where the old data is inconsistent.
- Whether the system must run offline or synchronise between devices.
- Compliance requirements such as tax formats or audit trails.
Search and visibility
- The state of the site now. Fixing a broken technical foundation comes before any content work and is quoted separately.
- Competition on the target terms. National commercial terms cost multiples of city-level terms.
- How much content must be written versus improved.
- Whether the site can be edited directly or changes must pass through another supplier.
- Reporting depth and how often you want it.
Marketing and growth
- Ad spend is yours and is paid directly to the platform. Management fees are quoted separately so you always see both figures.
- Number of channels running at once, since each needs its own creative and its own reporting.
- Creative volume. Paid social burns through assets faster than search does.
- Whether landing pages exist or must be built to receive the traffic.
Creative studio
- Number of deliverables and the formats each must be produced in.
- Whether an identity system exists to work within or must be created first.
- Revision rounds agreed in the brief.
- For video: runtime, footage volume, motion graphics complexity, and whether subtitles are needed.
Three engagement models
Every piece of work fits one of three shapes. The right one depends on whether the outcome has a finish line.
Fixed-scope project
Quoted per scope
Suits: A defined outcome with a clear finish line: a website, an app, a rebuild, an identity.
How it runs: One written scope, one fixed price, milestone payments tied to visible deliverables. Variations are priced separately and approved before the work happens.
Watch for: Works badly when the requirement is still being discovered. In that case a short paid discovery comes first, then the fixed scope is written against what it found.
Discuss this modelMonthly retainer
Quoted per scope
Suits: Ongoing work with no natural end: search visibility, marketing campaigns, maintenance, content.
How it runs: A fixed monthly fee against an agreed set of activities and a reporting cadence. Rolling month to month with no minimum term and no lock-in clause.
Watch for: Retainers drift. Every quarter the activity list is reviewed against results, and hours are moved to what is working rather than repeated because they are on the sheet.
Discuss this modelAd-hoc support
Quoted per scope
Suits: Occasional needs: a fix, an audit, a migration, an emergency, a second opinion.
How it runs: Quoted per task with an estimate before the work starts. No retainer, no commitment, no minimum spend.
Watch for: The most expensive way to buy regular work. If you are calling more than twice a month, a maintenance plan costs less for the same output.
Discuss this modelHow a quote is assembled
A quote is not a single number chosen by feel. It is built from components, and you can see the components. The example below shows the structure using a typical brochure website enquiry, with effort shown rather than currency, because the currency figure belongs in your scope document and not on a public page.
| Component | What it covers | What increases it |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and scope | Requirement gathering, sitemap, written scope | Included at no charge in every engagement |
| Design | Page templates, responsive layouts, component states | Number of unique templates, number of review rounds |
| Build | Front-end code, CMS setup, forms, integrations | Transactions, logins, third-party systems |
| Content | Writing, editing, image sourcing and optimisation | Whether you supply copy or we write it |
| Technical foundation | Performance, schema, accessibility, security headers | Fixed baseline, not an optional extra |
| Testing and launch | Cross-device testing, checklist, deployment, analytics | Number of environments and integrations to verify |
| Handover | Credentials, documentation, walkthrough recording | Fixed baseline, not an optional extra |
Scope document
The written record of what a project includes, excludes and assumes, with a fixed price and timeline, approved by both parties before work begins. It is the reference point for every later question about whether something was in the price.
What never costs extra
These are inside every quote by default. If another supplier lists them as add-ons, that is worth questioning.
- The discovery call and the written scope that follows it.
- Revisions to work that does not match the approved scope.
- Bug fixes on delivered work, for thirty days after handover.
- Handover of credentials, source code, design files and documentation.
- Being told that a cheaper option, or no project at all, serves you better.
What changes a quote mid-project
A fixed price is fixed against a fixed scope. When the scope moves, the price moves, and it does so in writing before the work happens. These are the only circumstances in which that occurs.
| Change | Effect on the price |
|---|---|
| New pages, screens or features added after approval | Priced as a written variation before work starts |
| A change of platform or technology after the build begins | Re-quoted; work already completed is invoiced |
| Content or assets promised by you arriving late | No price change; the timeline moves |
| A redesign requested after the design was signed off | Priced as a new design round |
| Third-party costs rising (domains, licences, ad platforms) | Passed through at cost, with the invoice shown to you |
| A requirement discovered during the build that the scope missed | Absorbed if it was our omission; quoted if it is genuinely new |
A supplier who quotes a firm price on a first call, before understanding the requirement, is either padding heavily to cover the unknown or planning to raise it later. Both cost you more than a scoped quote does.
Payment questions
Because a published figure that does not match your quote is worse than no figure at all. Two projects that look identical from outside can differ fourfold in effort. What is published instead is the method and the cost drivers, so you can predict roughly where your project will land.
Usually yes. Send the requirement with a budget range and you will get an indicative bracket by reply, marked clearly as an estimate. It is not a quote, and it will move once the scope is understood, but it is enough to establish whether a conversation is worth both parties time.
Pakistani rupees for clients in Pakistan, and US dollars for international clients. The currency is fixed in the scope document at the start so exchange movement during a project does not change what you owe.
Typically an initiation payment, one or two stage payments tied to deliverables you can open and review, and a final payment at handover. Each milestone is attached to visible work rather than to a date, so payment follows delivery instead of the calendar.
No, and the two are always shown separately. Ad spend is paid by you directly to Google or Meta, so it stays under your control and is visible in your own account. The management fee covers the work of planning, building and optimising the campaigns.
No. The discovery call and the written scope that follows are free. The only paid pre-project work is a formal audit of an existing system, where the deliverable is a substantial written assessment that has value whether or not you go ahead.
A fixed-scope quote is fixed in both directions. If the work turns out easier than estimated, that risk was priced in and the figure stands. If it turns out harder because of something we missed, that is absorbed rather than passed on. Predictability is the point.
Work not yet started is refundable. Work delivered and approved is not. Third-party costs such as domains, hosting, licences and ad spend are non-refundable because they have already been paid to other parties on your behalf. The refund policy sets out the detail.
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