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Engagement models · How we work together

Software development engagement models: fixed price, time and material, or a dedicated team.

Three ways to work with QalbIT on custom software and SaaS projects: fixed cost, time and material, or a dedicated team. Which one fits depends on how settled your scope is, not on which is easiest to sell.

Tell us the roadmap and we will recommend one honestly, including when a smaller engagement is the right answer.

  • 3 models

    Fixed · T&M · Dedicated

  • Switch anytime

    Models can change mid-project

  • 30 days notice

    On monthly engagements

  • Your repos & IP

    In every model

Get your free estimate

Three quick questions: scope, approach and a price range back within 48 hours. No sales call required first.

What do you need built?
When do you want to start?
Where should we send the estimate?

Answer all three questions above, then send.

NDA-friendly · IP yours from day one

Trusted by companies worldwide

  • Bloomford
  • Contractor Plus, Inc.
  • Snappy Stats
  • Ad Lunam
  • Local Buzz
  • CyberFind
  • Hellory
  • 5.0Clutch · 8 client reviews
  • 4.9Google · 18 reviews
  • Top ratedUpwork · 100+ reviews · 5K+ hours worked
  • TopTracker7K+ hours tracked with clients

Picking a model

Start from how settled your scope is.

Almost every wrong engagement model traces back to the same mistake: fixing a price on a scope nobody could describe yet. The question is not fixed price versus time and material. It is how much of the work you can already write down. Where you can write all of it down, the fixed-scope model is the honest answer.

  • Scope is settled

    Choose fixed cost

    You can describe what done looks like and are willing to freeze it. Price and date agreed before we start.

  • Scope will move

    Choose time and material

    You know the direction but expect users to change the details. Priorities reset every sprint.

  • Scope never ends

    Choose a dedicated team

    There is a continuous roadmap and retained context matters more than a fixed number.

Choosing the model · a printed scope on the desk, a founder and an engineer weighing how settled it is
Start from the scope · how much of it can you already write down

The three models in detail

Fixed cost, time and material, dedicated team: the details.

What each model covers, who it suits and where it costs you. Switch tabs to compare them side by side, and read the dedicated team model in full if a monthly squad is what your roadmap needs.

  • Fixed cost

    Fixed cost

    A defined scope, an agreed price and a delivery date fixed before work starts.

    • A first release or a bounded module with a clear definition of done.
    • Budgets that must be approved as a single number up front.
    • Working with us for the first time and wanting a contained risk.

    Least flexible model: if the requirements are still moving, time and material will cost you less overall.

  • Time & material

    Time and material

    You pay for the hours actually worked, with scope free to change between sprints.

    • Roadmaps where priorities shift as customers respond.
    • Discovery, integrations and work that cannot be fully specified in advance.
    • Teams who want to steer the backlog week to week.

    Needs an engaged product owner on your side: the model rewards clear priorities every sprint.

  • Dedicated team

    Dedicated team

    A stable squad working only on your product, billed monthly per person.

    • Products with a continuous roadmap and no in-house engineering capacity.
    • Long engagements where retained context is worth more than flexibility.
    • Scaling work where the same team should keep shipping for months.

    Least suited to a one-off module: for a single bounded piece, fixed cost is cheaper.

Side by side

Fixed price vs time and material vs dedicated team.

The same seven questions, answered for each model, so the choice is made on scope and risk, not on the sales pitch. Indicative rates and budget bands for all three sit on our pricing page.

Fixed price vs time and material vs dedicated team.
The questionFixed costTime & materialDedicated team
How you payOne agreed price, paid by milestoneHours actually worked, billed per sprintPer engineer, per month
ScopeFrozen and signed before work startsReset every sprintA continuous roadmap you steer
Who carries the riskUs: the price holdsYou: the hours are realShared: capacity is planned monthly
Best forA bounded first release or moduleDiscovery, integrations, moving roadmapsProducts with no in-house engineering
When scope changesQuoted in writing as a variationRe-prioritised at the next sprintAbsorbed by the squad, reviewed monthly
How you leaveAt the milestone, with what shippedAt any sprint boundary30 days notice, no annual contract
What you seeMilestone demos and acceptanceFortnightly demo, report and burnFortnightly demo, monthly capacity review

How an engagement runs

How an engagement runs, from first call to a long-term partnership.

  1. Understand the problem

    A call about the outcome you need, the constraints you have, and what already exists.

  2. Proposal and model

    Scope, team shape, timeline and the recommended model, in writing, with the reasoning.

  3. Kick-off and access

    NDA, your repos and cloud accounts, a named lead and the first sprint planned with you.

  4. Deliver in sprints

    Working software every two weeks, a demo you attend and a written report each time.

  5. Review and continue

    Capacity, cost and model reviewed at each milestone: models can change as the project does.

The first month

The first month, in any model.

The commercial terms differ; the first four weeks do not.

Whichever model you choose, the first month runs the same way: NDA and access on day one, a named technical lead and a planned first sprint in week one, working software demoed in week two, and a milestone review at the end of the month where the model itself is on the table: a fixed-price first release often becomes a monthly squad once the roadmap is continuous.

What you see

Your repositories and cloud accounts with our commits in them, a demo you attend every two weeks, a written report of what shipped and what is next, and a monthly note on capacity, cost and whether the model still fits.

  • Day 1

    NDA signed, repos and cloud accounts in your name

  • Week 1

    Named lead, kick-off, first sprint planned with you

  • Week 2

    First demo of working software, written report

  • Week 4

    Milestone review: capacity, cost and the model itself

See how an engagement runs →Get a model recommendation →
A sprint demo · the client team and the squad around one screen showing working software
  • Jira
  • Linear
  • Slack
  • GitHub
  • AWS

Communication & governance

The same governance under every model.

How work is tracked, reviewed and reported does not change with the commercial terms, only the way you pay for it does. Where engineers join your own board and standups under the staff augmentation model, your rituals take over and the named lead stays accountable to you.

  • Named technical lead

    One senior engineer accountable for architecture and code review, not a rotating cast.

  • Fortnightly demo and report

    You see working software, then a written summary of what shipped and what is next.

  • Your tools, not ours

    Jira, Linear, Slack or Teams: we work where your team already works.

  • Time-zone overlap agreed up front

    Four hours of overlap with European or US mornings, full-day for GCC clients.

  • Changes quoted in writing

    Added scope is priced and approved before it is built, in every model.

  • NDA, IP and access from day one

    Your repositories and cloud accounts, your IP, commit access from the first week.

Models in real projects

How engagement models play out in real projects.

Three products, three different commercial shapes, chosen by how settled the scope was when we started.

Our clients · reviews

Teams who trusted QalbIT

Short feedback from clients and products we work on across web, mobile, SaaS and internal tools.

  • Testimonials from long-term custom software development and SaaS product clients.
  • Covers ERP systems, B2B marketplaces, booking platforms, and web & mobile app development projects.
  • Real text and video reviews from founders, CTOs, and product teams who partnered with QalbIT for delivery.

  • Video review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “I would recommend QalbIT to everybody. QalbIT has been developing all my front-end & backend systems complete to my requirements. They have excellent technical knowledge and listen very well to the needs of their customers. And above all, they are great people.”
    Wouter SantensExecutive Search Consultant · Bloomford

  • Written review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “Excellent work! QalbIT team delivered the project on time, with great quality. Their ability to quickly adapt to new requirements and deliver promptly was impressive. Highly recommend them for Flutter projects.”
    Ahmed GFounder at Local Buzz · Consumer app / local discovery

  • Video review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “QalbIT quickly integrated four payment platforms: Square, Stripe, PayPal and Coinbase. Active communication, timely deadlines despite research-heavy work, plus post-launch support.”
    Roshan SethiaCTO · Contractor Plus, Inc.

  • Written review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “They took a half-finished marketplace, stabilised it, and shipped the modules we actually needed first. The weekly demos meant nothing came as a surprise.”
    Abhishek P.Product Lead · B2B marketplace

  • Written review

    Rated 5 out of 5.
    “QalbIT is a fantastic dev partner. They provide quality work, good communication and go above and beyond. Fantastic work delivered by QalbIT and his team. Can’t give enough credits with regards to how they work and at which speed they do it. Top team.”
    Joost HesselberthFounder · Ad Lunam
The monthly review · capacity, cost and the model itself on one page
Reviewed monthly · the model can change as the project does

What we deliver under these models

Software development services at a glance.

From MVPs to long-term platforms, combine our core and specialised services to design, build and grow products that match how your business really works.

FAQs · engagement models

Frequently asked questions about software development engagement models with QalbIT

What the models are, which is cheaper, dedicated team versus staff augmentation, contracts, switching mid-project and what stays the same however you choose to pay.

Ask which model fits →
For a genuinely fixed scope, fixed cost is. For anything that will change, time and material usually costs less overall: fixed-price quotes on moving scope carry a risk premium and a variation for every change.
Yes, and many clients do. A fixed-price first release often becomes a monthly dedicated team once the roadmap is continuous. We agree the switch at a milestone, not mid-sprint.
We quote the change in writing as a variation, with cost and timeline impact, and build it only once you approve. Nothing is absorbed quietly or added silently.
Fortnightly sprints with a demo and written report, open timesheets and burn tracking, and a monthly cap if you want one. You can stop or redirect at any sprint boundary.
Yes. You review profiles and run your own technical interview: only engineers you approve join, and the replacement guarantee applies if the fit is wrong.
Fixed-cost work runs to a signed scope and milestone schedule. Monthly engagements have no annual lock-in: scale down or end with 30 days notice.
No. In every model the code, repositories and cloud accounts are yours, under NDA, with commit access from the first week.
The commercial shape of the work: how you pay, who carries the risk when scope moves, and how you leave. The three that matter are fixed price for a scope you can write down, time and material for a roadmap that will change, and a dedicated team for a product with a continuous roadmap and no in-house engineering.
Neither. It depends on how settled the scope is. Fixed price is cheaper and safer when you can describe done and are willing to freeze it; time and material is cheaper overall when the details will change, because a fixed quote on moving scope carries a risk premium and a variation for every change.
Staff augmentation adds individual engineers to your team and leaves the management with you. A dedicated team is a managed squad, engineers, QA and a technical lead, that owns delivery inside your repos and board. We run dedicated teams; if you only need one missing skill for a few months, we will say that hiring a developer is the better fit.
Fixed-price first releases typically land in the mid four to low five figures. Time and material is billed per sprint at senior rates, with a monthly cap if you want one. A dedicated team is billed per engineer per month, usually 50–70% below an equivalent hire in the US, UK or GCC, and scales down with 30 days notice. You get the number in writing within 48 hours of the first call.

Next step

Not sure which engagement model fits your project?

Describe the work in two lines. You get a recommended model, team shape and price range within 48 hours.

Get a model recommendation