Agile is a methodology. Fixed-price is a contract. They're not mutually exclusive.
The debate between fixed-price and agile is usually a debate about risk allocation. Agile sprints without a fixed budget can run indefinitely. Fixed-price without agile flexibility can produce the wrong product. Understanding how to get both certainty and the right outcome.
Development engagement with no clear end or cost — agile sprints that keep going without delivering a complete working product
"Agile" is used to justify indefinite spending on development: no fixed scope, no fixed timeline, no fixed cost. "We're agile" can be a legitimate methodology or an excuse for continuous billing without a defined outcome.
Fixed-price has a bad reputation for different reasons: early software contracts that locked scope so rigidly that the delivered product was technically complete but completely wrong.
The resolution: fixed-price on outcome, flexible on the path to get there.
What this looks like in practice:
- The outcome is defined: "a working SaaS application where users can sign up, create an account, add team members, and subscribe via Stripe"
- The price is fixed for that outcome: $32,000
- The path to get there uses agile practices: iterative development, regular demos, feedback incorporated
- Scope changes beyond the defined outcome are handled via change orders (with defined pricing)
This isn't waterfall (rigid scope, rigid process) or pure agile (no fixed outcome, continuous billing). It's fixed-outcome development with agile iteration toward that outcome.
Where pure agile (no fixed scope) makes sense:
- Ongoing product development with a retained engineering team
- Large applications where the scope genuinely can't be defined upfront
- Internal tooling with evolving requirements
Where fixed-price makes sense:
- MVPs with defined feature sets
- V1 applications with known requirements
- Projects with a defined delivery date and budget
Understanding of how fixed-price development can incorporate agile practices while maintaining budget certainty and defined deliverables
Applications with a defined scope and a fixed price. The development process uses iterative delivery: working software reviewed at regular milestones, feedback incorporated within the defined scope.
One honest number to start.
Fixed-scope, fixed-price. The number below is the starting point — final scope is built from your brief.
Understanding of how fixed-price development can incorporate agile practices while maintaining budget certainty and defined deliverables
Three steps, every time.
The same repeatable engagement on every project. No surprises, no mystery, no billable ambiguity.
Brief & discovery.
We send you questions, then get on a call. Output: a written scope with every step, feature, and integration listed.
Build & ship.
Fixed schedule, weekly reviews. No scope creep unless you change the scope — and if you do, we reprice it transparently.
Warranty & retainer.
30-day warranty on every launch. Most clients stay on a monthly retainer for ongoing features and maintenance.
Why Fixed-Price Matters Here
The founder's risk in pure agile: the development continues until the budget is exhausted, not until the product is complete. Fixed-price shifts outcome risk to the developer.
Questions, answered.
Minor refinements within the spirit of the original scope are handled within the fixed price. Significant scope additions (new features, changed core functionality) are priced as change orders — with explicit agreement before the work starts.
Scoping accurately is the developer's job. Fixed-price development requires clear requirement documentation and discovery upfront. The discovery phase protects both parties.
Tell Ryel about your project.
Describe what you’re building and what outcome you need. You’ll have a written, fixed-price scope within the week.