Five years ago, building a professional website for a small business meant paying $10,000 to $30,000. A custom web application could easily run six figures. Those prices made sense at the time because the work genuinely took that long.

That’s not the case anymore.

What Changed

AI development tools have fundamentally shifted how software gets built. Tasks that used to take days now take hours. Boilerplate code that used to be written line by line can be generated and refined in minutes. Testing, debugging, and documentation have all gotten faster.

This isn’t about replacing developers with AI. It’s about giving skilled developers better tools. A good carpenter with a power saw builds faster than one with a hand saw, but the quality of the work is the same. That’s exactly what’s happened in software.

So Why Haven’t Prices Dropped?

Most agencies haven’t lowered their prices because their clients don’t know any better. If you’ve never built software before, you have no way of knowing whether $25,000 is a fair price for a marketing website. You trust the agency to tell you what it costs, and they tell you what they’ve always charged.

That’s the model we think is broken.

What We Do Differently

At TechHound, our pricing reflects the actual effort and tools involved in the work today. We use AI to accelerate development, and we pass those savings on to our clients. A simple static website starts at $2,000. Not $10,000. Not $20,000.

And the quality? It’s the same as what you’d get from a premium agency. We’re not cutting corners. We’re cutting overhead.

The Bottom Line

You don’t have to overpay for software anymore. The tools have gotten better, the process has gotten faster, and the cost should reflect that. Whether you’re deciding between custom and off-the-shelf or just need a straightforward website, the cost should reflect that. If your current agency is still charging 2019 prices, it might be worth asking why.

We’re happy to show you what your project would actually cost. Get in touch for a free consultation.