The hourly rate is how we calculate a price. It is not how we bill you. Nearly every engagement is quoted as a fixed number against a written scope, because an open-ended hourly arrangement transfers all of the estimation risk onto the client — and the client is the party least able to judge whether something should have taken nine hours or nineteen.
Current rates and worked examples also appear on the services page.
REAL SHAPES OF REAL PROJECTS
SIMPLE WEBSITE
Basic business website with 5-8 pages, contact forms, and basic SEO optimization.
E-COMMERCE STORE
Full online store with product catalog, shopping cart, payment processing, and inventory management.
WEB APPLICATION
Custom web application with user authentication, database integration, and advanced functionality.
DRAWN BEFORE YOU PAY, NOT AFTER
- Custom code — no themes, no page builders, no licensed template
- Responsive across real devices, not just three breakpoints in a mockup
- WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility as a build requirement
- Technical SEO: crawlable architecture, structured data, clean URLs
- Core Web Vitals measured before launch and after
- Analytics and conversion tracking wired at build time
- A staging environment from week one
- Redirect mapping and migration planning where rankings are at stake
- Documentation good enough to hand the project to another team
- Full ownership of code, content, and infrastructure configuration
- Managed hosting and ongoing maintenance — quoted monthly after the build
- Content writing, where you would rather we did it than you
- Photography, video production, and custom illustration
- Paid media management and ad spend
- Third-party licences and platform fees, which you pay directly rather than through us at a markup
- New feature development after launch, scoped as its own piece of work
- Data structuring where a catalog has to be rebuilt from PDFs or spreadsheets
Nothing in the right-hand column is a surprise upsell. It is listed here, and again in your scope document, so that when it comes up mid-project it is a decision with a known price rather than an argument about what was implied.
CLIENT TRANSMISSIONS
VERIFIED OPERATOR FEEDBACK // CLEARANCE LEVEL: PUBLIC
"Nicklaus was absolutely fantastic to work with. He completely transformed our website for The CPG Co-Op, and the end result is better than I could have imagined. What really sets Nicklaus apart is that he’s not just a great designer—he has a deep understanding of the technical side of websites and the backend functionality that makes everything work. He was able to take a fairly complex project, handle the technical details seamlessly, and still make the entire process incredibly easy for me as someone who is, frankly, a total luddite when it comes to this stuff. He also built the site in a way that makes it incredibly easy for me to manage and make changes myself, which means we aren’t constantly paying someone every time we need to update something. That was a huge win for us. He was responsive, collaborative, incredibly fast, and genuinely cared about getting it right. I would highly recommend Nicklaus to anyone looking for someone who can bring the creative vision and the technical expertise to actually execute it. He made the whole process easy—and delivered a website we absolutely love."
EMILY KEALEY
FOUNDER // THE CPG CO-OP
ON THE CPG CO-OP
STRAIGHT ANSWERS
WHY PUBLISH RATES AT ALL?
Because the alternative wastes everyone's time. Agencies withhold pricing so the number arrives after you are emotionally invested in the relationship. If our rate is wrong for your budget, both of us would rather know that from a web page than from a third meeting.
DO YOU BILL HOURLY OR FIXED?
Fixed, in nearly every case. The hourly rate is how we calculate the number; the number is what you agree to. Hourly billing pushes estimation risk onto the client, who is the party least equipped to judge whether something should have taken nine hours or nineteen. We keep that risk.
WHAT IF THE PROJECT TAKES LONGER THAN YOU ESTIMATED?
That is our problem, not your invoice. A fixed price means we absorb the estimate being wrong. The exception is genuine scope change — new requirements, a system that turned out to work differently than its vendor documented — and those get priced as they arise, before the work happens rather than after.
DO YOU REQUIRE A DEPOSIT?
Yes, and the payment schedule is in the same document as the scope and the price, agreed before anything starts. No invoice should ever be a surprise, including the first one.
IS THERE A MONTHLY RETAINER?
Only if you want ongoing work. Hosting and maintenance are a monthly figure quoted after the build; anything beyond that is scoped as it comes up. We do not sell a retainer that has to be filled with invented work each month to justify itself.
CAN YOU WORK TO A FIXED BUDGET?
Usually, and it is a better conversation than it sounds. Tell us the number and we will tell you honestly what fits inside it and what does not — including when the answer is that your budget does not cover the thing you actually need, in which case you should not spend it with us.
WHAT DOES ONGOING HOSTING COST?
It depends on the site's complexity and traffic, and you get a fixed monthly figure rather than a metered bill that surprises you in month three. The managed hosting page covers what is included in that number.
GET THE ACTUAL NUMBER.
Send the site and the goal. You get an assessment within 24 hours, and a fixed price in writing after a scoping call — with no obligation attached to either.