TEL102

Pricing

Telos delivers purpose-built business software for a monthly subscription. All work is measured in credits. The pricing model is designed to be simple and transparent — the customer always knows what they're paying for. Telos is a fully managed service, leveraging AI but with real humans acting on every ticket.

Credit System

Credits are the universal unit of measurement for all work performed by Telos.

  • 1 credit = a standard support request (troubleshooting, bug fix, question, small code change)
  • 10 credits ≈ approximately one day of work by an expert developer
  • Development work is quoted in credits via fixed-price tickets
  • Once a quote is accepted, the credit cost is fixed — if work takes longer, the cost does not increase

Service Modes

BAU Mode (Business as Usual)

The ongoing operational subscription for live applications.

Included monthly:

  • 20 support credits (reset each month, do not carry forward)
  • Use of the Telos Platform (blueprint, AI service desk, metrics)
  • Management of application resources, services, and infrastructure
  • Security scanning, availability and error monitoring
  • Design, planning, and testing of development work within a 60-day horizon

Support credit usage:

  • One credit per support request, allocated when the ticket is raised
  • Support requests requiring more than one hour of code changes may be quoted in development credits
  • Additional support credits can be purchased as needed

BUILD Mode

The development-focused subscription for active build phases.

Included monthly:

  • 100 development credits per month
  • Development credits accumulate and carry forward (unlike support credits)
  • Credits are consumed as quoted development work is completed

Development credit usage:

  • Work is scoped and quoted in credits (fixed-price per ticket)
  • The Client must accept a quote before work begins
  • Unused development credits roll over to subsequent months
  • Additional credits may be purchased at any time at the prevailing rate

Switching Modes

The subscription can be changed between BAU and BUILD mode with 7 days' notice. BUILD mode is typically used during active development phases and may be time-limited, after which the customer transitions to BAU mode.

Additional Credits

Beyond the monthly subscription, credits can be purchased ad hoc:

  • Additional development credits at the agreed per-credit rate (specified in the contract)
  • Additional support credits for larger applications or multiple applications
  • Development credits can be applied against fixed-price quotes

Hosting and Consumption Charges

Third-Party Services

Telos manages all third-party subscriptions (cloud hosting, domains, SSL, supporting services) on the customer's behalf.

  • A 10% surcharge is applied to third-party services that Telos procures and pays for on the customer's behalf
  • This surcharge does not apply to services the customer pays for directly
  • The customer may choose to pay hosting providers directly or have Telos handle it

Consumption Cap

  • Monthly consumption charges for new services are agreed in advance
  • If costs would exceed the agreed cap, customer sign-off is required before those costs are incurred
  • The Telos Platform provides a transparent statement of all consumption charges

Hosting

  • Hosting is set up autonomously with separate accounts per customer
  • Telos does not provide uptime guarantees — those come from the underlying provider (e.g., Azure, AWS)
  • The customer should refer to the infrastructure provider's SLA for uptime commitments

Payment Terms

  • All charges are in New Zealand dollars and exclude GST (unless stated otherwise)
  • Invoices issued at the beginning of each billing period
  • Payment due within 7 days by credit card or bank transfer
  • Late payment may incur interest at up to 5% over the base lending rate
  • The customer pays all taxes except Telos income taxes

Cancellation

  • Either party may cancel with 30 days' written notice
  • Service continues until the end of the current billing period
  • No refund for unused support credits
  • The subscription mode can be changed with 7 days' notice

Cost in Context

The BUILD mode subscription at $9,000/month is roughly equivalent to the cost of hiring a single intermediate developer — but covers engineering, infrastructure, security, planning, AI tooling, and ongoing support. This makes it a meaningfully different proposition from a staffing or traditional project model.

A typical project arc looks like this:

  • Months 1–3: Heavy development — moving fast, building core functionality
  • Months 3–5: Testing, refinement, and stabilisation
  • Months 5–6+: Transition — data migration, parallel running, training, cutover

The transition phase is often underestimated. Switching systems takes time not because the software isn't ready, but because data migration, staff training, and parallel operation have their own timelines that are independent of build speed.

Pace and Decisions

Speed of delivery is directly linked to speed of decision-making. Telos can move fast — but the customer is the bottleneck if they are unavailable or slow to respond. For a typical $9,000/month BUILD engagement, Telos allocates one full-time developer and approximately $1,000/month of AI consumption. To go faster, both of those inputs scale — but only if the customer can keep up with the decision-making demand that higher pace creates.

The practical rule: if you want to move faster, expect to spend more time with your App Director, not less.

Key Pricing Principles

  1. Fixed-price development — Once a quote is accepted, the price doesn't change. If it takes longer, that's on Telos.
  2. Credits roll over (BUILD mode) — Development credits accumulate. The customer doesn't lose what they've paid for.
  3. Transparent consumption — Third-party costs are passed through with a clear 10% fee. No hidden margins.
  4. Flexibility — Buy more credits when you need them, switch to a smaller plan when you don't.
  5. No lock-in — 30 days' notice to cancel. The customer owns everything.