Custom software development for small business, built in small pieces
Most small businesses in Canada are stuck between off-the-shelf software that almost fits, held together by spreadsheets, and a custom project quoted at $50,000 to $125,000 CAD that takes months and sometimes ends with a vendor you can no longer reach. Vesk Software is a third option: a senior team that builds exactly what your business needs, one piece at a time, on a monthly plan you can cancel.
Every task is sized in tokens and quoted before it starts. A small change is 1 token, a bug is 3, a new simple screen is 5, a complete feature is 10, and an integration with payments, QuickBooks, Shopify or your CRM is 12. You see every task, bug and token in the platform, on the web and in the app. The code, the servers and every account are in your name from day one.
What we build for small businesses
- Web and mobile apps for your customers or your staff, from a single booking screen to a full membership app.
- Internal systems: a custom CRM, scheduling, inventory, quoting or admin panel that replaces the spreadsheet your team runs on.
- Automation and integrations: the tools you already pay for passing data to each other, so nobody types it twice.
- Client portals, part of internal systems, where your customers check status, pay, upload documents and message you.
- Rescue of failed projects: an app that was never finished, launched broken, or sits in a developer's account instead of yours.
Where most owners start
- You already paid someone and it doesn't work. The app is half built, broken, or held by a developer who stopped answering. Start with software project rescue, which opens with what to do when your app developer disappeared.
- You pay for ten tools and your team still moves data by hand. Read about workflow automation, and if you are wondering whether to build at all, read custom versus off-the-shelf software.
- Your business works, but customers get the same thing they would get anywhere else. Look at custom apps and client portals.
How a project with Vesk runs
- 1Call
Thirty minutes to see whether Vesk is the right team. If we are not, we say so.
- 2Kickoff meeting
We map how your business makes money and decide what to build first. Nothing is charged until this meeting is done.
- 3Execution
You pick a plan and spend tokens. The first delivery arrives in week 1 after the kickoff. You get one monthly meeting with the senior lead, weekly when something needs to change, and a weekly update in the platform.
What custom software costs with Vesk
Plans are 8, 20 or 40 tokens a month: Starter at $1,270, Growth at $2,290 and Scale at $3,980 CAD, all plus GST/HST. For scale, Growth buys two complete features a month, or one integration plus two bug fixes and two small changes. Hosting of your app (AWS, Firebase, Sentry), the kickoff, the monthly meeting and the platform are included.
If you are comparing this with a project quote, read what custom software costs in Canada and how the monthly model works. For apps specifically, see app development cost in Canada.
A software development company in Canada by contract, with a senior team in Mexico City
You sign with APRed, Vesk's Canadian company, and you are billed in CAD with GST/HST. The people doing the work are a senior team in Mexico City. We say so on the first call and on this page, because you should never find it out later. For a business of 5 to 30 people that means senior people at a price you can carry, a Canadian contract and hours that overlap with yours.
Everything we build is in your name from day one: the code, the infrastructure and the accounts. So the question "what if the team in Mexico disappears?" has a plain answer. You already have everything.
Why a Mexico City team works for Canadian businesses
Nearshore means a team in a nearby time zone, so you can have a live conversation the same day. Mexico City stays on Central Standard Time all year, with no daylight saving shift since 2022. Questions get answered the same afternoon and decisions do not wait a day for each round trip.
| Your city | Winter (standard time) | Summer (daylight time) |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto, Ottawa | You are 1 hour ahead of Mexico City | You are 2 hours ahead |
| Calgary, Edmonton | You are 1 hour behind Mexico City | Same time as Mexico City |
| Vancouver | You are 2 hours behind Mexico City | You are 1 hour behind |
A call at 9 in the morning in Toronto is 8 in Mexico City in winter and 7 in summer. Atlantic Canada has a wider gap, so ask us about meeting times if you are in the east.
What a Mexico-based team does not give you
Toronto agencies bill roughly $130 to $190 an hour plus 20 to 40 percent for project management, and nearshore studios commonly quote $60 to $95 CAD. Vesk does not bill by the hour, but senior people at Mexico City costs is where the saving comes from. The trade-offs are real.
- R&D tax incentives. Work done outside Canada generally does not qualify for SR&ED, and we never suggest it will. Ask your accountant before you plan around it.
- Grants. We make no promise that our work qualifies for any government program.
- On-site work. We work by video and through the platform, with owners in Toronto and Calgary among others. If you need someone in your office every week, we are not the right team.
- Data location and French. If your industry has rules about where personal information may be stored, tell us on the first call. Our service is in English and we do not target Quebec.
If a Canadian-based team is a hard requirement for your company, you are better off with one.
Freelancer, agency, in-house developer or Vesk
A freelancer is the cheapest hour and the highest risk if they disappear. An agency answers for the project but bills for activity. A full-time developer is the best answer if you can keep one busy and afford a salary near $157,000 CAD. Our comparison of freelancers, agencies and a senior team puts the numbers side by side, including when Vesk is not the right pick. We are not a staffing agency: a bug is fixed until it works, and the first month is guaranteed.