What a software development subscription is
It is a monthly plan with a set amount of work attached, instead of a project quote or an hourly meter. You pay once a month, you decide what to build next, and the work comes back finished: a screen, a report, an integration, a fixed bug.
At Vesk the unit of work is the token. Every task has a fixed size in tokens, quoted before it starts, so you always know what a change will cost before you approve it. The plans are Starter, Growth and Scale at 8, 20 and 40 tokens a month. Unused tokens carry over to the next month, with no cap, while your membership is active.
It suits the owner who has a list of software jobs that never ends and no one senior to hand it to. It does not suit a single large build that needs one team for six months straight. We will say which one you are on the first call.
How tokens work
Every software task has a fixed size. These are the ones that come up most often:
| Software task | Tokens |
|---|---|
| Small change (text, colour, a field) | 1 |
| Bug, fixed until it works | 3 |
| New simple screen (list or form) | 5 |
| Report or dashboard | 6 |
| Landing page | 8 |
| Complete feature (a full flow) | 10 |
| Integration (payments, invoicing, WhatsApp, CRM, QuickBooks, Shopify) | 12 |
Tokens are a fixed unit of work, not an hourly rate. Vesk does not bill hours, and each task is sized and quoted before it starts.
What each plan buys in a month
Your hosting on AWS, Firebase and Sentry is included in every plan, and so are the kickoff meeting, a monthly one-hour meeting with the senior lead, a weekly project update and the client platform (web and app) where you see every task. None of those use tokens.
With an annual plan you pay the same monthly price and get 2 extra months of tokens. If you run out of tokens mid-month, you can buy extra at your plan's per-token price or move up a plan for that month.
| Plan | Price a month (CAD + tax) | Tokens | What it buys |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 1,270 | 8 | 1 landing page, or a report, or 2 bugs plus 2 small changes |
| Growth | 2,290 | 20 | 2 complete features, or 1 integration plus 2 bugs plus 2 changes |
| Scale | 3,980 | 40 | 4 complete features, or 3 integrations |
Subscription, project, outsourced team or hire: how they compare
If you came here searching for an outsourced development team, it helps to know what we are not. Vesk is not a staffing agency. We do not rent out developers, we do not bill hours, and you are not left to manage people. We deliver results on a plan, and a senior lead answers for them.
| Fixed-price project | Outsourced development team | In-house developer | Vesk subscription | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How you pay | A quote, often with change orders | Hourly or per developer, monthly | Salary plus costs | A fixed monthly plan |
| Typical Canadian cost | CAD 50,000 to 125,000 or more | Roughly CAD 60 to 150 an hour depending on where they sit | About CAD 14,300 a month loaded in Toronto | CAD 1,270 to 3,980 a month |
| Who manages the work | The vendor, until it goes over | You do | You do | A senior lead, with a visible task list |
| Who answers for the result | The contract | Mostly you, since you manage the work | The hire | Vesk, with a guarantee and a bug policy |
| Flexibility | Low once signed | Medium | Low | Change or cancel monthly |
Why a monthly plan is safer than a project
Most failed software projects fail the same way: a large quote, a long silence, then a bill that grew. A subscription changes the shape of the risk. You commit to one month at a time, the work is visible every week, and the first month is guaranteed.
If it does not convince you, you get a full refund, plus 8 bonus tokens in month 1. Billing begins after the kickoff meeting, so you pay nothing to start. A bug costs 3 tokens and is fixed until it works, and it is free if it breaks again within 30 days.
Everything we build is in your name from day one: the code, the infrastructure and the accounts. If you ever leave, you leave with all of it.
Plan boost: a fast month without a new contract
Sometimes you need more than your plan gives. A launch date, a rushed integration, an event. Plan boost lets you move up one or two plans for a single month, then drop back down. There is no new contract and no minimum term. It is available on Software plans only.
When a subscription is not the right fit
- You need one person for 160 hours a month on a single skill. At that volume, hiring is cheaper per hour, and we will help you scope the role.
- You want the lowest hourly price. We are not the cheapest hour on the market and we do not sell hours.
- A large greenfield platform needs six months of constant, full-team effort. A plan boost helps, but a different structure may be better.
- You will not have time for a monthly meeting or for the occasional decision. Custom software needs an owner who engages.
How to start
- 1Call
30 minutes to see if Vesk is the right team. If not, we say so.
- 2Kickoff meeting
We map how your business makes money and what to do first. Nothing is charged until it is done.
- 3Execution
You pick a plan, spend tokens on priced tasks, and see every task, bug and token in the platform. The first delivery lands in week 1 after the kickoff.