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How it works

Every question answered.
Before you pay anything.

You know exactly what you are paying for, what you are getting, and how it arrives. All before a single dollar changes hands.

A$499
Standard app from
3 to 5
Business days to build
100%
Yours to own outright
$0
Until scope is agreed
2
Revision rounds included

Eight steps. No surprises.

Every Merebase build follows the same process, from the first word you describe to the moment the app is live in your business.

01
Build description
You describe what you need
02
Build scope
We scope it. You approve it.
03
Build preview
Review it. Revise it.
04
Build delivery
Download it. Own it.
1

Describe what you need

You describe what you need in plain language: what the app should do, who uses it, and what problem it solves. No technical knowledge required. Write it the way you would explain it to a new employee.

You do this
2

Build scope

A Merebase build architect reviews your description, models your requirements, flags any ambiguity, and drafts a full build scope: the exact list of what will be built and how it will behave. We send it to you to read in your own time.

Merebase does this
3

Build scope sign off

You review the build scope and decide how you want to proceed. If it reads right, you confirm and move straight to payment. If you have questions or want to talk through anything, you can request a scope call and we will set one up. Nothing proceeds until you say yes.

Your call
4

Payment

Scope agreed, payment made in full before the build begins. No deposit model. Full payment secures your place in the build queue and removes all ambiguity about commitment on both sides.

Payment triggered here
5

Build

Your app goes straight into the build. Within 24 hours you will see the first version taking shape. We aim to have the full build complete and ready for staging within 3 to 5 business days. More complex tiers take longer. Timelines are confirmed at scope.

Merebase does this
6

Build preview

Your build is delivered to a preview environment. You get a working URL and a complete handover document. You have 7 days to review it against the agreed build scope and raise anything that needs addressing.

You review this
7

Revisions

Two rounds of revision are included. A revision is a correction to something that does not match the agreed scope, not a new feature or a change of direction. New scope means a new build request. A short call is available on each revision round if needed.

Merebase does this
8

Build delivery

Once revisions are complete, or 14 days after build preview with no outstanding feedback, the build is delivered. You receive your app files as a zip. Install it on your hosting and open the setup screen. Install it on your hosting. As part of the setup process, you will be asked for a word that is baked into your files. It makes sure only the person who installed your specific build can create the admin account. Enter it, create your account, and your app is live.

Yours to own
Revision vs new scope: what is the difference?

✓ Included in revision rounds

  • A field in a form that the scope specified is missing
  • A button that does not behave the way the build scope says
  • A label using the wrong terminology from the build description
  • A layout that does not match the agreed wireframe
  • A calculation that produces the wrong result per spec

✕ New scope: new build request required

  • Adding a feature that was not in the agreed scope
  • Changing the core workflow after delivery
  • Connecting to a third party system not listed in scope
  • Redesigning screens to a different spec
  • Any request that expands what was agreed to be built

Exactly what you get. Nothing hidden.

Every Standard build delivers the same foundation. What changes is the complexity of the app itself.

What is included in every build

  • The fully built app, installed and tested in the build preview
  • Merebase Core: your production ready foundation
  • Complete handover documentation
  • Admin setup word baked into your build files
  • Two rounds of revision against agreed build scope
  • 7 day bug window post build delivery for scope related issues
  • Download package, ready to deploy on any standard hosting

What is not included in the build price

  • Hosting: you use your own (standard web hosting works)
  • Domain registration
  • Ongoing maintenance or updates (covered by monthly plans)
  • Features outside the agreed scope
  • Third party software licences or API costs
  • Training beyond the handover documentation
🔒

No payment until scope is agreed.

The build scope is free. If you want to talk it through, the scope call is free too. You only pay once you have read every line of what you are getting and said yes. If it is not right, we revise the build scope, or you walk away. No cost either way.

One price. One app. Yours to own.

Every build tier is a fixed price. No hourly rates. No retainers. No surprises after payment.

Build types

App typePriceWhat you get
Standard
One app. One job done right.
A$499Full build against agreed scope. Download and self install on your hosting. Admin setup included. 2 revision rounds. Launchpad listing optional.
Installed
We install it on your hosting for you
A$649Everything in Standard, plus we handle the installation on your hosting environment. No technical work required on your end.
Express
Priority queue. Faster delivery.
A$799Everything in Standard, moved to the front of the build queue. Faster turnaround for time sensitive requirements.
Live
Multiple roles, integrations, larger scope
A$1,199For apps with more complex requirements: multiple user roles, external integrations, larger data flows. Scoped in full at the scope call.
Private
Never listed. Yours exclusively.
A$1,899Your app is built to your spec and never listed or shared on the Launchpad. Stays entirely private to your business. Ideal for proprietary workflows.
Premium
Larger, custom scoped builds
Per scopeFor builds that go beyond the standard Live tier. Scoped and priced on the complexity of your requirement, agreed in full before payment is made.
Bundled
Five apps. One fixed price.
A$1,500Five Standard equivalent apps from the Launchpad at one fixed price. Available as Launchpad listed bundles only. Fixed price, no scope negotiation.
★ On any active monthly plan, Standard builds are A$249. Applies to Standard only. Installed, Express, Live, Private, Premium, and Bundled are always full price regardless of plan.

That's the whole thing. No plan required.

Pick a build tier, pay once, own the app outright. You never need a monthly plan. It does not run, expire, or change without one. The plans below are for businesses that want to keep adding to their apps over time. They are entirely optional and can be cancelled any time.

Monthly plans (optional)

Plans give you a regular supply of build tasks for changes and improvements to apps you already own. You must own at least one app before joining a plan. Cancel any time.

Starter
A$99 /mo
2 build tasks per month
  • Standard apps at A$249 while plan is active
  • Tasks accumulate. Never expire.
  • Cancel any time. Your task balance stays.
  • Email support within 24 hrs, 7 days
Studio
A$299 /mo
10 build tasks per month
  • Standard apps at A$249 while plan is active
  • Tasks accumulate. Never expire.
  • Cancel any time. Your task balance stays.
  • Priority support, same business day response

What is a build task? A build task is one defined unit of work: adding a field, changing a workflow step, updating a report format, connecting a data source. It is not time based. One task = one scoped change to an app you own. Every task is assessed and scoped before being allocated, so there are no surprise costs or scope creep.

Converting tasks to a new app. If you accumulate 5 build tasks, you can convert them into a new Standard build instead of spending them on changes. Same as a Standard build in every respect. Scoped and built the same way. Your task balance is reduced by 5 on confirmation.

Your task balance never expires. Tasks accumulate while your plan is active. If you cancel, your balance is frozen. It is not lost. When you return to a plan, your full balance is there waiting. Variant earnings only accumulate while a plan is active.

Start with one app. Build your business suite over time.

Each app does one job. When you need a second one, it connects to the first. Over time, your apps become the software layer your business actually runs on. Owned outright. No platform fees.

🧱

Start with the thing that matters most

You have one problem. One process that does not work. One spreadsheet that everyone is scared to touch. Build the app that fixes it. A$499. Done in days. Yours to own. That is the whole ask right now.

🔗

Each new app connects to the last

When you need a second app, it can share the same data layer and user logins as your first. Different job. Same foundation. Your team uses both without switching systems or re-entering data. The second build is A$249 on any active monthly plan.

🏢

Your apps are your business suite

Most businesses use a SaaS platform that does 50 things and pay for 48 they do not need. Your suite does exactly what your business does. No more. Every app is owned outright. No subscriptions tied to the apps themselves. No platform that can raise prices on you.

💡

There is no limit to how many apps you can build. Each one is its own build, its own scope, its own fixed price. A monthly plan brings Standard builds down to A$249 and gives you a regular supply of build tasks to keep every app improving.

Your app can earn for you.

Every Standard, Express, and Installed app is listed on the Launchpad automatically. If you want to keep your app off the Launchpad entirely, that is the Private build tier.

🏗️

You own the Original

When your app is built, you own your copy outright. Standard, Express, and Installed builds are listed on the Launchpad automatically as an Original, meaning other businesses can build their own Variant from it. You still own your copy. What you are sharing is the starting point, not the app itself. Want no one building from it at all? Choose the Private tier at build time and it stays off the Launchpad entirely.

🔁

Others build Variants

When another business uses your Original as their starting point, Merebase builds them a version fitted to their business from the Launchpad. Your Original is the foundation. The build work is ours.

You earn build tasks

Every Variant built from your Original adds 2 build tasks to your monthly plan automatically. The more useful your Original, the more Variants it generates, and the more your task supply grows without extra cost.

💡

You earn 2 build tasks per Variant built from your Original, added directly to your monthly plan. Build something genuinely useful for your industry and your plan can fund itself. Variant earnings only accumulate while a plan is active.

Coming soon

Merebase Partner Program. Industry and marketing experts who build Originals on the Launchpad will be able to earn cash per Variant. Registration is not open yet.

If you are thinking it, someone else asked it.

Straight answers. No sales speak.

Yes. You pay once, you own the app. There is no subscription attached to the app itself. No monthly fee to keep it running, no licence renewal, no kill switch on our end. The setup process creates your admin account on your own installation. There is no check back to Merebase at any point. Once you are set up, the app runs on your hosting under your control and we cannot touch it.
Once your app is installed, the setup process asks you to enter a word that is in your build files. That word makes sure only the person who received your specific build can become the admin. It is not a serial number or a licence check. It is a first-setup gate. Once your admin account is created, it does not come into play again. Your admin login is your security from that point on.
Any standard web hosting that supports WordPress will run your app. The hosting account and cost are yours to manage. If you need help getting set up, we have build options for that too, including the Installed build for anyone who wants us to handle it for them.
That is what revisions are for. Two rounds of revision are included. A revision is a correction to something that does not match the agreed build scope. You have 7 days after build preview to raise anything. The build scope you signed off before payment is the reference point, not a memory of a conversation.
New features or changes beyond the original scope are handled as build tasks. If you are on a monthly plan, describe the change as a new build request and it is scoped and allocated against your available tasks. If you are not on a plan, you can purchase tasks separately. Every task is scoped before being allocated. No surprise costs.
Standard builds are typically ready for build preview in 3 to 5 business days from payment. Express builds are prioritised and generally faster. Live tier and above are scoped individually. A realistic timeline is confirmed at the scope call before you pay anything.
Merebase Core is the production ready foundation that every Merebase app is built on. It includes foundational components, security configuration, and architecture decisions already made, so what you receive is a working, production grade app, not a prototype. It is GPL licensed, meaning you own it outright with no proprietary lock in. It runs on your hosting, under your control.
WordPress powers around 43% of all websites on the internet. We use it as our delivery and infrastructure target, not because you are building a traditional website. You are not. You are getting a business app that happens to run on the world's most widely supported web platform. That matters for one practical reason: it runs nearly anywhere. Hosting that supports WordPress starts from a couple of dollars a month and goes up to a couple of hundred for dedicated or managed environments. The choice of where to host and how much to spend is entirely yours. What you get from Merebase is the app. Where it lives is up to you.
No. You can commission a Standard build for A$499 with no ongoing commitment of any kind. Monthly plans are for businesses who want a regular supply of build tasks to keep their apps evolving, and who want the A$249 Standard app price while the plan is active. Plans are optional and cancel anytime.
Yes. If you have 5 build tasks in your balance, you can convert them into a new Standard build instead of spending them on changes to an existing app. The build is scoped and delivered exactly the same way as a paid Standard build. Your task balance is reduced by 5 on confirmation. This only applies to Standard builds. Other tiers require direct payment.
A partner program is in development. It is designed for industry and marketing experts who want to build apps for their sector, list them on the Launchpad, and earn cash per Variant rather than build tasks. Registration is not open yet. In the meantime, any business owner with an Original on the Launchpad earns 2 build tasks per Variant built from it.
Yes. There is no limit. Each app is its own build, scoped and priced separately. Each one does one job. A second app can connect to your first, sharing the same data layer and user logins, or it can be entirely standalone. Over time, your apps become your business suite: a set of apps that each do one job, all owned outright, all running on your hosting. Many customers start with one app and build a second within a year. A monthly plan makes that more affordable. Standard builds drop to A$249 while a plan is active.
This question matters and the answer is built into the model. You own the app. It runs on your hosting. The app validates everything locally during first time setup. There is no server side check and no call back to Merebase at any point. Merebase Core is GPL licensed open source software. If Merebase ceased to exist tomorrow, every app already set up and running would continue exactly as it does today. Your business app does not depend on us staying in business.
The Launchpad is the live catalogue. Every listed app is a real app built for a real business use case. Browse it to get a sense of what Merebase builds, or use an existing listing as the starting point for your own Variant. You can also describe a build and go through the full scope process before paying anything. It costs nothing to find out exactly what you would be getting.
Because work begins immediately after payment and the build scope was agreed in full before payment was made, refunds are not available once a build has commenced. The scope first process exists to remove the conditions under which a refund would be warranted. If the delivered build does not match the agreed build scope, revisions resolve it. The full policy is at merebase.com/refund-policy.
Ready when you are

Your business already knows
what it needs.

Describe it. Your build architect will scope it, price it, and show you exactly what you are getting. Before you spend a dollar.

No account required. No commitment. The description is free.