How to Choose a Software Development Company in Toronto: 10 Questions to Ask

Before you talk to anyone

Write one page: what the software must do, who uses it, what goes wrong today and what a good outcome looks like in a number you can check, such as hours saved a week or orders handled without a phone call. Firms respond to a clear problem with clear answers, and the page gives you something to hold every proposal against.

If you can't write the page, say so. A good builder will help you shape it, which is what a free written plan or a short paid blueprint is for.

1. Is the price fixed, and what exactly does it include?

Ask for an all-in price set before work starts, in writing, with the scope listed. Owners burned by hourly billing repeat one rule: never pay hourly for a build. A fixed price moves the risk of overruns to the builder, but only if the scope is written down.

A good answer is a single number, a scope document and a clear process for changes. Ask what is excluded, and whether hosting, testing and handover are in the figure. Ask about the payment schedule too: payments tied to working, delivered milestones protect you better than a large deposit up front.

2. Will I see working software every week?

Progress you can check is the next thing buyers say they want. Ask for a staging link, screenshots or a short demo every week, and for dates you can hold the firm to. A builder who can't show you anything for a month is asking you to trust them with your money.

The test is simple: could you show the progress to someone who has never seen the project, and could they tell it was real? A good-looking prototype can hide a missing foundation, so ask for working features, not only screens.

3. Who owns the code, the hosting and the accounts?

You should, from day one, in writing. Ask where the code will live (your GitHub account), whose name the hosting is in and what happens if you stop working together. The worst stories involve a year spent asking for repository access, or a handover that amounted to a single zip file.

Ask for it in the contract, not in conversation, and ask to be made owner of the accounts on the first day, so ownership is a fact from the start rather than a promise kept at the end.

4. Can I see something live, and talk to someone who has hired you?

A flashy website proves little. Live products you can click prove more than a polished portfolio page, and a reference you can phone proves more again. Ask for both, and notice which one a firm can actually give you.

Ours are two live products we built: pickup.kitchen, a food-ordering platform we run ourselves, and Naina, an AI coaching app MVP. Both are described in our case studies. Be wary of logos and testimonials you can't verify.

5. Who will actually write my code, and where are they?

Some firms sell the work and subcontract the build, sometimes without saying so. One Canadian owner paid $5,000 for a site promised in four to six weeks and was fifteen weeks in when it emerged that the build had been outsourced.

Ask who writes the code, whether the people on the sales call are the people who build it, and where they sit. In Toronto and the GTA we can meet in person; elsewhere we work over video, with the same weekly demos.

6. Do they ask how my business runs before they pitch?

A builder who quotes on the first call is guessing. The firms owners trust take time upfront to understand the workflow: who does what, which tools are involved and where time is lost. Ask what they would want to know before naming a price. If the answer is “not much”, expect a quote that changes.

7. Can we start small, and pay for a short first step?

Owners in how-did-you-find-a-developer threads keep recommending a small paid test, such as a two-week project, before a bigger commitment. A paid blueprint does the same job: one week, a workflow map, key screens and a fixed quote. Ours is $1,500 and is credited in full to the build.

8. What happens when the scope changes?

Scope will change. What matters is how. A good process writes the change down, prices it and gets your yes before building. A bad one lets cost drift until the invoice arrives. Ask to see a sample change request. Adding a second user role to an approvals screen is a change, for instance, and the builder should tell you what it costs and what it does to the date before touching it.

9. What happens after launch?

Software needs hosting, monitoring, security updates and small changes. Ask what is included for the first months and what a care plan costs; ours starts at $500 a month. Also ask who answers when something breaks late on a Friday, and how quickly.

10. Will you tell me when not to build?

The best sign of an honest builder is a willingness to say no: buy the off-the-shelf tool, skip the app, build less. If a $50-a-month product does most of the job, a good firm says so. Ask each company about a project it talked someone out of.

Red flags that should end the call

• A quote on the first call, before anyone asked how your business works.
• A price that is only given hourly, with no cap and no scope.
• No access to the code or the hosting until the final payment.
• Vague answers about who does the work, or where they are.
• Pressure to sign this week, or a discount that expires on Friday.
• Nothing to click: no live product, no staging link, no demo.

How to score the answers

Give each firm a plain yes, partly or no on every question. A firm that says no to questions one to three isn't ready for your money, however good the pitch. Weigh price terms and ownership first, then visibility, then proof, then the rest. If two firms answer equally well, pick the one that spent more time asking about your business.

Why Toronto at all? You get the same time zone, a similar business and legal culture, in-person meetings across the GTA and invoices in Canadian dollars. One Canadian owner described switching from a US-based developer to a Canadian one, partly over the exchange rate. Local does not mean good, though. It only helps once the ten answers check out.

Conclusion: Start with a plan, not a contract

A free written plan costs nothing and tells you plenty: how a firm thinks, whether it understands your problem and whether it will put a price in writing. Ours comes back within 48 hours. Compare it with anything else you are offered, and run the ten questions on all of it.

• Custom software development in Toronto
• Get a free written plan in 48 hours
• Ojastra's price sheet
• pickup.kitchen case study

Questions teams ask