Engineering hires you can't afford yet
Senior engineers in the Bay Area can eat a seed round on salary alone. A fixed-price build gets you a working product without adding headcount before you have traction.
Software development for San Francisco startups and SaaS teams
Custom software development for San Francisco founders, at a fixed price
Ojastra is a Toronto team that handles custom software development for San Francisco founders and software companies, remotely. We take a product from idea or prototype to something real customers can pay for, at a price agreed before we start.
San Francisco is three hours behind Toronto, and that gap works for many teams: you set the day's priorities in your morning, we build through our afternoon, and a new build link is waiting the next day.
Fixed price. You own the code. A working demo every week.
Common snags for San Francisco startups
A launch date that keeps slipping
Scope grows with every conversation. We write down what is in the first release, price it and show progress weekly, so slippage shows up early.
Real users on a prototype with no foundation
Authentication, billing and data handling were skipped to get a demo live. We harden them before you scale.
Agencies that vanish after launch
Nobody monitors, patches or answers when something breaks. We offer monthly care from $500, so a named person is watching hosting and fixing the small stuff.
What we build for San Francisco teams
SaaS MVPs with accounts and billing
Sign-up, roles, Stripe subscriptions, admin screens and an analytics view, so you can start charging at launch.
Mobile app development for San Francisco startups
iPhone and Android apps shipped to the stores under your developer accounts, with web dashboards behind them.
AI features inside your product
Search, summaries and document intake, with the data path, cost and failure handling designed before a model is connected.
Internal tooling for lean teams
Support consoles, ops dashboards and data tools your engineers shouldn't be spending their weeks on.
Prototype hardening
We take what an AI builder produced and make it production-ready: tests, security, deployment and handover.
Integrations and data plumbing
Payment, CRM, email and analytics tools connected, so events and customers flow without manual exports.
A build partner, not a hiring plan
San Francisco is where a software idea is most likely to meet a pitch deck, an accelerator and a hiring market in the same week. That is good for ambition and hard on budgets. What we do is narrower: build the first version of the product properly, hand over code a future team can read, and let you spend the rest of the round on customers.
Our team is in Toronto and we don't claim a San Francisco office. Because you are three hours behind us, your Pacific mornings are for decisions and a working link shows up by the next day. Weekly demos run on video, and the repository, cloud accounts and any app store accounts belong to you from the start.
Costs are in Canadian dollars, which typically stretches a US seed or Series A budget, and we quote in US dollars on request. If an in-house engineering team is the long-term plan, the code is built in mainstream tools with plain documentation so they can take over.
What it costs
Fixed prices in Canadian dollars. The blueprint fee is credited in full when you go ahead with the build.
| What you get | Price (CAD) | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| BlueprintWorkflow map, key screens, fixed quote and build schedule. 100% credited to the build. | $1,500 | About 1 week |
| MVP for a funded founderThe first version of your product, built to grow. | $25K–$75K | 8–14 weeks |
| Customer-facing web or mobile appBooking, ordering, client portal or marketplace. | $20K–$60K | 6–12 weeks |
| Rescue an AI-built or broken appAudit, fix, secure, deploy and hand over. | $5K–$20K | 2–6 weeks |
| Care planHosting, monitoring, fixes and small changes. | From $500/month | Monthly |
Figures are in Canadian dollars, and any quote can be restated in US dollars on request. Once the blueprint is done, the MVP range collapses into a single price. See all prices.
How we work
1. Plan
A free written plan within 48 hours, then a one-week blueprint ($1,500, credited to the build) that ends in one fixed price and a schedule.
2. Build
A working link to click every week. Milestone payments, no hourly surprises. Scope changes are priced in writing before we build them.
3. Care
You own the code and accounts from day one. Optional care plan from $500 a month for hosting, fixes and small changes.
Software we built and run
pickup.kitchen
Our own live ordering and meal-plan platform for food businesses.
- Each kitchen gets its own storefront on a subdomain or custom domain
- Stripe payments and a Shopify POS integration
- Live order tracking, delivery routes and a driver app
Naina
An AI coaching app we took from idea to paid MVP.
- Upload screenshots, get a score and the top fixes
- Email one-time-code sign-in and a paid pass
- AI output checked by its own test suite
Questions owners ask us
How much does it cost to build an MVP for a San Francisco startup?
Plan on $25K–$75K CAD for a funded founder's MVP. The build takes eight to fourteen weeks, and the blueprint turns the range into one fixed figure that we can state in US dollars.
What should I look for in app developers in San Francisco?
Ask for a fixed price, repository access on day one, a working link every week and a named person who answers when something breaks. We offer those four, so hold any firm to them, ours included.
Can you work across a three-hour gap?
Yes, and many founders find it useful. Calls and demos sit in your morning, our afternoon is build time, and the result is ready when your next day begins.
Can you build the mobile app and the backend together?
Yes. The mobile app, the web admin and the API behind both are scoped as one project, so you aren't coordinating two vendors. A customer-facing app is $20K–$60K CAD, and a deeper first product falls into the MVP range.
Do we own the code and IP when the project ends?
You do. We build in your GitHub and cloud accounts, so there is no transfer step at the end, and ownership is written into the agreement.
Can you rescue a prototype built with an AI tool?
We read the code first, then tell you in writing what to keep, fix or rebuild. Most rescues land between $5K and $20K CAD, and the price is fixed before work begins.
Is your software development company based in San Francisco?
No. We are in Toronto and have no San Francisco office, which is why the working rhythm is spelled out above. The weekly demo, the fixed price and the ownership terms are the same as for any other client.
Related
Tell us the problem. Get a written plan in 48 hours.
No call needed. You get the approach, a price range and a timeline in writing, free.