Field notes from the build.
How we ship custom software fast — the AI stack we run, what things actually cost, and when to build custom vs buy.
PharmaciesPharmacy software in Baltimore: the price you don't set, and the shelf you do
We checked thirty pharmacy platforms and not one publishes a price — the first clean sweep in this series. It hardly matters, because the subscription was never the expensive number. Across twelve of the most-dispensed generics the drug in the bottle costs $1.14 and Maryland's dispensing fee is $10.67, unchanged since February 2021, while CMS quietly reprices about 28,000 drug codes on the third Wednesday of every month. Then the shelf you do price yourself — where Maryland decides the tax by SPF number, benzoyl peroxide concentration and the words "single use."
Goda Korzinaitė · Aug 1, 2026 · 28 min read
DentalDental software in Baltimore: the subscription you sell, not the one you buy
Of twelve dental platforms, exactly one publishes a complete price — and it also publishes the date it raised it. But a year of preventive care for one adult is worth $493 at full fee, $399 through your own membership plan and $221.93 from Medicaid. Maryland bans the clause the ADA calls the main obstacle, and never passed the safe harbor twenty states did.
Jacob · Aug 1 · 29 min
FloristsFlorist software in Baltimore: who keeps the other 27 cents
Three florist platforms have no pricing page at all, one has moved its entire domain, and the two that do publish plan names with no dollars. The only complete fee schedule in the trade is a members' PDF written in April 2011 — and it charges a 5 percent surcharge to shops that receive more orders than they send.
Goda · Jul 31 · 28 min
BreweriesBrewery software in Baltimore: the one product you cannot put in the box
Maryland let its breweries deliver to your door in 2024, a federal judge took the law apart in January 2026, and the Comptroller's guidance still calls it a felony. Of twelve platforms, five have no pricing page. But the same keg is worth $140 or $912 depending on which door it leaves by.
Jacob · Jul 28 · 26 min
Funeral HomesFuneral home software in Baltimore: the price list that never reaches your website
Federal law makes you hand your itemized price list to any stranger who walks in — and says nothing at all about your website. Of eleven funeral software vendors, eight have no pricing page and exactly one prints a number. Meanwhile the biggest line in the building is quoted to you at zero.
Goda · Jul 27 · 27 min
Salons & SpasSalon software in Baltimore: the shelf you're not allowed to sell online
Booksy, GlossGenius, Mangomint and Boulevard publish real prices; Vagaro's pricing URL returns a 404. But the subscription is the smallest line. The channel your retail is sold through moves $15,000 a year — because the brands on your shelf won't let you sell them on your own website.
Jacob · Jul 26 · 25 min
VeterinaryVeterinary software in Baltimore: you don't own your own store
Two companies hold about 79% of practice-management installations — and they also sell you the labs and the drugs. The per-doctor prices everyone quotes for Shepherd, Vetspire and Hippo Manager all lead to 404s. And the online store carrying your practice's name publishes no rate at all.
Goda · Jul 24 · 22 min
ChildcareChildcare software in Baltimore: build it, or keep renting by the child?
brightwheel and Procare won't print a price — and even Playground now hides its subscription behind a demo. But that's the small number: the cut of every tuition payment dwarfs it, and moving parents from card to ACH saves more than any software you pick. Plus the Maryland ratios that cap enrollment.
Jacob · Jul 21 · 22 min
Auto RepairAuto repair shop software in Baltimore: build it, or read the sticker?
Tekmetric, Shopmonkey and AutoLeap publish a price — but it's the smallest number in the bill. The cut of every card swipe dwarfs it, only one vendor prints that rate, and its middle plan is never the cheapest at any volume. Plus the Maryland layer none of them model.
Goda · Jul 21 · 21 min
FitnessFitness studio software in Baltimore: build it, or keep renting by the member?
The market meters four incomparable things, and the "free" plan can cost a busy studio thousands more than the $199 one. Mindbody won't print a US price at all — yet Maryland sizes your surety bond on a number your software calls revenue.
Jacob · Jul 20 · 24 min
NonprofitsNonprofit software in Baltimore: build it, or keep renting by the record?
Nonprofits must publish their finances by law; their vendors mostly don't. Among the donor CRMs exactly one publishes a full price, the processing line quietly beats the subscription, and Maryland moved its CPA audit threshold to $1,000,000 on July 1.
Goda · Jul 20 · 29 min
LegalLaw firm software in Baltimore: build it, or keep renting by the seat?
Not one legal platform publishes a volume discount — the rate at 25 seats is the rate at 3. And by their own documentation, several won't migrate the trust history Maryland requires you to keep for five years.
Jacob · Jul 19 · 23 min
Real EstateProperty management software in Baltimore: build it, or keep renting by the door?
AppFolio's $298 floor means a 50-door landlord pays $5.96 a unit for a $1.49 product. Buildium charges $2.35 on every rent payment. And none of them will ever track a Baltimore rental license or an MDE lead certificate — the rules that actually cost you money.
Goda · Jul 18 · 20 min
HealthcareCustom healthcare software in Baltimore: build around your EHR, don't fight it
SimplePractice, Jane, Tebra and athenahealth run most practices well — until intake, scheduling or referrals stop matching the template. In healthcare you rarely replace the EHR; you build the custom, HIPAA-compliant layer around it. When that's worth it, and what it costs in 2026.
Jacob · Jul 17 · 15 min
LogisticsWarehouse & logistics software for Baltimore's Port economy: build or rent?
Extensiv, Logiwa, Fishbowl and Cin7 fit most warehouses — until your billing rules, your receiving flow or your dispatch board stop matching the template. When a custom system you own outright beats renting one per seat forever, and what building one costs in Baltimore.
Goda · Jul 16 · 12 min
RestaurantsOnline ordering for Baltimore restaurants: own it or rent it?
DoorDash and Uber Eats take 15–30% of every order and keep your customer list; ChowNow and Toast rent you a template. When a custom online ordering system you own outright is the better buy for a Baltimore kitchen — and what it costs in 2026.
Jacob · Jul 15 · 12 min
TradesField-service software for Baltimore's trades: build or buy?
ServiceTitan, Jobber and Housecall Pro fit most trades shops — until dispatch, pricing or invoicing stops matching the template. When a custom field-service app you own outright beats renting one forever, and what building one costs in Baltimore.
Goda · Jul 14 · 10 min
BaltimoreCustom software development in Baltimore: a small-business guide
Hopkins spinouts, a federal tech-hub badge and a whole row of agencies — but what does getting custom software built here actually cost in 2026, and how do you choose who builds it? A straight local guide.
Goda · Jul 13 · 9 min
TimelinesHow long does it take to build a custom app?
The industry says three to nine months. Here's what really sets the clock on a custom build in 2026 — the decisions, the integrations and the feedback loop — and why AI-accelerated builds ship in days to weeks.
Jacob · Jul 8 · 7 min
Case studyWe built a full e-commerce store in a weekend. Here's the exact playbook.
Storefront, Stripe checkout, product variants, bundles and an admin panel — Friday to Sunday. What we automated, what we didn't, and the decisions that made it possible without cutting corners.
Jacob · Mar 12 · 8 min
GuideCustom build vs SaaS vs no-code: what should a small business actually pick?
A straight decision framework — when off-the-shelf wins, when it quietly bleeds you, and when a custom build pays for itself.
Goda · Mar 5 · 6 min
PricingWhat a custom app really costs — and why agencies quote 5×.
Where the money goes in a build, what inflates an agency quote, and how a fixed price keeps everyone honest.
Jacob · Feb 26 · 5 min
EngineeringCodex + Claude: the exact AI build stack we run.
The tools, the prompts, the guardrails — how we keep AI-written code production-grade instead of a pile of plausible bugs.
Jacob · Feb 19 · 7 min
OperationsKill the spreadsheet: internal tools teams actually adopt.
Why most internal tools get ignored, and the handful of things that make a team switch off the spreadsheet for good.
Goda · Feb 12 · 6 min
ProcessFrom idea to a deployed prototype in seven days.
How the Prototype Sprint works, day by day — and why a clickable, deployed prototype beats any slide deck.
Jacob · Feb 5 · 4 min
StudioWhy we fixed-price everything and never bill hourly.
Hourly billing rewards slowness. Here's how fixed price changes the incentives — for us and for you.
Goda · Jan 29 · 5 min