Why I Charge Less Than Agencies
(and why you still get better service)

I’m regularly asked: “How can you charge only $100 an hour for small businesses and non-profits when agencies quote $180–$250+?”

The short answer: I removed everything that makes agencies expensive — and kept everything that makes projects fast and reliable.

1. My actual rate structure (2025)

• First 10 hours of any project — normal commercial rate $150
• Every hour after that for small businesses & registered non-profits — flat $100/hr
• Billed in 15-minute increments (not full-hour blocks like most agencies)

That means if you email me “Can you move the contact form up a bit?” and I fix it in 8 minutes — you pay $25. Not $200.

2. No agency overhead = no agency prices

When an agency quotes $200/hr, roughly this is what you’re paying for:

• Account manager who forwards your email
• Project manager who schedules meetings about meetings
• Designer → developer → QA → revisions loop
• Office in the Melbourne CBD
• Profit margin on subcontractors

I have exactly none of that. You email me → I read it → I fix it. That’s it.

3. Speed you can feel

Because there’s no coordination overhead, smaller projects routinely finish in 3–7 days instead of 6–12 weeks.

4. I deliberately stay small and selective

My entire business model depends on being able to respond quickly and fix urgent issues the same day — often outside normal hours if needed.

That only works if I never over-commit. If I’m at capacity, I’ll tell you upfront and give you an exact start date (usually within 2–3 weeks). No fake timelines, no ghosting.

5. Security, performance and promises come first

If a security patch drops at 7pm and your site needs it, I apply it at 7pm. That’s included — no “emergency rates”.

I never charge you for bug fixes that are part of the natural development process. It is normal to discover that something is glitching in a new site, I fix these issues for free. If a bug appears on a mature site, and it is related to the never ending changes in the world of tech I will fix it for free if I can do it in under 5 minutes. You might be surprised how often this is the case. For large issues that need more time and consideration I will bill you in 15 minute increments as usual. If an issue is discovered that will take more than an hour to fix I will also give you a quote and get your express permission to proceed first.

Performance is non-negotiable. Every site leaves with 95–100 PageSpeed scores because I write the code myself and refuse to ship bloat.

6. Communication: email preferred, honesty required

Email keeps me in flow state and lets me action your request instantly. Phone calls interrupt deep work, so I gently steer everything to email (unless it’s truly urgent).

In return I promise total transparency — timelines, costs, trade-offs, everything. All I ask is the same honesty from you.

— Rolf
LampDatabase | Victoria, Australia
Still writing every line of code myself after 30 years