Every question, plain answers.
The ops audit, published pricing, where your data lives, and how we build and look after your software - all in one place. If you don't see your question, ask it during your ops audit.
Getting started
The basics - what Forge is, who it's for, and how working with us starts.
What is Forge?
We build custom software for people businesses, to make their people more powerful. We find the hours your team loses to manual work, decide what to build, build and test it, roll it out - training your team and managing the change so people actually use it - then keep improving it on a monthly plan. Nothing technical on your side.
What is a "people business"?
People businesses - agencies, accountants, lawyers, consultants, recruiters. Firms that sell what their people know and the time they have, rather than a product. If your best asset walks out the door at six, you're a people business.
Do we need anyone technical?
No. You need an owner or ops lead who can answer questions about how the firm works. We do all the building, and we keep looking after it.
How does it start?
With a two-week ops audit. We interview your team, map the apps you use and count the hours lost to manual work. You get a roadmap with your first three builds scoped and priced. Then we build and test the first one, roll it out to your team, and keep improving it.
What kind of tools do you build?
Client onboarding, document chasing, client portals and status pages, reporting, syncs between the apps you already use, and AI helpers that draft for your people to check. If it's repetitive work someone on your team does every week, it's probably a candidate.
Will this reduce our headcount?
That's not what we're for. We build tools so the people you have can spend their hours on the work only they can do. Most clients use the hours to take on more clients, not fewer people.
Pricing & plans
Two steps, all published: an ops audit, then a monthly run plan that includes your first build.
How much does the ops audit cost?
$2,500 / £2,000 for two weeks. Your apps mapped, the hours quantified, your first three builds scoped and priced. The fee is credited to your first month if you go ahead.
How much does a build cost?
Your first build is included in the monthly plan - your first tool or integration, built and tested in 2-6 weeks, then rolled out with training for your team. There's no separate build fee, and you sign off before it counts.
What are the run plans?
Every plan includes your first build. Starter is $2,000 / £1,600 a month: built for one team and one painful workflow, then one build at a time, with small changes turned round in 5 working days and a monthly hours-back report. Growth is $3,500 / £2,800 a month: for firms of 10-30 people, two builds running at once, small changes in 2 working days, a weekly check-in with a named lead and a live hours-saved dashboard. Embedded is $7,500 / £6,000 a month: a continuous backlog in two-week sprints, same or next-day turnaround on small changes, we sit in your Slack and task tool, with weekly planning and a quarterly roadmap. Training your team, managing the rollout, and monitoring and fixing everything we build are included on every plan.
Is there a minimum term?
Run plans have a 3-month minimum. After that you can move up, move down or stop.
Are there any other costs?
AI usage is billed at cost, with no markup. The software runs on your own accounts, so you own it - and you pay those tool costs directly. We'll tell you what they'll be before we build.
Security & data
How we treat your data and your clients' data.
Where does the software live?
On your own accounts, so you own it. We set it up there, your team gets a secure link (or your own domain), and we keep looking after it.
Where does our data go?
Your data stays in your systems. Access follows your team's roles, and we agree a plain-language data policy with you before we start.
What about AI and client confidentiality?
We write a plain-language AI usage policy with you covering what never goes into AI tools, and we use providers and settings that don't train on your data. Where AI drafts something, one of your people checks it before it leaves the firm.
Do we own what you build?
Yes. It runs on your own accounts and the data is yours. If you ever want someone else to take it on, you can.
How we build
How tools get built, how custom they can be, and what happens when your firm changes.
How long does a build take?
A single automation in 1-2 weeks; a portal or dashboard in 2-6 weeks; a larger tool in 4-10 weeks. The two-week audit comes first.
How custom can it be?
Fully. Every tool is shaped around your clients, your process, your words and the apps your team already uses. We start from a library built for people businesses, then shape it to you.
Will it work with the apps we already use?
Yes - that's the point. We build around what you have: your practice tool, CRM, accounting software, email, Slack and the rest. Your team keeps working where it works today.
Do you help our team actually use it?
Yes - rolling it out is part of the job. We train the people who'll use it, manage the change from the old way of working, and check in after launch so it doesn't quietly get ignored.
Can each client see only their own work?
Yes. Client portals and status pages show each client a branded view of only their own work, never another client's.
After the build
What the run plan looks like once your first tools are in your people's hands.
Who looks after the software once it's built?
We do, on a run plan. We monitor it, fix it when an app you depend on changes, and keep improving it as your firm changes.
Can we see whether people are using it?
Yes. We set up usage tracking for you, so you can see who's actually using what we built and where the hours are coming back.
What if we need changes later?
That's what the run plan is. Tell us in plain language, we build it, you approve it.
What if something breaks?
We're watching it, so we usually spot a problem before your team does - for example when a connected app changes. Fixing it is our job.
Forge vs other options
How building with us compares with a dev shop, a no-code tool or doing it yourself.
How is Forge different from a dev shop?
A dev shop ships the software and leaves. We decide what to build with you, build and test it, train your team and manage the rollout, and we don't walk away after - it lives in your own accounts and we keep looking after it, so it keeps fitting how your firm works.
How is Forge different from a no-code tool?
No-code tools hand you a canvas and make your ops lead the builder. We do the building and the looking after, so nobody on your team becomes the part-time admin.
Why not just use Zapier ourselves?
You can - and for a few simple zaps, you should. We make sense when the work matters to clients and you don't want someone on your team designing, debugging and fixing it at 1am.
Got the answers? Start with the audit.
Two weeks, $2,500 / £2,000, credited to your first month. We’ll show you where your team’s hours are going and what we’d build first.