# TEL102: Pricing
https://www.telosready.com/skills/TEL102?v=8
Telos delivers purpose-built business software for a monthly subscription. All work is measured in credits. The pricing model is designed to be simple and transparent — the customer always knows what they're paying for.

Telos is a fully managed service, leveraging AI but with real humans acting on every ticket.

## Instructions
## Credit System

Credits are the universal unit of measurement for all work performed by Telos.

- **1 credit** = a standard support request (troubleshooting, bug fix, question, small code change)
- **10 credits** ≈ approximately one day of work by an expert developer
- Development work is quoted in credits via fixed-price tickets
- Once a quote is accepted, the credit cost is fixed — if work takes longer, the cost does not increase

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## Service Modes

Telos operates on two subscription modes — **BAU** (Business as Usual) and **BUILD**. BAU is the ongoing operational mode for live applications, covering support, maintenance, and monitoring. BUILD is the development-focused mode for active build phases, providing a larger credit allocation for scoping and delivering new functionality. Customers can switch between modes with 7 days' notice.

### BAU Mode (Business as Usual)
The ongoing operational subscription for live applications.

**Included monthly:**
- 20 support credits (reset each month, do not carry forward)
- Use of the Telos Platform (blueprint, AI service desk, metrics)
- Management of application resources, services, and infrastructure
- Security scanning, availability and error monitoring
- Design, planning, and testing of development work within a 60-day horizon

**Support credit usage:**
- One credit per support request, allocated when the ticket is raised
- Support requests requiring more than one hour of code changes may be quoted in development credits
- Additional support credits can be purchased as needed

### BUILD Mode
The development-focused subscription for active build phases.

**Included monthly:**
- 100 development credits per month
- Development credits accumulate and carry forward (unlike support credits)
- Credits are consumed as quoted development work is completed

**Development credit usage:**
- Work is scoped and quoted in credits (fixed-price per ticket)
- The Client must accept a quote before work begins
- Unused development credits roll over to subsequent months
- Additional credits may be purchased at any time at the prevailing rate

### Switching Modes
The subscription can be changed between BAU and BUILD mode with 7 days' notice. BUILD mode is typically used during active development phases and may be time-limited, after which the customer transitions to BAU mode.

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## Additional Credits

Beyond the monthly subscription, credits can be purchased ad hoc:
- Additional development credits at the agreed per-credit rate (specified in the contract)
- Additional support credits for larger applications or multiple applications
- Development credits can be applied against fixed-price quotes

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## Hosting and Consumption Charges

### Third-Party Services
Telos manages all third-party subscriptions (cloud hosting, domains, SSL, supporting services) on the customer's behalf.

- A **10% surcharge** is applied to third-party services that Telos procures and pays for on the customer's behalf
- This surcharge does not apply to services the customer pays for directly
- The customer may choose to pay hosting providers directly or have Telos handle it

### Consumption Cap
- Monthly consumption charges for new services are agreed in advance
- If costs would exceed the agreed cap, customer sign-off is required before those costs are incurred
- The Telos Platform provides a transparent statement of all consumption charges

### Hosting
- Hosting is set up autonomously with separate accounts per customer
- Telos does not provide uptime guarantees — those come from the underlying provider (e.g., Azure, AWS)
- The customer should refer to the infrastructure provider's SLA for uptime commitments

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## Payment Terms

- Subscription pricing is listed in USD, NZD, and AUD — see the pricing table below for applicable rates
- Invoices issued at the beginning of each billing period
- Payment due within 7 days by credit card or bank transfer
- Late payment may incur interest at up to 5% over the base lending rate
- The customer pays all taxes except Telos income taxes

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## Cancellation

- Either party may cancel with 30 days' written notice
- Service continues until the end of the current billing period
- No refund for unused support credits
- The subscription mode can be changed with 7 days' notice

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## Cost in Context

The BUILD mode subscription at USD $5,999/month is roughly equivalent to the cost of hiring a single intermediate developer — but covers engineering, infrastructure, security, planning, AI tooling, and ongoing support. This makes it a meaningfully different proposition from a staffing or traditional project model.

A typical project arc looks like this:
- **Months 1–3:** Heavy development — moving fast, building core functionality
- **Months 3–5:** Testing, refinement, and stabilisation
- **Months 5–6+:** Transition — data migration, parallel running, training, cutover

The transition phase is often underestimated. Switching systems takes time not because the software isn't ready, but because data migration, staff training, and parallel operation have their own timelines that are independent of build speed.

## Pace and Decisions

Speed of delivery is directly linked to speed of decision-making. Telos can move fast — but the customer is the bottleneck if they are unavailable or slow to respond. For a typical USD $5,999/month BUILD engagement, Telos allocates one full-time developer and approximately $1,000/month of AI consumption. To go faster, both of those inputs scale — but only if the customer can keep up with the decision-making demand that higher pace creates.

The practical rule: if you want to move faster, expect to spend more time with your App Director, not less.

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## Subscription Pricing

| Plan | USD | NZD | AUD |
|------|-----|-----|-----|
| BAU | $1,999/month | $2,999/month | $2,999/month |
| BUILD | $5,999/month | $8,999/month | $8,999/month |

> Prices exclude GST for NZ and AU customers. NZ and global services are provided by Telos NZ Limited. AU services are provided by Telos AU Pty Ltd.

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## Key Pricing Principles

1. **Fixed-price development** — Once a quote is accepted, the price doesn't change. If it takes longer, that's on Telos.
2. **Credits roll over (BUILD mode)** — Development credits accumulate. The customer doesn't lose what they've paid for.
3. **Transparent consumption** — Third-party costs are passed through with a clear 10% fee. No hidden margins.
4. **Flexibility** — Buy more credits when you need them, switch to a smaller plan when you don't.
5. **No lock-in** — 30 days' notice to cancel. The customer owns everything.

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TEL102

Pricing

Telos delivers purpose-built business software for a monthly subscription. All work is measured in credits. The pricing model is designed to be simple and transparent — the customer always knows what they're paying for. Telos is a fully managed service, leveraging AI but with real humans acting on every ticket.

## Credit System