4 build slots open this month

Custom software,
built in a week.
Pay only if you keep it.

Show me a process that hurts. I'll propose a fix, build it, and demo it running. You only pay if you want to keep using it. No retainers. No 6-week discoveries. No agency overhead.

Book a free 30-min audit See how it works
01 — Process

How it actually works.

Three steps. Two of them are free. The whole thing is over in a week. You decide at the end whether you want to keep what I built.

01Day 0 · Free

Audit

A 30-minute call. You walk me through the process that's eating your time. I take notes, ask questions, and decide whether I can actually help. No pitch deck.

02Days 1–7 · Build

Build

Within 24 hours I send a fixed-price proposal and scope. You approve, I build. You see progress as it happens. The tool lives in my environment until you accept it.

03Day 7+ · Decide

Decide

I demo it running on your real data. If you want to keep it, you pay the quoted price and I hand it over. If not, you walk. No charge. No hard feelings.

02 — Proof

Things I've built for fun.

Side projects. Built in a weekend, an evening, or a slow Tuesday — because I wished the tool existed and couldn't find it. Imagine what I could build for you on purpose.

Winnow — conversation analysis app interface
Personal product · iOS app Ongoing

Winnow

Records or uploads any conversation and returns an emotional intelligence report — tone, dynamics, the patterns beneath the surface. Built solo from design to ship: mobile app, backend, audio pipeline, AI analysis. iOS launching soon.

iOS app AI / LLM Audio Full stack
Unsent Letters — writing ritual interface
Personal tool · writing ritual One weekend

Unsent Letters

$750 as a build

A writing ritual for the words you'll never send. Backspace is disabled — you can only cross things out. Release it to the abyss when you're ready. Nothing is saved.

Web tool Interaction Privacy-first
The Anti-Gift Guide — quiz interface
Side project · seasonal One weekend

The Anti-Gift Guide

$2,000 as a build

Save your money. Disappoint your family. Every other gift guide tells you what to buy — this one tells you exactly what your friends actually hate getting.

Web tool AI / LLM Satire
Alberta Ski Pricing — resort comparison view
Personal tool · comparison 2 evenings

Alberta Ski Pricing

$750 as a build

Every Alberta and Rocky Mountain ski resort in one place — 18 hills, with lift tickets, rentals, and half-day pricing side by side. Built because comparing across seven browser tabs was killing every Friday night.

Web tool Pricing data Comparison
03 — Pricing

Three sizes. One promise.

Fixed prices. Fixed timelines. No retainers, no hourly billing, no surprise invoices. And the only promise that matters: you don't pay unless you keep what I built.

Free until you accept the demo. Always.

Quick Fix

From $500

1–3 days · one focused tool

  • Automate a recurring task (weekly report, etc.)
  • Scrape competitor prices on a schedule
  • Clean up messy spreadsheets into usable data
  • Get notified when something specific happens
Start with a Quick Fix →

Tool

From $2,000

3–5 days · internal app or dashboard

  • Internal admin dashboard for your team
  • Custom booking or intake system
  • Inventory or job tracker built around your workflow
  • Custom forms that flow into your existing tools
Build me a Tool →

App

From $5,000

5–7 days · customer-facing web app

  • Customer portal with logins and accounts
  • Multi-page web app with payments built in
  • Subscription product (Stripe integrated)
  • Lead-gen sites with custom backend logic
Build me an App →
Keep it alive: $75 / month

Optional. Covers hosting, small tweaks, and a 24-hour response window if anything breaks. Cancel any time — it's your tool.

04 — Fit

Is this actually for you?

Makeshift works best at a specific size. Here's an honest read on whether we're a good match before you book the audit call.

Yes, probably.

You're someone who…

  • Runs a small or local business and still does ops work yourself
  • Has a manual process that wastes hours every week
  • Has been quoted $20K+ by an agency for something that should be simple
  • Doesn't want yet another SaaS subscription you'll forget to cancel
  • Can make a decision in one conversation without a committee

Probably not.

This isn't the right fit if you…

  • Work at an enterprise where procurement takes 6 months
  • Want me to build your entire venture-scale SaaS startup
  • Need a native iOS or Android app on the App Store
  • Want weekly status meetings instead of a working tool
  • Aren't sure what the problem actually is yet
05 — About

Who's behind it.

Makeshift is one person. That's the point. No project managers, no account execs, no sales engineers — just the person who designs the thing also builds the thing.

I've spent a decade designing and shipping software at startups and scale-ups. Somewhere along the way I figured out I'm faster at building the thing than describing it.

On nights and weekends I make tools — for myself, for friends, for random ideas I can't stop thinking about. Makeshift is what happens when I point that same energy at someone else's problem.

By day I'm a Senior Product Designer at a Canadian energy app. By night, I ship the things I wish existed. If you've got a process that's bleeding time, let's see if I can build the bandage.

The audit is free.
The build is fast.
The risk is mine.

Thirty minutes, a clear proposal within 24 hours, and a working tool by next week. The only way to lose is to never book the call.

Book a free 30-min audit

Or email hello@trymakeshift.com