Alternatives · Individual freelancers
An alternative to freelance developers for a large project.
A good freelance developer is strong at one thing at a time. A large project is many things at once: architecture, several subsystems, tests, documentation, and continuity when someone is unavailable. Ship in Hours delivers the whole confirmed scope at a fixed price, with the architecture designed in-house by AIPOS OÜ and agreed with you in writing and every change tested and reviewed before it reaches you.
Two ways to buy
One freelancer is a resource. A project needs a system.
Freelancers are found on marketplaces, through networks and by referral. The model is the same everywhere: one person, one rate, one calendar.
Individuals with a rate and a calendar
Freelance developers work on a daily or hourly rate, or on a per-project estimate they write themselves. Capacity is limited to one person's hours; availability depends on their other clients; quality control, architecture and integration with other contributors are the client's responsibility unless the freelancer takes them on.
- One person's skills and hours per freelancer
- Daily or hourly rate, or a self-written estimate
- Availability shared with other clients
- Client coordinates several freelancers and owns the result
A defined scope at a fixed price, delivered as tested code packages
AIPOS OÜ sells a result, not people or hours. The architecture and specification are designed in-house by AIPOS OÜ and agreed with you in writing; a multi-agent system then builds, tests and documents production code around the clock. Twenty-four hours of its work equals four to eight weeks of a small software company, measured on AIPOS OÜ's own production systems.
- A written scope description before any money changes hands
- A trial build: a real piece of your plan, delivered within 72 hours of written confirmation, for a fixed 9,900 euros
- The full scope at one fixed price, quoted in writing after the trial; the trial price deducted in full
- Architecture and specification by AIPOS OÜ, agreed with you before any code is written; the multi-agent system builds, tests and documents 24/7
- Every change tested and reviewed by an independent review agent before you see it; delivered as a tested package at every milestone
- Full intellectual property to you; remote only; all communication in writing
24/7 from sign-off
Your project starts. It never stops.
Whichever route you compare it with, the delivery model is the same: from the moment your scope is signed off, an autonomous development system works on it 24/7 — no nights off, no weekends, no handovers. Months of team output, delivered in days.
Starts within hours
Work begins within hours of your written scope sign-off. No recruiting, no onboarding, no waiting for a sprint to open.
Runs around the clock
Autonomous and continuous until delivery: no nights off, no weekends, no handovers, no pauses.
Progress you can see daily
Every change is tested and committed in AIPOS OÜ's own secure development environment. You receive a written progress report every day, and tested code of your product is delivered at agreed milestones — in full after final payment.
Architecture agreed first
The architecture and specification are designed in-house by AIPOS OÜ and agreed with you in writing before any code is written.
Choose this if you need serious development capacity fast, without hiring a team.
Side by side
Freelance developers versus a fixed-price build.
The comparison is structural on purpose: it describes how each model works, not how good any individual provider is. Prices and durations on the other side vary by provider and market, so they are stated only where published.
| Dimension | Freelance developers | Ordering from Ship in Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | One person's hours; more freelancers mean more coordination. | 24/7 build cycles; twenty-four hours equals four to eight weeks of a small software company, measured on AIPOS OÜ's own production systems. |
| Price | Rate times time, or an estimate that may be revised. | One fixed price per confirmed scope, known before work starts. |
| Continuity | Illness, holidays and other clients interrupt the work. | Automatic continuation and a self-healing watchdog; no single person on the critical path. |
| Architecture | The freelancer's, or yours. | Designed in-house by AIPOS OÜ and agreed with you in writing before any code is built. |
| Quality control | Self-review, unless you add a reviewer. | Test suite plus an independent review agent before every merge; every outgoing change scanned. |
| Documentation | Often the first thing dropped under time pressure. | Part of every delivery. |
| Security of your codebase | The freelancer's own machine and habits. | Separate disposable environment in AIPOS OÜ's infrastructure, isolated containers, locked-down network; no connection to your systems. |
| Management | You brief, follow up and integrate. | All communication in writing; you confirm the scope, read the daily report and accept against the criteria. |
| Intellectual property | Depends on the freelancer agreement; must be assigned explicitly. | Full IP in the deliverables transferred to you. |
Where each route fits
When each option is the better choice.
Most large organisations end up using both. The question is which parts of the plan go where.
You need one specialist for a bounded task
- A narrow, well-understood task for one skilled person
- Ongoing maintenance a few hours a week
- Mentoring or pairing with your own team
- Work that needs calls and a personal relationship
You need a whole system delivered on a date
- Several subsystems that must fit together
- A fixed budget and a deadline
- No capacity to brief and coordinate several individuals
- A requirement for tests, documentation and IP assignment as standard
The process
What switching to a fixed-price build looks like.
There is nothing to onboard and nobody to interview. The sequence is identical for every project and every country.
Describe the project
Send the project description, technology, approximate scope and deadline through the form. You receive a written scope description for a trial build.
Trial build, 72 hours
After your written confirmation, a real piece of your plan is delivered within 72 hours as tested, documented code with full IP. Fixed price 9,900 euros.
Fixed quote for the full scope
You judge the result on the preview link and in the delivered package. If you continue, you receive one fixed price for the whole scope; the trial price is deducted in full.
Continuous delivery
The system builds, tests, reviews and documents in 24/7 cycles until the scope is complete. Scope changes are agreed in writing before they are built.
Trust & delivery standards
Your systems stay untouched. Your product arrives tested.
All development happens in AIPOS OÜ's own secure environment. We never connect to your code hosting, servers, cloud accounts or development environment, so no outside party enters your systems and your supplier and security risk stays small. You receive tested code as a clean package, not half-finished changes in your main branch, and you follow progress every day without watching any technical tools.
How the code is built and handed over
- Tests and independent review. Every change passes the automated test suite and an independent review agent before it is merged.
- Documentation, tests, history. You receive the documentation, the tests and the complete git history of your product's code.
- No dependency on our tools. Code and intellectual property transfer to you without any dependency on AIPOS OÜ's tooling: the product builds, tests and runs from the delivered package with publicly available tools.
- 30 days of free fixes. Defects found within 30 days of hand-over are fixed free of charge, within the written scope description.
How you verify the work without seeing our environment
- Specification first. A written specification with measurable acceptance criteria, prepared by AIPOS OÜ and confirmed by you before development starts.
- A written report every day. By e-mail: what was done, which tests passed, where the work stands against the criteria, the next step, and whether anything needs your answer.
- Preview at every milestone. A password-protected preview link where you try your product working, at every milestone.
- Code you can audit. At every milestone, a test report and the product's code at that point as a file package: run it yourself or have an independent developer audit it. The complete code follows final payment.
- Written acceptance. You accept in writing against the agreed criteria. 50% is paid on scope confirmation and 50% only after acceptance; then 30 days of free defect fixing within the written scope. All communication is by e-mail.
Company details, security, warranty, payment and VAT terms in one place: Trust & delivery standards. The binding wording is in the terms of service.
Prices
Two steps, both at a fixed price.
You see the price before any work starts. There is no hourly billing and no staff rental. The trial build is a real piece of your plan, and its price comes off the main project in full.
A real part of your development plan, delivered within 72 hours of your written scope confirmation as a preview link, a test report and a code package. Full intellectual property to you. 50% on sign-off, 50% after written acceptance; 30 days of free defect fixing. Deducted in full from the main project.
The first three clients receive the trial build for 4,900 euros in exchange for a public reference once the work is delivered.
The whole scope at one fixed price, delivered in days and weeks. Every change is tested and committed. Every project is built on a software architecture and technical specification designed in-house by AIPOS OÜ — reviewed and agreed with you in writing before development begins.
Questions
Questions from founders and leads who rely on freelancers.
Are you a team of freelancers?
No. AIPOS OÜ is a company. The architecture and specification are designed in-house by AIPOS OÜ and agreed with you in writing; a multi-agent system then builds, tests and documents production code around the clock; an independent review agent checks every change before merge. You deal with one party and receive tested code packages.
Can you work with the freelancer who built our first version?
Yes. Each delivery is a tested package with documentation and git history that anyone can review and integrate. Scopes and interfaces are separated in writing so the freelancer's work and ours do not collide.
How is the fixed price formed without an hourly estimate?
From the confirmed written scope and the trial build. The trial shows both sides what the specification means in practice; the full scope is then quoted as one fixed price, with the trial price deducted in full.
What happens if the project pauses?
Nothing is billed by time, so a pause costs nothing. Work resumes against the same confirmed scope and price.
Do we get the source code and the rights?
Yes. Full intellectual property in the deliverables transfers to you on full payment, and the code, tests and documentation are delivered to you as a package with the complete git history. The platform and methodology remain with AIPOS OÜ.
Why is no marketplace named on this page?
Freelancers are found in many places and the model is the same everywhere. Our page on Upwork covers the marketplace route specifically.
Read before you decide
Guides for this decision
How to build an MVP in days
Scope to one outcome, decide what must survive traction, pick the build route, and avoid the rebuild that most fast MVPs force later.
Read the guideWhat to build first when runway is short
Rank candidate features by the question they answer, cut by the cost of being wrong, and sequence builds so each one informs the next.
Read the guideThe real cost of an in-house developer
Acquisition, employment overheads, ramp-up, management, tooling, utilisation and exit: the full cost structure, and how to compare it with a fixed-price result.
Read the guideSend the whole plan, not one task.
Describe the project in the form. You receive a written scope description for a trial build at a fixed price, delivered within 72 hours of confirmation.