Rate Card — Whitestone Engineering LLC
Effective April 2026 | All prices USD
Hourly Rates
| Service Category |
Rate Range |
Typical Engagement |
| Agent Infrastructure |
$400 — $600/hr |
Custom agent deployment, fleet orchestration, framework development |
| Security & Hardening |
$250 — $400/hr |
Security audits, jailbreak resistance, conscience systems, compliance |
| Automation & Research |
$150 — $250/hr |
CI/CD pipelines, automation, research synthesis, tooling |
| Advisory / Consulting |
$300 — $500/hr |
Architecture review, technical strategy, due diligence |
| Emergency / Incident Response |
$500 — $800/hr |
Production issues, security incidents, urgent fixes (4-hr minimum) |
Rate Factors
- Rates at the lower end of range for: retainer clients, longer engagements (40+ hours), pre-paid blocks
- Rates at the higher end of range for: rush work (<1 week deadline), complex/novel problems, regulated industries
- All hours billed in 15-minute increments, minimum 1 hour per engagement
Project Pricing
Agent Infrastructure Projects
| Project Type |
Price Range |
Timeline |
| Single agent deployment (basic) |
$5,000 — $8,000 |
1-2 weeks |
| Single agent with custom skills |
$8,000 — $12,000 |
2-3 weeks |
| Multi-agent fleet (2-3 agents) |
$15,000 — $25,000 |
3-5 weeks |
| Full fleet with local inference |
$25,000 — $45,000 |
6-8 weeks |
| MCP server development |
$5,000 — $15,000 |
1-3 weeks |
| Multi-platform gateway |
$8,000 — $12,000 |
2-3 weeks |
| Agent framework customization |
$10,000 — $20,000 |
3-5 weeks |
Security & Hardening Projects
| Project Type |
Price Range |
Timeline |
| Agent security audit (single agent) |
$5,000 — $8,000 |
1-2 weeks |
| Fleet security audit (multi-agent) |
$8,000 — $15,000 |
2-3 weeks |
| Jailbreak resistance implementation |
$5,000 — $10,000 |
1-2 weeks |
| Conscience validation system |
$8,000 — $15,000 |
2-4 weeks |
| Red team exercise (AI systems) |
$10,000 — $20,000 |
2-4 weeks |
| Compliance readiness (SOC 2 prep) |
$15,000 — $25,000 |
4-8 weeks |
Automation & Research Projects
| Project Type |
Price Range |
Timeline |
| CI/CD pipeline setup |
$3,000 — $6,000 |
1 week |
| Webhook automation system |
$3,000 — $5,000 |
1 week |
| Technical due diligence report |
$5,000 — $10,000 |
1-2 weeks |
| Research synthesis & report |
$3,000 — $8,000 |
1-2 weeks |
| Infrastructure automation |
$5,000 — $10,000 |
1-3 weeks |
| Custom tooling development |
$5,000 — $12,000 |
1-3 weeks |
| Proof of concept / prototype |
$5,000 — $10,000 |
1-2 weeks |
Package Deals
Starter — $5,000
| Included |
Details |
| Agents |
1 Hermes agent instance |
| Automation |
Basic cron-scheduled workflow |
| Platform |
1 integration (Telegram, Discord, or Slack) |
| Monitoring |
Basic health checks and alerting |
| Documentation |
Setup guide and runbook |
| Support |
14 days post-deployment |
| Timeline |
1-2 weeks |
Professional — $15,000
| Included |
Details |
| Agents |
Up to 3 Hermes agent instances |
| Orchestration |
Fleet coordination and task routing |
| Platforms |
2+ platform integrations |
| Memory |
Persistent memory and skills system |
| Monitoring |
Dashboard with health checks |
| Automation |
Webhook-driven pipelines |
| Documentation |
Comprehensive docs and runbooks |
| Support |
30 days post-deployment |
| Timeline |
3-4 weeks |
Enterprise — $40,000+
| Included |
Details |
| Agents |
5+ Hermes agent instances |
| Inference |
Local LLM stack (Ollama + models) |
| Forge |
Self-hosted Gitea with CI/CD |
| Security |
Full hardening + conscience validation |
| Comms |
Sovereign communication layer (Nostr) |
| Skills |
Custom agent skills development |
| Operations |
Burn-mode autonomous cycles |
| Testing |
Full test suite (comprehensive coverage) |
| Support |
Dedicated channel + 90-day support |
| SLA |
Priority response guarantee |
| Timeline |
6-8 weeks |
Enterprise pricing scales based on scope. Starting at $40k, typical range $40-80k.
Retainer Agreements
| Tier |
Monthly Rate |
Included Hours |
Overage Rate |
Commitment |
| Advisory |
$3,000/mo |
10 hrs |
$350/hr |
3 months |
| Standard |
$5,000/mo |
20 hrs |
$300/hr |
3 months |
| Priority |
$10,000/mo |
40 hrs |
$275/hr |
6 months |
| Dedicated |
$15,000/mo |
80 hrs |
$250/hr |
6 months |
Retainer Benefits
- Lower effective hourly rate than one-off engagements
- Priority scheduling (start within 48 hours vs. standard 1-2 week queue)
- Unused hours roll over for one month
- Direct Slack/Discord channel with the team
- Monthly strategic review call
- Dedicated retainers include guaranteed availability
Pre-Paid Hour Blocks
| Block Size |
Rate |
Total |
Savings |
| 10 hours |
$300/hr |
$3,000 |
10-15% off standard |
| 25 hours |
$275/hr |
$6,875 |
15-20% off standard |
| 50 hours |
$250/hr |
$12,500 |
20-25% off standard |
| 100 hours |
$225/hr |
$22,500 |
25-30% off standard |
Pre-paid blocks are valid for 6 months from purchase. Non-refundable but transferable to other projects.
Discovery & Scoping
| Item |
Price |
| Initial consultation (30 min) |
Free |
| Discovery session (2 hours) |
Free (credited toward signed project) |
| Paid discovery / audit (1-2 days) |
$2,000 — $4,000 |
| Architecture review |
$3,000 — $5,000 |
We always offer a free 30-minute consultation. For complex projects, we recommend a paid discovery phase to ensure accurate scoping.
Payment Terms
| Term |
Details |
| New clients |
50% deposit upfront, balance on completion |
| Established clients |
Net-15 from invoice date |
| Retainers |
Due on the 1st of each month |
| Pre-paid blocks |
Due upon purchase |
| Payment methods |
ACH transfer (preferred), wire transfer, credit card (+3%) |
| Late payments |
1.5% monthly interest after 30 days |
| Currency |
USD only |
What's Always Included
Regardless of engagement type, every project includes:
- Source code delivered to your repository
- Documentation (technical docs + runbooks)
- Post-delivery support period (varies by tier)
- Human review of all deliverables before handoff
- Knowledge transfer / walkthrough session
What's Not Included (Unless Scoped)
- Third-party API costs (OpenAI, Anthropic, cloud hosting)
- Hardware procurement
- Ongoing hosting and maintenance (available as retainer add-on)
- Training for client team beyond initial knowledge transfer
- Legal or compliance advice (we build the tech, not the policy)
Minimum Engagement
- Minimum project size: $3,000
- Minimum hourly engagement: 4 hours
- Minimum retainer: $3,000/month
We focus on meaningful engagements where we can deliver real impact. For smaller needs, we're happy to recommend other resources.
How to Engage
- Book a call: [SCHEDULING LINK]
- Email: [EMAIL ADDRESS]
- Message: Available on Telegram, Discord, or LinkedIn
Whitestone Engineering LLC — Human-Led, Fleet-Powered
Rates subject to change. This rate card supersedes all previous versions.
Last updated: April 2026
