the-nexus/operation-get-a-job/rate-card.md

# Rate Card — Whitestone Engineering LLC

*Effective April 2026 | All prices USD*

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## 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.*

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## 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 |

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## 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

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## 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)

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## 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.*

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## How to Engage

1. **Book a call:** [SCHEDULING LINK]
2. **Email:** [EMAIL ADDRESS]
3. **Message:** Available on Telegram, Discord, or LinkedIn

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*Whitestone Engineering LLC — Human-Led, Fleet-Powered*
*Rates subject to change. This rate card supersedes all previous versions.*
*Last updated: April 2026*