The Roundhouse · Monthly upkeep · Cancel any month
Somewhere to
bring it back to.
A locomotive does not go straight from the factory to the scrapyard. It comes back to the roundhouse to get serviced. Once your app is running, this is where it goes: patched, watched, and gently improved by someone who has read the code.
What it is
Upkeep. Not a pager, not a dev team.
The Roundhouse is for the app that exists and works and needs to keep working without you hiring someone. About a day and a half of engineering each month, spent on the things that quietly go wrong when nobody is looking, plus a standing call so small changes get made instead of accumulating.
It is priced so that a founder can carry it while finding out whether the product has a business in it, and so that cancelling is easy. You keep the repo, the infrastructure, the runbook, everything. Nothing about the app depends on the Roundhouse continuing.
Each month
What is in it.
- Security and dependency updates, applied, tested, and deployedRails, Ruby, gems, and the OS under it. Applied within a week of release for security fixes, monthly for the rest.
- Uptime and error monitoring, with a human reading itAlerts go to a person who knows the codebase. You hear about problems from me, not from a customer.
- Small changes and bug fixesCopy, a field, a report, the thing that has annoyed you since launch. Roughly a day of change work per month, banked if unused within the quarter.
- A call every two weeksThirty minutes. What broke, what changed, what is next. Skip it if there is nothing to say.
- Backups verifiedA restore is actually run once a quarter and dated in the runbook, because a backup that has never been restored is a hope.
- The runbook and walkthrough kept currentSo the handoff stays real. If you leave, the next developer gets an accurate document, not one from the day of the run.
Not in it
What is not.
- New features of any real sizeThose get a fixed quote, same as a run. Often they are a run.
- Redesigns and rebrands
- Migrations to a new platform or database
- Being on call at 3amEmergencies get handled during working hours in Austin. If you need a 24/7 pager, say so and I will price it honestly or point you to someone who does that.
- Apps I have not readIf your app did not come out of a run, the Roundhouse starts with a diagnostic so I know what I am maintaining.
Bills monthly on the day you start. Stops the month you cancel. No minimum term.
Roundhouse questions
Before you sign up.
What does it cost after the run?
Nothing, if you want. Take the repo and go. If you want the app kept alive without hiring, the Roundhouse is $1,497 a month and you can cancel any month. Larger builds after a prototype get quoted separately, fixed price, same as everything else.
What is in the Roundhouse each month?
Dependency and security updates applied and deployed. Uptime and error monitoring with a person reading the alerts. Small changes and bug fixes, roughly a day and a half of work in total. A standing call every two weeks. Anything bigger gets a fixed quote, same as a run.
What is not in the Roundhouse?
New features of any size, redesigns, migrations to new platforms, and being on call at 3am. Emergencies get handled, but the Roundhouse is upkeep, not a pager. If you need a pager, say so and we will price it honestly.
Keep it running.
Twenty minutes on a call, free. If your app came out of a run, you can start the Roundhouse the same day. If it did not, I will need to read it first — that is a diagnostic — and then quote the same monthly rate.
Book the 20-minute callbill@atomiclocomotive.com · Austin, Texas · Usually replies same day