The build has no hourly meter and no Synapse Forge per-seat fees. The free Systems Audit measures the capacity your firm loses to manual work, values it at your own rates against your own records, and that measurement sets the price the audit recommends. The price places you in one of three scope bands; you choose the band you build; the blueprint fixes price and scope in writing before work begins. The build is a one-time fee. Synapse Forge’s ongoing care plan is optional. Existing software subscriptions and any cloud or usage charges are separate; the blueprint lists the costs that apply to your build. Builds carry a published $12,000 minimum engagement.
Complexity sets the timeline; the measurement sets the price. Labor is billable. Judgment is not.
method: the audit measures the hours your firm loses each week to work a built system would do, at your own rates · the larger the figure, the larger the band · fixed price, in writing, before work begins · no hourly meter on the build · no Synapse Forge per-seat fees · bands are defined scope, not packages
Your operating system, engineered on the stack you already pay for, or on open-source tooling and infrastructure you control. Scoped to the measurement: the audit recommends the band, you choose the build, and the blueprint lists exactly what is in, fixed in writing before we start.
Paid in three milestones: roughly 30% at signing, roughly 23% at the mid-build demonstration, and the balance at written acceptance. The final payment is due only when the system passes the criteria we agreed to. Operational activation requires the written agreement and client permissions. Builds carry a $12,000 minimum engagement.
After acceptance: we monitor and refine the system. Approved corrections update workflows and the knowledge base, not train a model. This plan covers monitoring, tuning, corrections, and refreshes within agreed hours. Work directly with the founder. Send care requests anytime. Routine requests receive a response within one business day. Business hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Eastern Time (America/New_York), excluding U.S. federal holidays. System-blocking incidents take priority, with best-effort assistance outside business hours. A response acknowledges the issue and establishes the next step; it is not a resolution deadline. Resolution depends on the issue and any upstream provider. This is not a 24/7 staffing guarantee. Included care hours and prior written approval for additional work still apply. It does not add new capabilities; that is a module at published prices.
Priced against the one benchmark that matters: a fraction of a junior hire's monthly cost, for capacity that covers the whole firm. Care follows the number of systems in your blueprint, not a package you pick. Hours are capped and the overage rate is published, so there is never a surprise bill.
Month-to-month, cancellable with 14 days’ notice. Synapse Forge does not switch off the delivered system when care ends. You retain it; operation still depends on applicable licenses, providers, usage payments, and an assigned operator. Cancellation does not cancel vendor bills.
The audit recommends a band; you choose the band you build. The blueprint lists exactly what is in, and the price is fixed in writing before you sign. Each band is a defined scope: systems, document types, integrations, jurisdictions, and reviewers, so a larger band is always a larger build, and the build sets which modules you can add later. Two firms that choose the same band get the same build. Every band includes the scoped configurations, workflows, prompts, operating docs/runbook, and access-control ownership at handover.
Up to three systems, three launch document types, two integrations, one jurisdiction, two named reviewers. The systems your audit shows are leaking the most, built deep rather than wide.
Price set by your audit · $12,000 minimumCare at this scope: $750/mo · 3 hrsUp to five systems, five document types, three integrations, two jurisdictions, three named reviewers. The core plus the knowledge layer and follow-through engine, connected front to back.
Price set by your audit · fixed in writingCare at this scope: $1,000/mo · 5 hrsAll six systems, six to ten document types, three to five integrations, three or more jurisdictions, four or more named reviewers. One machine, intake through follow-through, on your stack or on infrastructure you control.
Price set by your audit · fixed in writingCare at this scope: $1,500/mo · 8 hrs| band | includes | what it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Spark | Up to three systems against your sharpest bottleneck, usually intake and document production; three document types, two integrations, one jurisdiction, two named reviewers. | The $12,000 minimum exists because below it, a build usually isn't the right tool yet; the free audit tells you honestly. |
| Forge | Up to five systems: the core plus the knowledge layer and follow-through engine, wired together so work moves between them; five document types, three integrations, two jurisdictions, three named reviewers. | Firms where more than one function is leaking capacity and the leaks compound each other. |
| Foundry | All six systems, one machine: intake, document production, verification, meeting intelligence, knowledge base, follow-through; six to ten document types, three to five integrations, three or more jurisdictions, four or more named reviewers. | Firms where every function is leaking capacity and the machine has to run from intake to follow-through. The blueprint lists exactly what is in, fixed in writing. |
A document type is one approved template with its own data fields and verification rules; a bundle of several instruments counts as several types, and the same template used for different matters counts as one.
Existing AI tools may already save time. Depending on the product and terms, your team may still need to prompt, check, and integrate their output. The audit measures residual manual work after those benefits, not the same recovered hours twice.
A broader transformation engagement can include organization-wide process and technology changes. Scope, fees, and timing depend on the provider; compare written proposals against the work your firm actually needs.
One bespoke build, priced by measurement and fixed in writing, built in four to six weeks from kickoff. Kickoff is the next business day after the agreement is signed, the signing payment has cleared, the checklist is complete, and access is verified. Software, cloud, and usage costs remain separate.
Enter the manual work remaining after your current tools into the estimator, or open a fictional sample audit. Modeled capacity is not cash saved or guaranteed billing. Comparisons exclude operating costs that are not yet known; those costs are not assumed to be zero.
An AI subscription may already save your firm time. The audit starts with the manual work remaining after those benefits. We engineer defined workflows with grounded drafts, source checks, deterministic rules, visible uncertainty, and human review. Errors remain possible. The build is priced once and owned by the firm; optional care and applicable software, cloud, or usage charges are separate.
By measurement, not by menu. The free Systems Audit maps how many hours your firm loses each week to work a built system would do and values them at your own rates, checked against your own records: the roster, matter counts, the calendar. That annual figure sets the price the audit recommends, and the price places you in one of three scope bands. You choose the band you build; the blueprint states the price and the scope before you sign, and it is fixed there. The bands describe how much of the machine you get: up to three systems, up to five, or all six, with document types, integrations, jurisdictions, and reviewers scaling with the band. The audit scopes the price, the price scopes the build, and the build scopes the modules. Two firms that choose the same band get the same build.
The audit prices only what it can check. Headcount comes from your own roster. Counts of documents, intakes, and meetings come from your own systems where you can show them; where you cannot, the audit prices a firm your size at what it plausibly produces rather than at a figure nobody has verified. Rates come from your own payroll or fee schedule, or from a published benchmark band. Every input is labelled in the audit report as verified, stated by you, or our estimate, so you can see exactly what the number rests on. Once signed, the price is fixed. Nothing is re-measured or re-priced after signing.
Yes, at published prices, and never by re-running your capacity number. An additional document type is $1,250, delivered in up to two of your jurisdictions, with each further jurisdiction for that type $500; an additional integration $2,000; a jurisdiction pack $1,500, covering every document type in your build; and an additional system $4,500. Each carries its own acceptance criteria and is paid 30% on order, 70% on acceptance, except the $500 line, which is paid on acceptance of its document type. Scope your band includes but you do not build converts to add-on credit for twelve months after acceptance. Choosing a larger band at build time costs less than adding the same scope as modules later. The full catalog is on Modules.
Against the junior hire it augments, not against the build. Our illustrative loaded junior-hire estimate is $5,000 to $6,000/month; the audit uses your figure. Monthly care is $750/3 hours, $1,000/5 hours, or $1,500/8 hours, with $250/hr overage approved in writing first. The illustrative three-year comparison is around $56,000 for a Forge build plus care versus $180,000 or more for one hire. It excludes unknown software, cloud, and usage costs; it is not measured outperformance or a staff-replacement claim. Care is upkeep of a machine you own, not a share of the build price.
You own the scoped configurations, workflows, prompts, and operating docs/runbook delivered in every band, with access-control ownership handed over. Third-party tools remain subject to their licenses. Synapse Forge does not switch off the delivered system when care ends; continued operation still requires the applicable providers, licenses, usage payments, and an assigned operator. Ending care does not cancel vendor bills.
More answers on How It Works, or the homepage FAQ.
A focused 30-minute conversation. Same-day written findings. Your report arrives the same business day once the call and any agreed outstanding inputs are complete. No obligation to build. Send your contact details and a brief workflow description to arrange the call. You receive a written systems recommendation and, if a build fits, a recommended band and price. Timing uses Eastern Time and business days, Monday-Friday excluding U.S. federal holidays. If both requirements are completed on a non-business day, delivery is the next business day. The initial reply is not the completed audit. Do not include client records or credentials; an NDA is available before confidential discussion.