Agency Estimate

2. Feature Breakdown

Create a table of every major feature with an effort estimate:

Complexity guide:

• Low (8-24 hrs): Standard CRUD screen, simple list/detail, basic form
• Medium (24-60 hrs): Custom UI component, third-party SDK integration, data visualization, complex form with validation
• High (60-120+ hrs): Payment/subscription flow, AI pipeline, real-time sync, custom animation system, complex state machine

3. Team Composition

Based on the audit, recommend a team:

4. Cost Calculation

Read the rate card at references/rates_2025.md for current agency rates.

Calculate three tiers:

• North America (premium agency): Use high-end rates
• Mid-Market / Nearshore: Use mid-range rates (this is the default recommendation)
• Offshore: Use low-end rates

Formula per role: hours x hourly_rate = cost Add 15-20% PM overhead on top of total dev/design hours. Add 10% contingency buffer for scope creep.

5. Present the Estimate

Structure the output as:

# Agency Cost Estimate: [Project Name]
Generated: [date]

## Project Summary
- Language/Platform: [e.g., Swift/iOS + watchOS]
- Lines of code: [X] (excluding tests/generated)
- Source files: [X]
- Major features: [X]
- Third-party dependencies: [X]
- Complexity: [Low / Medium / High / Very High]

## Feature Breakdown
[table from step 2]

## Recommended Team
[table from step 3]

## Timeline
- Estimated total effort: [X] person-hours
- With team of [X]: [Y] months elapsed
- Includes: design, development, QA, project management
- Does NOT include: App Store review, marketing, ongoing maintenance

## Cost of Labor (COL)

| Tier | Total Cost | Monthly Burn |
|------|-----------|-------------|
| North America (Premium) | $XXX,XXX | $XX,XXX/mo |
| Mid-Market / Nearshore | $XXX,XXX | $XX,XXX/mo |
| Offshore | $XX,XXX | $X,XXX/mo |

### Detailed Breakdown (Mid-Market)
| Role | Hours | Rate | Cost |
|------|-------|------|------|
| [role] | [hrs] | $[rate]/hr | $[total] |
| PM overhead (18%) | [hrs] | $[rate]/hr | $[total] |
| Contingency (10%) | — | — | $[total] |
| **TOTAL** | **[hrs]** | — | **$[total]** |

## What You Built for Free
- Actual cost to you: $[actual — typically $0 + subscription costs]
- Agency equivalent (mid-market): $[mid-market total]
- You saved: $[difference] ([X]% savings)
- Time invested: [estimate if known, otherwise "ask the user"]

## Confidence Level
[Note any assumptions, unknowns, or things that could swing the estimate]

6. Context-Aware Notes

If you have access to the project's changelog, git history, or session logs:

• Note how long the user actually spent building it
• Compare their timeline to the agency estimate
• Calculate an effective hourly rate for their vibe-coding effort

If the project directory is provided as an argument ($ARGUMENTS), cd into it first. If no argument is given, use the current working directory.