Developer as a Service
A senior developer on tap. No hiring. No handoffs. No juniors.
Most businesses don't need a full-time developer. They need one when they need one: to build something new, fix something broken, set up an AI agent, or just have someone senior to think through the options with. DaaS gives you exactly that. The only retainer that covers AI agent development and your broader software needs under the same monthly commitment. A retainer with Ash Youssef: 22 years of software development experience, available throughout the month, at a fixed cost you can plan around.
Included in Every Development Tier
What you get
Getting Started
How it works
All plans begin with a call. There is no self-serve checkout.
Annual plan
Book a call, agree terms, setup fee waived, first month invoiced to begin. Payment by bank transfer or direct debit arranged during onboarding.
Rolling monthly
Book a call first. Once agreed, the setup fee is charged to confirm the engagement before work begins. Monthly retainer invoiced from there. The setup fee is not waived on rolling plans.
The Deal
How I work, how I bill
Time savings, passed on
I'm a developer, so I develop. I'm always sharpening my workflows. The benefit I get, mostly time saved, is passed on to you. If last week something took me an hour and this week it takes 15 minutes, you'll be billed an hour and fifteen minutes total. Not two hours.
Built with AI
I use AI to build. For most projects, token usage fits comfortably inside my own AI subscriptions and there is nothing extra for you to think about. On the rare project that runs heavy, you may be asked to cover tokens directly or provide a Claude Code, Codex, or Antigravity subscription. Always flagged upfront, never after the fact.
Plans
Start small, scale up. Transparent pricing.
Development
Development plans
Senior development hours on a monthly retainer. All hours billed at £100 per hour.
Essential
£1,000 / month
7 slots remaining
The foundation. Senior development expertise available when you need it.
- Hours per month
- 10 hours
- Meetings
- 1 / month
- Setup fee
- £500 (waived annual)
- Front-loading
- Not available
- Contract
- 12-month or rolling
- Rolling premium
- +25% (£1,250/mo)
Best for: small businesses, founders, and teams that need occasional development support and a trusted technical voice.
Book a callExtended
£2,000 / month
3 slots remaining
More time, more progress. A development partner who knows your codebase.
- Hours per month
- 20 hours
- Meetings
- 2 / month
- Setup fee
- £1,000 (waived annual)
- Front-loading
- Annual plan
- Contract
- 12-month or rolling
- Rolling premium
- +25% (£2,500/mo)
Best for: growing businesses with active development needs and ongoing projects.
Annual front-loading: hours can be borrowed from future months when a project requires it. Planned together at the start of the engagement.
Book a callEmbedded
£5,000 / month
1 slot remaining
A senior developer inside your business. Strategic, technical, and always available.
- Hours per month
- 50 hours
- Meetings
- Weekly
- Setup fee
- £2,500 (waived annual)
- Front-loading
- Annual plan
- Contract
- 12-month or rolling
- Rolling premium
- +25% (£6,250/mo)
Best for: businesses running multiple active software projects, building AI-powered products, or needing a senior technical presence on an ongoing basis.
Annual front-loading: same as Extended, hours flex across months by agreement.
Book a callTier 4
Enterprise
Larger teams, bespoke requirements, multi-year engagements, and commercial product builds. Enterprise also covers SaaS, PaaS, and AI tooling intended for resale or sold via token usage or usage-gated subscriptions. Pricing and structure by negotiation.
Advisory only
Ask Ash
Not ready for development hours? Start here. A senior technical voice in your corner, solo or with your team, with two touchpoints every month. No development time included.
One-on-One
£99 / month
A senior technical voice in your corner, on a monthly rhythm.
- Format
- Just you and Ash
- Monthly session
- 60 minutes
- Mid-month check-in
- With you
- Written report
- After every session
- Between sessions
- Light async questions
- Development hours
- Not included
- Contract
- Rolling monthly
Best for: a founder or solo operator who wants a regular senior technical sounding board.
Book a callSmall Group
£249 / month
Get your whole team aligned on the same senior guidance.
- Seats
- Up to 4
- Monthly session
- 60 minutes
- Mid-month check-in
- With your team lead
- Written report
- After every session
- Between sessions
- Light async questions
- Development hours
- Not included
- Contract
- Rolling monthly
Best for: small teams that want everyone working from the same technical playbook.
Book a callGroup
£499 / month
A shared monthly strategy session for your wider team.
- Seats
- Up to 12
- Monthly session
- 90 minutes
- Mid-month check-in
- With your team lead
- Written report
- After every session
- Between sessions
- Not included
- Development hours
- Not included
- Contract
- Rolling monthly
Best for: leadership and wider teams who want a shared monthly technical strategy session.
Book a callThe Fine Print
All plans, key details
- All hours are billed at £100/hour
- Unused hours within a month do not roll over on monthly plans
- On annual plans, unused hours can roll forward within the contract year (Extended and Embedded only)
- Front-loading (borrowing from future months) is available on Extended and Embedded annual plans only, agreed at the start of the engagement
- Setup fees cover initial planning, discovery, and project scoping
- Setup fees are waived on all annual plans
- Rolling monthly contracts carry a 25% premium over the annual monthly rate
- All plans include direct access to Ash. No junior developers, no handoffs.
FAQ
Common questions
How is Ask Ash different from the development tiers?
It is advisory only. You get a monthly working session and a written report with recommendations, plus a mid-month check-in and light async questions in between. It does not include development hours. When you are ready to build, the Essential, Extended, and Embedded tiers add senior development time on top.
What counts as a light async question?
A quick one by email or message: a second opinion on a tool, a sanity check on an approach, or a pointer in the right direction. Anything that needs hands-on work belongs in a development tier.
What kind of work is covered?
Anything software. Web development, backend systems, APIs, third-party integrations, AI agent development, agentic workflow design, code reviews, technical architecture, and consultation. If it involves software, it is in scope.
Can I resell the code, or build a SaaS or PaaS product with it?
No. Not on Essential, Extended, or Embedded. Those plans cover software your business uses itself. The Enterprise plan does cover commercial product work, including SaaS, PaaS, and AI tooling intended for resale or sold via tokens or usage-gated subscriptions. Get in touch if this interests you.
What happens if I need more hours in a given month?
Additional hours beyond your monthly allocation are available at £100/hour, agreed in advance.
Can I upgrade my plan?
Yes. You can move to a higher tier at any point. The difference in setup fee applies if moving from a lower tier.
What does a steering meeting involve?
A structured conversation covering progress, priorities, and what is coming next. These are working sessions, not status updates. You leave with clarity on what is being built and why.
Is there a minimum commitment?
Annual plans are a 12-month commitment with no setup fee. Rolling monthly plans require payment of the setup fee upfront to confirm the engagement, then one month's notice to cancel.
Do you work with non-technical founders?
Yes, and often this is where the relationship adds the most value. Part of the role is translating between what the business needs and what the software should do.
Ready to get started?
Every engagement begins with a call. We'll talk through what you are building, which plan fits, and whether we are a good match. No hard sell, no obligation.
Book a call