Software brief
Before you talk to any software company, write one page.
Eight questions produce a one-page project brief, in Arabic and English, that you can send to anyone. And seven questions to ask them before you sign.
Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere unless you choose to send it.
Before you start
Eight questions, about four minutes. One is written in your own words; the rest are a choice. The result is a brief you can copy, print or send exactly as it is.
Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere unless you choose to send it.
Questions
Questions this tool gets asked
- How much does an app cost to build in Saudi Arabia?
- There is no single number, and anyone who gives you one before reading a brief is guessing. Roughly: a small tool or a single integration sits in the lowest band; a store or an app with a simple back office in the middle bands; a system with ZATCA Phase 2 integration, two languages and several user roles in the top one. What moves the price is how many systems it must connect to, whether ZATCA clearance is in scope, whether it is Arabic and English, who owns the code afterwards, and how clear the ask is. This brief settles the last one, which is the only one you control before the first call.
- How do I choose the best software company?
- Send every candidate the same one-page brief and ask the same seven questions: who owns the code and the data; what year two costs; what “approved by ZATCA” means for their product; how they handle a ZATCA change after go-live; where the data lives; what you pay monthly after delivery; and who answers when it breaks. Compare the answers, not the pitches. A company that cannot answer one of the seven in a sentence has not thought about it.
- Why write this before calling anyone?
- Because the first call sets the price. A vendor who hears “we need a system” quotes for the widest thing they can imagine; a vendor who reads one page with the process, the people, the systems and the success criterion quotes for that. Writing it also tells you what you actually want, which is often smaller than what you were about to ask for.
- Will a software company take a one-page brief seriously?
- More seriously than a phone call. Most enquiries a software company receives are a sentence long; a page that names the process, who touches it, what exists today and what “done” means is the clearest request they will see that week. It also lets them say no quickly if it is not their kind of work, which saves you both time.
- Is my budget shared with anyone?
- No. Nothing you type leaves your browser unless you send it yourself, by copying the brief, sharing it on WhatsApp or sending it to us. The brief shows the band you chose, not a figure, and our analytics record only that a brief was completed, never an answer.
- Can I edit the brief?
- Yes. Copy it and change anything: add the business name, a branch count, or a system we did not list. The wording is a starting point in plain language; the structure is what matters, and it survives any edit.
The brief is a starting point, not a specification or a contract. Confirm anything that binds you, in particular ownership of code and data and ZATCA obligations, in writing with the vendor you choose.
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