A zero-risk build process: $0 upfront, milestone draws, pay on satisfaction.
A Pixel Studio build runs about 24 days from kickoff to launch with $0 due upfront. The work is billed like a draw schedule: strategy, design, build, and launch milestones, each approved before it is billed. Final payment comes only after the finished site is live and you sign off.
Updated August 2026
The whole build, on one screen.
24 days, six phases. Nothing is billed until you inspect and approve it, and you can exit at any milestone and keep everything made so far.
How does a 24-day build actually run?
Each phase has named activities, a hard deliverable, and a rule about money: nothing is billed until you have inspected and approved the work.
The call. We tear down your current site before you commit to anything.
30 minutes on a call. You tell us what work you want more of. We walk through your current site and show you the 3 fixes we'd make first. If we're not the right fit, we'll tell you who is. No deposit, no contract, no pitch deck.
You receive
Strategy. A 2-page brief that says what the site has to do.
Before any design, we put the plan in writing: the jobs you want more of, the pages the site needs, and what each one has to say. On Site & Spec and Headquarters builds, this is also where we agree your baseline and 90-day target for the Pay-On-Proof Guarantee.
You receive
Design. Two rounds, and we work until it lands.
You see the homepage first, marked up like a drawing set. Two structured feedback rounds are built into the schedule, and if it still isn't right, we keep working until it lands. The design draw isn't billed until you approve it.
You receive
Build & harden. Hand-coded, inspectable the whole way.
No WordPress, no page builders, no plugin stack. We hand-code the site, load your real content, and harden it for speed and accessibility. You get a staging link to poke at before anything goes live, the same way you'd walk a job before the pay app.
You receive
Launch. On your domain, boring on purpose.
By launch day the site has already been inspected, tested, and hardened. We point your domain, verify redirects and forms, and confirm tracking is recording. The drama belongs in the strategy phase, not here.
You receive
Punch-list sign-off. Then you pay.
You walk the finished, live site like a punch list and flag anything that's off. We fix it. Only when you sign off does the final payment come due. You hold the retainage on us. Then your support window starts and lifetime hosting carries on, free.
You receive
How does billing work when nothing is due upfront?
Like your own billing does. Mobilize at $0, invoice against inspected milestones, and hold retainage until sign-off. Four mechanisms, no fine print.
$0 mobilization
No deposit, no retainer. You'd never pay a sub 50% before they show up. We don't ask you to either.
Draw-schedule billing
Milestones tied to deliverables: strategy, design, build, launch. Each draw is billed only after you inspect and approve the work, like a pay app.
Punch-list sign-off
Final payment isn't due until the finished site is live in front of you and you sign off. You hold the retainage on us.
The Pay-On-Proof Guarantee
On Site & Spec and Headquarters: one number agreed in writing. Miss it at day 90, we keep working free for up to 90 more days. Still short at day 180, we refund what you paid and you keep everything. Full terms on the pricing page.
"You'd never pay a sub 50% before they show up. We don't ask you to either. The draw isn't billed until you've inspected the work, and the last check doesn't move until the site is live and you've signed off."
What happens if something goes wrong?
Every agency process page reads great until the job goes sideways. Here's what actually happens on the three bad days.
What if you hate the design?
Two structured rounds are in the schedule, and past that, we keep working until it lands. If it never lands, exit at the design milestone: keep the brief, keep the designs, pay nothing. We'd rather lose a build than ship a site you don't trust with your name on it.
What if we miss a date?
If we miss a milestone by more than a week, the next phase is on us. That's the deal in writing, not a goodwill gesture. Small crew, hand-coded work, 8 builds a quarter: the schedule holds because we don't overload it.
What if you walk?
You can exit at any milestone and keep everything made so far: brief, designs, code, at no charge. No exit fee, no hostage files. Two clients out of 24 builds have walked. Both kept the work. We'd rather earn the next referral than trap the last invoice.
Does the process actually hold up?
The numbers we're willing to put next to our name, with the method stated.
Questions contractors ask about the process.
A Pixel Studio website takes about 24 days from kickoff to launch. Day 0 is a free 30-minute call, Days 1-3 produce the strategy brief, Days 4-10 cover design, Days 10-22 cover build, and Days 22-24 cover launch. Headquarters builds with portals or stores are scoped individually, typically 4-8 weeks.
$0 upfront means no deposit and no retainer before work starts. You'd never pay a sub 50% before they show up, so we don't ask you to either. Billing follows a draw schedule: each milestone is invoiced only after you inspect and approve the deliverable, the way a pay app works.
Payment lands at milestones you have already approved, and the final draw is due only after the finished site is live and you sign off. That's the punch-list model: you hold the retainage on us. If we miss a milestone by more than a week, the next phase is on us.
Design includes two structured feedback rounds, and we keep working until it lands. If it never lands, you can exit at the design milestone, keep the brief and the designs, and pay nothing. We'd rather lose a build than push a design you don't trust onto your business.
Walking away is allowed at any milestone, at no charge. You keep everything produced up to that point: the strategy brief, the designs, and the code. No exit fee, no hostage files. Across 24 builds, 2 clients have used that exit, and both kept the work.
Your time commitment is small: the Day 0 call, a short intake, and an approval at each milestone. We write the copy, build the pages, and handle hosting and launch. You inspect and sign off, the same way you'd walk a job before approving a pay app.
Ready to see your own draw schedule?
30 minutes. You leave with a teardown of your current site and the 3 fixes we'd make first, yours to keep, even if we never work together. No pitch deck. No pressure. If we're not the right fit, we'll tell you who is.