Every CF Labs engagement starts small: a fixed scope, a fixed price and something your team can use within weeks. The Tool Sprint is priced under the $15,000 federal micro-purchase threshold, so many public buyers can sign it without a full RFP.
Most teams start here
$12,5002–3 weeks
A working prototype of the calculator, scorecard or dashboard you need, built on your own data.
What you get
Best for: Teams with one clear question and a spreadsheet nobody trusts.
Start a Tool Sprint$6,5002 weeks
Where data and AI can help your program, in priority order, and what it would take.
What you get
Best for: Organizations deciding where to start, or what to stop paying for.
Book a Readiness Review$4,5001–2 weeks
The scope, budget and technical narrative a grant application needs for a digital tool.
What you get
Best for: Local governments, nonprofits and universities applying for funding that covers a tool or platform.
Scope it for a grantHow it works
Choose one of the three below, or tell us the problem and we'll suggest one.
Twenty minutes to agree on the question, the data and the dates. The scope and the price go in writing.
Weeks, not quarters. Then decide, with evidence, whether to take it further.
Built by CF Labs
Questions
Often, yes. At $12,500 the Tool Sprint sits under the federal micro-purchase threshold, $15,000 since October 2025, which governs purchases paid with federal award money. State and local rules can be stricter, so check your own threshold. We'll provide whatever quote documentation your procurement office needs.
Many grants that fund planning, data or capacity can cover a digital tool, but it depends on the program. The Grant-Ready Tool Scope gives you the scope, budget and technical narrative reviewers look for; your grant manager confirms eligibility.
If the prototype earns its keep, we scope the production build with you, at a fixed price. If it doesn't, you've spent $12,500 and a few weeks finding out, not a year.
Yours. We work with the data you share for the project, keep access to the people who need it, never use it to train AI models without your consent, and delete it on request.
The team that builds CF Labs' own platforms, Aptation and Trovance, working with Council Fire's strategists, who have spent nearly two decades inside the programs these tools serve.
Prototypes run on hosting we set up and manage. A production build can live with us or in your own cloud; we'll recommend whichever your team can keep running most easily.
Talk to CF Labs
A few lines is plenty. We’ll reply by email with a suggested starting point and a fixed price.
Rather start with numbers? Estimate your build.