// HOW WE STACK UP
Jarvis Creations vs your other options.
An honest, biased-but-accurate comparison. We're not for everyone — here's exactly when we're the right call and when one of the alternatives below actually wins.
| Comparison criterion | Jarvis Creations | Toptal | Upwork | Agency | In-house hire |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical price (small app) | $3k – $25k | $10k – $50k | $500 – $15k | $25k – $150k | $120k+/yr |
| What that price actually buys | Custom-coded, founder-led build. Full source transferred. Lives in production in weeks, not quarters. | A vetted senior contractor billing through a marketplace that keeps 30–40% of every hour. | At the floor: a template swap or junior overseas contractor. 2–3 hire attempts is the industry average before something usable ships. Maintenance is rarely possible after launch. | A 5-person team — PM, designer, junior dev, senior reviewer, account manager. Brand identity work is often bundled. Ships in calendar quarters. | A salaried engineer with a 3–6 month ramp before they're productive on your codebase. Full institutional knowledge once they're in. |
| Typical timeline | 2 – 6 weeks | 4 – 12 weeks | Highly variable | 3 – 9 months | 3 – 6 month ramp |
| You own the code? | Yes, transferred | Yes | Yes (usually) | Sometimes | Yes |
| AI integration depth | Built into every tier | Available | Hit or miss | Often outsourced | Depends on hire |
| Direct contact with builder | Always (Heath leads) | Yes | Yes | Account manager only | Yes |
| Vetting / quality bar | 89+ live products shipped | Top 3% claimed | Reviews + history | Agency reputation | You vet |
| Post-launch support | $400/mo plan | Hourly extension | Often disappears | Retainer required | It's their job |
| Risk of ghosting | Low | Low | High | Low | You manage it |
| Source of truth | Founder-led, AI-augmented | Curated marketplace | Open marketplace | Process & brand | Your team |
When each option actually wins
Pick Jarvis Creations when
- You want senior-level work without agency overhead
- You need real AI integration (not bolted-on)
- You want to ship in weeks, not quarters
- You want to own the code and the relationship
- You'd benefit from a studio that's also operated their own ventures
Pick Toptal when
- You need a specific stack expert (e.g., a Rails contractor for 3 weeks)
- Procurement requires a vetted marketplace
- You can pay $100–200/hr and want flexible commitment
- Your project is staffing, not building from scratch
Pick Upwork when
- The scope is small, well-defined, and disposable
- You can spec the work tightly and verify yourself
- Budget is genuinely under $1,500
- You're comfortable cycling through bad fits
Pick a traditional agency when
- The project is genuinely $50k+ with multiple stakeholders
- You need a brand identity refresh alongside the build
- Your procurement requires SOC 2 / vendor reviews / NDAs
- You want a team of 5+ people in parallel
Pick an in-house hire when
- You'll have ongoing software work for years
- The role can absorb $120k+ fully loaded annually
- You can wait 3–6 months for ramp-up
- Domain knowledge needs to live inside your company
Honestly avoid Jarvis Creations when
- Project genuinely fits a Squarespace template
- You need a 30-person dedicated team in parallel
- Hardware design, native game dev, or pure ML research
- You require regulated industry compliance work (SOC 2, HIPAA full)
Still not sure?
Book a free 15-minute discovery call. We'll listen to what you're trying to build and tell you honestly whether we're the right fit — or which of the alternatives above actually is.
Book a Discovery Call →