Independent software & web studio · On the web since 1995

The project you shelved because it cost too much? It probably doesn't anymore.

Ivylane builds the useful things small businesses and independent founders used to be priced out of — custom tools, automations, customer portals, small software products, and websites when a website is the right answer. AI-assisted development has changed what building costs. Knowing what to build, what to skip, and how to make it hold up still takes experience — and that part doesn't come from a prompt.

  • A written estimate in plain English before any work starts
  • You own the domain, hosting, data, and code from day one
  • Direct line to the person doing the work — no handoffs
  • Thirty years of shipping, including products we run ourselves
See what we've built
Start a project

Describe the project you assumed would cost too much.

Plain English is perfect — you don't need to know whether it's a website, an app, or an automation. A real reply within one business day, from the person who'd build it.

No obligation, no spam, no sales calls. Prefer to talk? (315) 927-1211

The project you kept postponing

Most people who contact us aren't starting from a spec. They're starting from a sentence like one of these:

“We've been doing this in spreadsheets for years.”
“I wish customers could just do this themselves.”
“I've had this directory idea for ten years.”
“Somebody retypes this every single week.”
“I got a quote years ago and dropped the whole thing.”
“I don't know if this is a website, an app, or what.”

Any of those is a fine place to start. Part of the job — maybe the most valuable part — is working out what the thing should actually be, and then finding the smallest version that's genuinely useful. We scope down before we scope up. Sometimes the answer is a two-day automation, not a six-month build. Sometimes it's an off-the-shelf product we'll point you to. We'll tell you either way.

What we build

Outcome first, technology second. Most projects fall into one of these — many touch two or three.

Launch something

A customer portal. A booking or intake system. A local directory or niche community site. A lightweight product people can pay for. A modern website, when a website is the right answer — hand-coded and fast, no page builders.

Automate something

The report someone assembles by hand every Monday. Data retyped between two systems that should talk to each other. Quoting, scheduling, follow-ups, file wrangling. An assistant on your site that knows your hours and prices; missed calls answered by text.

Test an idea

The product concept you've carried around for years. A working prototype in front of real users, priced so the experiment is sensible instead of reckless — and an honest read on what the results mean before you spend more.

Fix something

A slow site, a broken integration, a fragile spreadsheet everyone's afraid to touch, a project another developer left half-finished. For website tune-ups there's a flat-price package: the $499 Fix Sprint.

Get found

Search & AI visibility: audits, schema markup, structure, and fixes so Google — and now ChatGPT and Perplexity — can find your business and recommend it correctly.

Modernize something

The aging database, creaking WordPress install, or duct-taped process the business quietly depends on — rebuilt on a foundation ordinary people can maintain, with your data intact and in your hands.

Why this pencils out now

A straight answer, because "AI" on an agency website usually means the opposite of one.

For most of the last thirty years, custom software had brutal economics for small organizations. Even a modest tool meant weeks of billable development, so anything that couldn't justify an agency budget stayed a spreadsheet, a binder, or a someday.

AI-assisted development changed the production side of that equation. The repetitive work — boilerplate, plumbing, the thousandth login form — now goes much faster, which means an experienced developer can deliver a focused, reliable tool at a price a small business can actually justify.

What hasn't changed: architecture, security, testing, scoping, content, and accountability still take experience. A code generator can't tell you that your idea is 80% solved by a product that already exists, that the first version should be a tenth the size, or that it shouldn't be built at all. That judgment is what you're hiring — the tools are new; knowing what to do with them isn't.

Recent work & our own products

The clearest proof we build more than brochure websites: products we designed, built, and operate ourselves.

CloudPlus Marketing homepage — AI visibility check for local businesses Owned product · SaaS

CloudPlus Marketing

Local businesses can't tell whether AI assistants recommend them. CloudPlus answers that: automated 7-part visibility audits with a crawling and scoring engine, PDF report generation, and Stripe payments — a full product, running today.

 Mohawk Central — the front page of the Mohawk Valley Owned product · Local platform

Mohawk Central

The classic "I've had this directory idea for years" project — built. A local hub for the Mohawk Valley pulling events, school livestreams, and news into one front page, live and growing.

 Clipsboard — curated 3×3 grids of YouTube clips Owned product · Media

Clipsboard

A curated way to share YouTube: editorial 3×3 boards of clips on a clean, fast front end. A small product idea taken from concept to a site anyone can use.
Jtera — private Shopify storefront E-commerce · Shopify

Jtera

A Shopify storefront run end to end — theme work, product setup, integrations, and day-to-day store operations. Private storefront — ask us about it.

How a project begins

Low-risk by design. Nothing starts until you've approved a plain-English scope and estimate.

1

Describe the idea or problem

Form, email, or phone — in plain English. "We keep doing X by hand" is a complete brief.

2

We tell you if it's practical

An honest assessment from the person who'd build it. If an off-the-shelf product already solves it, or it isn't worth building, we'll say so — that advice is free.

3

We recommend the smallest useful version

A prototype, a staged build, a simple automation, or a full product — whatever fits. We scope down before we scope up.

4

Scope and estimate, in writing

A plain-English scope and a written estimate. You know what it covers and roughly what it costs before you commit — and if scope changes along the way, we talk first.

5

We build; you watch it happen

You work directly with the builder. No account managers, no handoffs, and you see progress as it happens.

6

You own everything

Domain, hosting, data, and code in your name from day one. You're never locked in — to us or anyone.

Websites, visibility & the quick fixes

Websites built this studio, and we still build them the same way — they're just no longer the whole story.

Websites

New builds, rebuilds, and landing pages. Hand-coded and fast — no bloated page builders. Sites that load in under a second and are easy to update.

Search & AI visibility

Getting found — on Google and now in ChatGPT and Perplexity. Audits, fixes, and structure so both search engines and AI can recommend you.

Fix Sprint — $499 flat

Our one packaged product: the top 10 issues from your website visibility audit, fixed in 5 business days with before-and-after proof. Everything else gets its own estimate. Details here.

Free · No obligation

Get a free straight answer about your website.

Send us your web address and we'll reply within a day with the three biggest problems we find — or tell you honestly that it's in good shape. No sales pitch, no report to buy. Sometimes the answer is a $200 tune-up, not a rebuild — and when there's a real fix list, the $499 Fix Sprint clears it in a week.

Request my free review

Since 1995. That buys judgment.

Ivylane has been on the web since 1995 — before Google, before broadband, before most of today's agencies existed. Rooted in Upstate New York, working with clients anywhere.

Thirty years of shipping teaches things no tool provides: which trends matter and which are expensive noise. How to spot a fragile technical decision before it's poured into the foundation. How to scope a project realistically, build something ordinary people can maintain, and say "don't build this" when that's the honest answer. That judgment, paired with modern AI-assisted development, is the whole pitch.

And the craft claims are testable: this page loads in under a second — run Google's speed test on it yourself.

31
Years online
4
Products we build & operate
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This page's load time
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Typical reply time

Common questions

Straight answers, same as you'd get on the phone.

Can you build things other than websites?

Yes — much of what we build now isn't a website at all: internal tools, workflow automations, customer portals, calculators, dashboards, booking and intake systems, integrations, and small software products. We also build and operate our own products, so a website is just one shape a project can take.

What does a project cost?

It depends entirely on scope, so we don't publish a menu — but every project gets a written estimate in plain English, and nothing starts until you've approved it. We'll recommend the smallest version that's actually useful, and we'll tell you honestly when the right answer is a small tune-up, an off-the-shelf product, or no build at all. The $499 Fix Sprint is the one flat-price package.

I'm not technical. Do I need to know what I need?

No. Describe the problem — "we do this in spreadsheets," "customers should be able to do this themselves" — and we'll work out whether it should be a website, an automation, an app, or something simpler. That judgment is part of what you're hiring.

What is AI visibility?

Whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI mention your business when someone asks for what you do. AI assistants read the same web Google does, but they lean harder on structure: schema markup, consistent listings, an llms.txt file, and pages that load fast and read clearly. That plumbing is most of what we fix.

What is the Fix Sprint?

Our one packaged, fixed-price product: we take the top 10 issues from your website visibility audit and fix them in 5 business days for $499, with a before-and-after score to prove it. Custom software and larger projects are scoped individually. Details on the Fix Sprint page.

Do you only work with businesses near the Mohawk Valley?

No. We're based in Upstate New York and know the Utica–Rome area well, but everything we do — software, websites, visibility work — is done remotely for clients anywhere.

How does the free website review work?

Send your web address through the contact form. Within one business day we reply with the three biggest problems we find — or tell you honestly that your site is in good shape. No sales pitch, no report to buy.

Tell us what you've been thinking about.

A shelved idea, a process that's all spreadsheets and retyping, a website that needs help — describe it in plain English. We'll reply with an honest take, and an estimate if it's practical, usually within one business day.

Prefer email or a call?

richard@ivylane.com

(315) 927-1211