Sifotech vs
the alternatives.
Five ways to get software built. None of them is right for every project. Here's how we actually compare — written by someone who has worked with all five.
Eight dimensions. No green ticks.
We don't do the "all green for us, all red for them" spreadsheet trick. Each cell is a specific outcome — pick what matters most for your project.
| Dimension | Sifotech Small AI-native UK studio | Mid agency £100k+ projects, 6–12 mo | Offshore dev shop Day-rate, async | In-house hire 1 dev, fully loaded | No-code platform Bubble, Glide, etc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time to MVP | 1–3 weeks | 8–12 weeks | 4–8 weeks | 8–16 weeks (hire + build) | 1–2 weeks (limited) |
| Time to production | 4–8 weeks | 16–32 weeks | 12–24 weeks | 12–20 weeks | Often never gets to scale |
| Total cost (12 months) | £8k–£30k all-in | £80k–£200k | £25k–£80k (highly variable) | £70k–£100k (fully loaded) | £3k–£15k + platform tax |
| Code ownership | Yours · day-1 commits | Yours but escrow-locked | Yours · documentation patchy | Yours | Locked to platform |
| Stack quality | Same stack we use ourselves | Varies by team you get assigned | Whatever's quickest to bill | Strong if your dev is senior | Acceptable until you scale |
| Ongoing iteration | Founder direct · retainer optional | Account manager · £150+/hr | Ticket queue · delayed | Best — same person who built it | Drag-and-drop until you hit limits |
| Compliance built-in (GDPR, accessibility, audit log) | Default on every project | Available as add-on | Rarely default | Depends on dev experience | Limited to platform defaults |
| Founder access | Direct — same person on every call | Sales · PM · QA layer · dev | Account manager · timezone gap | Direct | Community forum |
We're not right for every project.
Four situations where an in-house team, a Big-4 consultancy or a no-code platform is genuinely the better fit. We'd rather you know that before you buy.
You need a 50-person consulting wedge
If your project genuinely needs a 50-person blended team (e.g. a multi-year ERP migration), a Big-4 or a tier-1 consultancy is a better fit. We are a small studio — that is the whole point of the price.
You already have an excellent in-house team
If you have a strong CTO and 3 senior engineers already, you don't need us to build the platform — you need senior engineers, not a studio. We can still help with audits, AI integrations or specific products under licence.
Your project is regulated at the highest tier
Defence, intelligence community, or PCI-DSS Level 1 from day one — these need supplier accreditation we don't have yet. We are working on it. In the meantime, we are honest about the gap.
You want a low-code platform you will configure yourself
If your team genuinely wants to drag-and-drop a workflow tool together, that is a real solution. We are a code studio. We help when no-code hits its ceiling.
Still think we're
a good fit?
15-minute scoping call. We'll tell you honestly if we're the right choice, and who to talk to instead if we're not.