Aakalan means estimation. We built it because software prices stopped adding up.

For years software was priced by the hour. AI tools now do much of the typing, and nobody agrees what that should do to the price. Vendors guess, buyers guess, and the gap between quotes grows.

The question we set out to answer

How do you work out the cost of building software when AI writes much of the code, but people still design it, check it, test it, launch it and look after it for years?

Our answer is to price the work itself: each feature at the size it needs to be, each kind of task with the saving AI tools really bring, plus the review that saving demands, plus everything after launch. Then to show the working.

How we test the prices

We collected 56 Indian projects with published prices: government contracts and private and startup projects. The prices are not tuned to them; they come from hours and rates. Each estimate shows what real projects of its size were bought for, as published.

Small projects: real contracts mostly came in below our estimate (lowest winning bids, simpler builds)
Medium projects: real contracts mostly came in below our estimate (on 5 tenders read the way the app reads them, ours was about 1.3 times the published price)
Large projects: real contracts mostly came in above it (ours was about two-thirds of the published price on 3 tenders: hardware, licences and work we can't see yet)
Not yet checked: what finished projects really cost; recorded outcomes will do that

Likely ₹19 L

₹14 L₹26 L

That is why every estimate is a range. Treat it as a guide before work starts, and use your own judgement.

What we hold to

Price what is built, not who asks: A login screen costs the same for everyone. Bigger or stricter work costs more because there is more of it, and it shows up as its own line.
AI reads, formulas count: AI helps read documents and descriptions and suggests features. It never sets, edits or rounds a price; a fixed set of formulas does, the same way every time.
Every number has a source: Each line links to the feature that asked for it, the rate and where that rate came from, and the formula used. Nothing is a black box.
Honest about how sure we are: We say where every price comes from, show real project prices beside it and give a range, not a single number pretending to be exact.

Who it is for

Companies quoting a project

Price your quote from the requirement document in minutes, with your own rates and margin, and see what the document leaves unclear.

People planning to build

Founders, shops, schools and clinics: know what an app should cost before asking for quotes, and which features drive it.

Departments budgeting

Set a realistic budget for a portal or system, with security, support and hosting included for the years you need.

Describe your software in a few lines and see what it costs.

Tick what it should do or upload the requirement document, answer ten short questions, and get the low, likely and high cost.

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