Real answers to the questions everyone asks.

Yes. You own the design, content, brand assets, and the source code. On request we'll hand over a complete copy — code, database export, and a step-by-step deploy guide — so you can move it elsewhere any time. We host the live site as part of your monthly care plan because it's $0 setup for you and we manage the technical bits (SSL, backups, security patches), but it's a service, not a lock-in.

You do, either way. There are two paths and we're happy with either:

Option A — We register it for you (simplest). We buy the domain in your business name, set up the DNS records to point at our hosting, and that's it. You pay us back the registrar fee at cost (~$15–30/year, no markup). If you ever want to move it to your own registrar account, we initiate the transfer free of charge — ICANN transfers take 5–7 days and you'll have full control once it's done.

Option B — You register it yourself (more control day one). You buy the domain through whichever registrar you prefer (Crazy Domains, GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare). After you've bought it, we send you a one-page instruction sheet specific to your registrar — which DNS records to add, where to add them, and the values to use. Most clients have it pointing in under 10 minutes. The domain stays in your account and your name forever; we just consume the DNS pointer.

Either way, the domain is your asset. We never hold it hostage.

Small content tweaks (text, photos, prices) are included in your monthly care plan. Bigger changes — adding a new feature, a redesign, an integration — are quoted up front so there's no awkward surprise on the bill. You can also keep us on retainer or hire us per change. Your choice.

No. Hosting is included in our monthly care plans. We run your site on our own infrastructure in Australia, with daily backups and SSL. If you'd rather host it yourself (e.g. on Bluehost, Vercel, or your own server), we'll hand over the source code and a deploy guide — no charge for that.

Starter: about 3 days from brief to live, assuming you have your content ready.

Pro: roughly 2 weeks. The biggest variable is how long the review/feedback rounds take on your end.

Custom: usually 4–12 weeks depending on scope. We'll commit to a timeline in the quote and stick to it.

Yes. We'll send a short brief to capture what your business does, who it's for, and the tone you want. From there we can write copy, source stock photography, and design around what we have. If you want professional photos of your shop / staff / work, we'll suggest a local photographer — we don't mark it up.

Anytime, with 30 days notice. We'll hand over the source code, do a final backup, and help you migrate to your new host or hosting service. No penalties, no held-hostage drama.

Because we're an indie studio, not a 30-person agency with a sales team and an office in the CBD. We don't have those overheads, so we can charge what the work is actually worth. We're upfront that we work better on small-to-medium scope projects — if you need an enterprise build with SSO, ISO 27001, and 24/7 SLA, you should hire someone bigger.

Yes. softwareForge is Australian-owned (ABN 95 690 393 567) and based in Queensland. Suné is in Mackay, the engineering is in Brisbane. Nothing is outsourced offshore.

We hand over your source code now, on request, even before launch. So if we vanish tomorrow, you have everything you need to keep your site running with another developer. That's the whole point of "you own it."

Yes — that's the Custom tier. We've built things like document OCR with AI, MQTT/SCADA dashboards for industrial clients, ERP-style admin tools, and Modbus protocol clients. If you have a specific problem in mind, send a message — we'll tell you honestly whether it fits our scope.