# How we work, and how pricing works

> Substrait is a platform and a forward-deployed team in your region. It comes as one pre-configured system, with two paths in: teams that already build, and companies whose people do not build yet. Pricing is a monthly seat for each builder, approver and admin, with a one-time setup fee only when Substrait's team sets it up; there is no platform fee and viewers are free.

URL: https://substrait.build/how-we-work/  
Last updated: 2026-11-10

Substrait is a platform you run and a team that stands it up with you. The first engagement proves one real use case. Pricing is two lines: a one-time setup, then a monthly seat for each person who builds, approves or administers.

- **Start on your own, or with us.** Set Substrait up yourself, or with Substrait's forward-deployed team. [See how](#a-platform-and-the-people-to-stand-it-up)
- **Choose your path in.** One path if your people already build, another if they do not yet. [See how](#two-paths-in)
- **Prove one real use case.** Your champion's first tool goes live, through the security check. [See how](#the-first-engagement)
- **Pay for builders, approvers and admins.** A monthly seat for each. No platform fee, and people who only use the tools are free. [See how](#how-pricing-works)

## A platform, and the people to stand it up

Start on your own, or with Substrait's team beside you.
Every way runs on the same Substrait.

| Way to start | What you get |
|---|---|
| **On your own, no setup fee** | A fast setup on Substrait's cloud that you configure yourself. There is no setup fee; you pay only for seats. |
| **Set up in your own cloud** | Substrait's forward-deployed team, engineers in your region, set up and configure Substrait in your cloud, wire your first data connections and write your first policies with you, then hand it over |
| **The Academy** | Training that turns the people who know the work into confident builders, with Substrait as the lab |
| **Build with us** | Substrait's team rebuilds your existing systems, or builds new modules for you, all on Substrait |

The team does the first of everything.
The platform makes the next one repeatable.
Every connection wired and every policy written becomes a template for the next tool.

## Everything, from the first day

Substrait comes as one system, pre-configured on Substrait's cloud.
Building, going live, data control, security and the productivity tools all work from the first day, together.
Nothing is held back for a later phase.

## Two paths in

Which path fits depends on whether your people already build.

### Path 1: your people already build

Start with the whole system, then make two choices.

| Choice | Your options |
|---|---|
| **Who configures it** | Your own team configures the pre-configured system, with no setup fee. Or Substrait's forward-deployed team configures it with you and advises on your policies, data and rollout. |
| **Where it runs** | On Substrait's cloud. Or in your own cloud account or data centre, set up by Substrait's team. |

### Path 2: your people do not build yet

Substrait's team takes you there in three steps.

1. **Build.** Substrait's team rebuilds your existing systems, or builds new modules for you, on Substrait, with a named person from your team alongside.
2. **Academy.** Your people learn to build, with the systems built for them as their examples and Substrait as their lab.
3. **Path 1.** Your people build on Substrait themselves, and choose who configures it and where it runs.

## The first engagement

1. **Intake.** Start from one real use case your champion already needs, and map the data and systems it touches.
2. **Set up.** A setup on Substrait's cloud that you configure yourself, with no setup fee, or Substrait inside your own cloud or data centre, set up by Substrait's team.
3. **Ship.** Your champion's first tool goes live: the unmodified tool, through the security check.
4. **Hand over.** Your people keep building, with Substrait's team in the background for the genuinely new.

A typical first 90 days runs in three steps: stand up and put the first tool live; build two or three more and form the first reusable patterns; then your team builds with light oversight, and you decide how far to widen building across the company.

## What you bring

- **Where it runs.** Nothing, if you start on Substrait's cloud. For your own cloud: an account or data centre Substrait can deploy into, with the access your security team is comfortable granting.
- **A real use case.** One concrete thing worth building, not a hypothetical.
- **A champion.** Someone inside who wants this, and is trusted enough to bring the technical leads along.

## How pricing works

Substrait does not publish prices.
The model is public, and every price is set in a conversation.

| Line | What it is |
|---|---|
| **Set it up yourself** | No setup fee when your own team configures Substrait on Substrait's cloud. You pay only for seats. |
| **Setup, once** | When Substrait's team sets it up for you: a one-time fee, sized to your scope. On Substrait's cloud it is a standard setup. In your own cloud, it is scoped with your IT. Training and building with you are priced the same way, as a service. |
| **Seats, monthly** | One seat for each person who builds, approves or administers. The price per seat falls as you add seats. |
| **No platform fee** | There is no platform fee. |
| **Tools free** | The tools your people build are free and unlimited. |

### Who holds a seat

| Who | Holds a seat? | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| Admin | Yes | Sets up the organisation, invites people, sets the security settings |
| Builder | Yes | Builds tools with an AI model and takes them live |
| Approver | Yes | Reviews a build the security check stops, or a data request |
| App user | No, free | Opens and uses the tools others built |
| Agent | No | An agent is a tool, held by the person who owns it |
| Tools | Never counted | Your people build as many as they need |

### Why seats, and not everyone

Many platforms charge for everyone who can open an app, so the bill grows with every colleague you let in.
Substrait charges only for the people you empower to build, approve and run tools.
Everyone else in your company uses the tools for free.
**The seat is an innovation licence, not a tax on every viewer.**

## What stays your call

- **The risk decisions.** Substrait brings the framework and the defaults. Your people decide the data groups, the risk tiers and the approvals.
- **The pace.** Start with one team and a few tools, and widen building across the company when you choose.
- **Where it runs.** Substrait's cloud or your own, and you can move whenever you want.

Substrait is built for internal and edge-of-customer business software.
Substrait is not built for consumer apps at internet scale.

## Questions and answers

### Does Substrait publish its prices?

No. Substrait sizes the setup and the seats with each company in a first conversation. The pricing model is public: a one-time setup, then a monthly seat for each builder, approver and admin, with no platform fee.

### Who needs a seat on Substrait?

Each person who builds, approves or administers tools holds a seat. People who only open and use the tools never need one. Agents and tools are never counted.

### Does the price per seat change with volume?

Yes. The price per seat falls as a company adds seats.

### Can we set Substrait up ourselves?

Yes. A team can set itself up on Substrait's cloud and configure it itself, with no setup fee; it pays only for seats. Substrait's forward-deployed team can also set Substrait up in your own cloud, train your people, or build systems for you.

### Do we get the whole system from the start?

Yes. Substrait comes pre-configured on Substrait's cloud, with building, going live, data control, security and the productivity tools working together from the first day. What a company chooses is who configures it further, and where it runs.