We build you a digital house.
Most small businesses rent rooms in five or six different buildings, and keep a copy of their client list in every one. We build your business one house, on its own block, and everything inside it is yours. Owning a home still has bills, and some rent you can't avoid. Most of it stops. Here's how it fits together, from the ground up.
Build your own digital houseToday, you rent rooms all over town
Each app you use is a room you rent in someone else's building. Follow one client, Jane, through them. Every room keeps its own copy of her.
Six rents. Six copies of Jane. One house.
Jane changed her number last month. You updated it in one room. Five rooms still have the old one, so her reminder texts go nowhere.
Some rent you can't avoid. Card payments always go through a payment provider, and every provider charges a fee on each sale. We won't pretend otherwise.
Our plan: build you one house, move in as many rooms as we can, and cut how many you rent. The rooms that stay connect to your house, so Jane lives in one place and the rest stays in step.
Accounts can move in too, once the connections it relies on are in place: bank feeds, payroll and lodging your BAS. Until then, it stays where it is and connects to your house.
The land
Every website and app sits on land: powerful servers in data centres. Like the Crown, the companies that own that land set the ground rules for everyone on it. We lease a large block from them, and because we lease at scale, each business pays far less than it would leasing alone.
- The Crown
- Supabase and Netlify, running on the big cloud providers. Their terms apply to every lot.
- In real life
- Server space we lease from them. Your records sit in Sydney.
The estate
Before any house goes up, a land developer puts in the roads, pipes, power and street lights. We're the developer. We build that groundwork once, to one set of estate rules, and every house on the estate shares it. That's how a custom home costs a fair-go price.
- In real life
- Our framework: sign-in, security, backups, payments plumbing and the building blocks every system uses. Built to our Build Standards and security rules.
- Who owns it
- We do, like a developer owns the road. You get a lasting right to use it for your house, even if you move the house to your own block. You can't resell it.
Your block
We subdivide the estate into separate blocks and lease one for each business. Yours is fenced off. It isn't a room in a shared building, and nobody else's house sits on it.
- In real life
- Your own database and your own website, kept apart from every other business.
- Whose name
- On our managed plan we hold the lease for you. If you run it yourself, the block goes into your name.
The house
We're the builder too. First you walk through the display village: a working demo of your house before you commit. Then we build to your plans: the shopfront your clients walk into, and the rooms out the back where you run the business. The build is quoted and agreed before we start.
- In real life
- Your website out front, and the back office behind it: bookings, clients, payments and records.
- Display village
- Your free demo: one design made for you and two from your industry, front and back.
- Handover
- Go-live is handover. Anything we built wrong, we fix free.
- Paying for it
- Buy it outright, or pay it off over five years as part of your monthly fee. Then the house is yours.
The furniture
Everything inside is the furniture: your client list, bookings, notes, health forms and records. It's yours. We don't own it, we don't lease it, and we don't use it.
Yours AF.- In real life
- Your business data. Take a copy, or all of it, whenever you like, free.
- Appliances
- The gear you plug in, like computers, tablets, card readers and printers, is yours to bring. We don't supply or set it up.
Utilities
Like power, gas and the internet, some things are metered and charged on top: text messages, email, your domain name and card payments. You never pay more than the provider's own retail price. Where we buy in bulk, like email accounts and text messages, the saving helps keep your monthly fee low. Card fees go straight to your own Stripe account, and we take no cut. We can connect them and bill you, like a move-in connection service, or set them up in your name so you pay the provider directly.
- In real life
- SMS, email sending, Google Workspace, payroll, card processing fees through your own Stripe.
- Street address
- Your domain name. It's how people find your house, and it's registered to you.
Living there
On our managed plan, one monthly fee covers your share of the rates, the upkeep and the payments on your house. We keep the roof sound, the locks secure and the lights on. A handy hour each month is included for small jobs, and bigger renovations are quoted before we lift a tool.
Once your house is built, we have no reason to come inside. Like a builder, we come in only when you call us for a job, to maintain the estate's roads and pipes, or when the law requires it. We don't go through your things, and every visit is logged so you can see it.
- After five years
- The house is paid off. Your monthly fee drops to rates and upkeep: hosting, security and the handy hour.
- Monthly fee
- From $40 a month for a system, or from $10 for a website on its own, depending on what your house needs. Prices exclude GST; GST is added once we're registered. Subject to final approval.
- Fee changes
- Only for real cost increases, like the Crown raising its rates. At most once a year, with 30 days' notice and the reasons.
Who does what
| Role | In a house | In your system |
|---|---|---|
| The Crown | Owns the land and sets the ground rules | Supabase and Netlify |
| Land developer | Roads, pipes, lights and estate rules | Ad Fontes: the framework and security |
| Builder | Display village, plans, build and handover | Ad Fontes: your website and back office |
| Owner | Lives there and owns the contents | You: your business and all its data |
| Utility retailers | Power, gas, internet | SMS, email, Google Workspace, Stripe, payroll |
| Connection service | Sets up your utilities when you move in | Ad Fontes, if you'd like us to. Never above retail. |
| Handyman | Upkeep and renovations | Ad Fontes, on your plan or by the hour |
Two ways to own it
Pay it off
Setup, then from $40 a month- We carry most of the build cost, so setup stays low
- The monthly fee pays off the house over five years
- Rates, upkeep and security are included
- A handy hour each month for small jobs
- The house is yours at the end, or earlier if you pay the balance
- After that, the fee drops to rates and upkeep
Keys in hand
One price, quoted to your build- The house is yours from day one
- The block goes into your name, and you pay the rates direct
- You hold your own utility accounts
- Training and a set number of support hours included
- Upkeep and renovations after that are quoted
Renovations
Anything we build onto your house becomes part of your house. On our managed plan it's covered by the same payments, so it's yours when the house is.
| Job | In a house | In your system | We run it | Run it yourself |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our mistakes | Building defects | A bug in our work | Free | Free |
| Upkeep | Roof, locks, servicing | Security patches, backups, updates | Included | Quoted |
| Estate upgrades | Better roads and lighting | Improvements to our framework | Included | On request, quoted |
| Small jobs | New fittings, a repaint | A new page, form or menu change | Handy hour each month | Included hours, then hourly |
| Extensions | A new room, with plans | A new feature or add-on | Quoted first | Quoted first |
Changing your own staff, services, prices, hours and photos is like moving your furniture around. You do it yourself, any time, at no cost.
What it costs
Like building a house, the price depends on what goes into it. A one-person studio needs a smaller house than a salon with six chairs and two locations.
From $40 a month
For a full system: website plus back office. A website on its own starts from $10 a month.
Depending on what your house needs. Setup is quoted to your build and agreed before we start. Prices exclude GST; GST is added once we're registered. All pricing is subject to final approval: nothing is set until you accept a written quote.
Your quote sets out each part, so you can see what you're paying for.
Around half what you pay now
A system generally starts at around half what you pay now for software and card fees, confirmed by an audit of your current setup. You see the numbers side by side, line by line, before you agree to anything.
Pays off, then ends
The house itself. Paid up front, or over five years on our managed plan.
Every owner pays
Rates for your block and the utilities you use. Same as any homeowner, and never above retail.
Your choice
Upkeep, renovations and extensions. Included on our managed plan, or quoted when you need them.
Who owns what
| Part | Who owns it | What that means for you |
|---|---|---|
| The land | The Crown | Supabase and Netlify. We lease it at scale so your share costs less. |
| The estate | Ad Fontes | Our framework. You can use it for your house for as long as the house stands. |
| Your block | Held for you, or in your name | Managed: we hold the lease for you. Run it yourself: in your name. |
| The house | Yours once paid off | Paid up front: yours from day one. Managed plan: yours after five years. |
| Renovations | Part of your house | Yours on the same terms as the house. |
| The furniture | Always yours | Your data, from day one. We never own it, lease it or use it. |
| Appliances | Yours, not supplied | Computers, tablets and card readers. Bring your own. |
| Utilities | Your account or ours | You choose who's on the bill. Never more than the retail price, and card fees go straight to your own Stripe. |
Moving out
Take the furniture
Free, any timePack up your data and take it with you. There's no fee for it.
Take the house
Pay the build balance, if anyIf the build isn't paid off yet, pay what's left and the house is yours. The balance drops every month and reaches $0 at the end of the term. You'd then lease your own block directly.
Help with the move
Our hourly rateWant us to do the heavy lifting and set the house up on your new block? We'll quote the hours before we start.
If we ever raise the fee and you don't agree, you can take the house with no balance to pay.
If payments stop
Like a bank with a home loan, we can lock the house. We never take your furniture.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| A payment is missed | We send reminders, as with any invoice. |
| 30 days overdue | The house is locked: no bookings, and your website shows a "temporarily unavailable" page. You can still download a copy of your data. |
| Holding period (90 days) | We keep everything safe. A storage fee may be added to what's owed. Pay, and it's switched back on as it was. |
| After written notice | We securely delete everything, backups included, and confirm in writing. |
Renting rooms in their buildings
- The rent never ends, and they can change it
- A copy of your client list in every building
- Your clients' details sit in their filing cabinet
- Your neighbours are your competitors, one click away
- Leave, and you start again from an empty room
Your own digital house
- The house pays off. Then you only pay the bills every owner pays
- One set of furniture, under one roof
- Built to your plans, on your own fenced block
- The furniture is yours from day one
- No neighbours in your shopfront
- Leave with your furniture any time, and take the house once it's paid off
Let's sketch your house.
Tell us about your business and we'll build a working demo of your house, free. No card, no contract. You'll see the shopfront and the back rooms before you decide anything.
Build your own digital houseThe house is a way of explaining how our systems work. The Ad Fontes Service Terms set out the actual arrangement, and your rights under the Australian Consumer Law apply whatever a contract says. All pricing is subject to final approval.