Pricing & Engagement
Indicative cost ranges for consulting, PCB design, firmware and full concept-to-production engagements. Scope-dependent; every project is formally quoted after a scoping call.
Direct Answer
Hexcode Plus R&D engineering engagements are priced by scope, not by headcount. Indicative ranges: consulting & advisory from ₹25,000; PCB design from ₹25,000 (2–4 layer) to ₹10 lakh+ (6–8+ layer, controlled impedance); firmware from ₹1.5 lakh (fixed module) to ₹15 lakh (full engagement); and full concept-to-prototype product development from ₹4 lakh to ₹35 lakh+ depending on complexity and certification needs. All figures are indicative and scope-dependent — a formal quote follows a scoping call.
Hardware engineering cost is driven by three variables, in order of impact: board complexity (layer count, controlled impedance, high-speed interfaces), firmware scope (a bare-metal peripheral driver versus a certified secure OTA pipeline), and certification requirements (a consumer gadget versus a Class B medical device). The tables below give indicative bands by engagement type, drawn from typical project scopes at this laboratory. They are starting points for a conversation, not a live price list — every quote is scoped against your actual specification.
For what a full development engagement includes phase by phase, see the product development process. For sector-specific context, see industries served.
Indicative Pricing
All figures in Indian Rupees (INR), indicative and scope-dependent. International clients are quoted in USD/EUR on request at prevailing exchange rates.
| Engagement | Typical scope | Indicative range | Billing basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consulting & Advisory | Feasibility review, architecture review, component selection, design review, troubleshooting | ₹25,000 – ₹1.5 lakh | ₹2,500 – ₹6,000/hr |
| PCB Design (2–4 layer) | Schematic capture, layout, DRC/DFM, fabrication-ready Gerber package | ₹25,000 – ₹2.5 lakh | Fixed-scope, per board |
| PCB Design (6–8+ layer, controlled impedance) | High-speed routing, signal-integrity simulation, EMI/EMC-aware layout | ₹3 lakh – ₹10 lakh+ | Fixed-scope, per board |
| Firmware Module (fixed scope) | Driver development, protocol stack, single defined feature | ₹1.5 lakh – ₹6 lakh | ₹900 – ₹2,200/hr equiv. |
| Full Firmware Engagement | HAL, drivers, RTOS integration, secure bootloader, OTA pipeline | ₹4 lakh – ₹15 lakh | Milestone-based |
| IoT / Product Prototype (concept to demo) | PCB + sensors + connectivity + firmware + basic cloud dashboard | ₹4 lakh – ₹12 lakh | Phased, milestone-based |
| Complex / Certified Product (medical, multi-board, robotics) | Full concept-to-production with certification support | ₹12 lakh – ₹35 lakh+ | Phased, milestone-based |
| Research Collaboration | Joint R&D with academic institutions, shared IP, technology transfer | Scoped per collaboration | Retainer or shared-IP model |
Engagement Models
Fixed-scope, fixed-timeline engineering with clearly defined deliverables and milestone-based payments. The default model for prototyping, proof-of-concept and well-specified development. Most predictable for budgeting.
Billed monthly or hourly for exploratory work, ongoing firmware maintenance, or advisory support where requirements evolve through investigation rather than being fixed upfront.
Joint R&D with academic institutions, industry labs and startups. Shared IP models, co-authored publications, and technology transfer arrangements scoped per collaboration.
Drives cost up: layer count and controlled-impedance routing, multi-radio or multi-protocol connectivity, certification-grade documentation (medical, automotive), secure boot and cryptographic OTA, multi-board systems, and any requirement discovered mid-project because the specification phase was skipped.
Does not materially drive cost: using open-source tooling (KiCAD) instead of paid EDA licenses — the client never pays for our tool licensing either way. Working with an MSME-certified lab instead of an unregistered freelancer — the certification is a compliance and accountability benefit, not a markup. A well-specified requirement document, which actually reduces cost by removing rework.
Pricing
Indicative rates for embedded firmware development at Hexcode Plus run from roughly ₹900–2,200 per engineering hour depending on complexity (a bare-metal driver is priced differently from a secure bootloader with cryptographic verification), or ₹1.5–6 lakh for a fixed-scope firmware module. A full project-based firmware engagement — HAL, drivers, RTOS integration, OTA pipeline — typically runs ₹4–15 lakh depending on MCU platform and certification requirements. These are engineering-hour rates for a laboratory that owns its own hardware bring-up capability, not an outsourced coding rate; the useful comparison is total delivered cost against a fixed scope, not hourly rate against an offshore developer rate card.
A simple 2-layer through-hole board with basic routing typically runs ₹25,000–80,000. A 4-layer board with moderate density runs ₹80,000–2.5 lakh. A 6-8+ layer board with controlled impedance, high-speed digital routing and signal-integrity simulation runs ₹3–10 lakh or more. These figures cover schematic capture, layout, DRC/DFM review and a complete fabrication-ready data package; fabrication and assembly are quoted separately by the PCB house, and Hexcode Plus liaises on that on the client's behalf.
For a moderately complex connected IoT product (single PCB, sensor integration, wireless connectivity, firmware, basic cloud dashboard), a realistic indicative range is ₹4–12 lakh from signed specification to a working, demonstrable prototype. Complex multi-board systems, robotics platforms, or products with certification requirements (medical, automotive) run higher — typically ₹12–35 lakh or more. See the product development process for what each phase includes.
Both, matched to how well-defined the scope is. Well-specified deliverables (a PCB layout to an agreed schematic, a firmware driver to an agreed interface spec) are quoted fixed-price. Exploratory or evolving-requirements work (research collaboration, early-stage feasibility, consulting) is billed hourly or as a monthly retainer. Most full product-development engagements use a hybrid: fixed-price phases with milestone payments, reviewed and re-quoted if scope materially changes.
Those rates typically buy coding-only capacity: a developer writing to a specification someone else produced, with no in-house PCB design, no hardware bring-up lab, and no accountability for whether the board and firmware actually work together in silicon. Hexcode Plus prices an MSME-certified laboratory that designs the board, brings up the hardware, writes the firmware and validates the integrated system under one roof — and stands behind the result as a single accountable engineering team, not a staffing placement.
Consulting and advisory work (feasibility review, architecture review, component selection, design review) has no fixed minimum and is often the right starting point for a project below full-development scope — typically ₹25,000–1.5 lakh depending on depth. Full project-based development is realistic from roughly ₹1.5–2 lakh upward.
Every quote is scoped against your actual specification — these ranges are a starting point, not a substitute for a conversation. Share your requirements and we'll return realistic numbers within a few working days.
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