Common questions

Start by filling out the contact form or emailing us directly. We schedule a short call to understand what you need, then put together a clear scope and estimate.

A professional business website typically takes 3-6 weeks. A custom platform or AI integration can take 6-16 weeks depending on complexity.

It depends on what you are building. A business website is different from a custom SaaS platform. We provide clear fixed-scope estimates upfront so there are no surprises.

HPN Studio builds digital products for businesses — websites, custom web platforms, AI chatbots, workflow automations, and ongoing maintenance. We work across the full stack, from design to deployment.

We work with small to mid-size businesses, startups, and established companies that need serious digital work done.

Both. If your current site is structurally sound but looks dated or performs poorly, a redesign makes sense. If the codebase is a mess or the platform is limiting you, a clean rebuild is often faster and cheaper long-term.

Technical SEO is built in — correct metadata, structured data, fast load times, canonical URLs, sitemaps. Content SEO (keyword strategy, ongoing content creation) is a separate engagement. We will not launch a site with bad technical SEO.

It depends on what you need. For content-heavy marketing sites, we use Astro for near-perfect performance and SEO. For sites needing more CMS control, we integrate headless CMS solutions.

Yes. We have inherited codebases in various states of health. We start with a brief audit, then either maintain and improve what is there or recommend a path forward if the code needs significant work.

We choose the stack based on your requirements. Typically React or Next.js on the frontend, Node.js or Java on the backend, PostgreSQL for the database, and AWS for infrastructure.

A platform is any custom web application that goes beyond a marketing site — booking systems, client portals, dashboards, internal tools, SaaS products, anything with user accounts, data management, or business logic.

Not in the traditional sense. We use retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) — the bot searches your content at query time rather than being retrained. Updates to your content are reflected immediately.

We build retrieval-augmented chatbots that answer questions from your own content, lead-qualification bots that collect information before handing off to a human, support bots that reduce ticket volume, and internal assistants.

Primarily OpenAI (GPT-4o), Anthropic (Claude), and sometimes local open models for cost-sensitive use cases. We pick the model that fits your accuracy, cost, and privacy requirements.

Simple automations can be live in days. Complex multi-system pipelines with custom logic take 2-6 weeks. We scope clearly upfront.

Common examples: lead routing and follow-up emails, client onboarding sequences, invoice and payment notifications, report generation, data sync between systems, scheduling and reminder workflows, and internal approval processes.

It depends on the use case. We use n8n or custom Node.js services for complex logic, integrate with Zapier or Make where simpler, and build direct API integrations between systems when needed.

Yes, with a brief onboarding audit. We need to understand what we are inheriting before committing to SLAs. Most inherited projects are straightforward; occasionally we recommend addressing technical debt first.

We work on monthly retainers with a three-month minimum for new clients. This gives us enough runway to understand your project and deliver consistent value. After that it is month-to-month.

Typically: bug fixes, dependency updates, performance improvements, small feature additions, content updates, uptime monitoring, and a dedicated point of contact. Scope is agreed upfront — no surprise invoices for small tasks.