What Bits&letters does

Bits&Letters is a boutique New York City website consultancy founded in 2018 by designer-engineer David Demaree. The firm serves companies with design- or developer-focused cultures, rebuilding marketing sites on modern headless and hybrid CMS architectures (Sanity, WordPress, Astro, Next.js) and explicitly engineering sites to be consumable by AI agents and large language models via llms.txt, structured metadata, and Model Context Protocol integrations. Core deliverables span AI-ready website builds, CMS implementations, and ongoing retainers, delivered under a proprietary "Shape to System" methodology in which the founder participates at principal level on every engagement.

Revenue mechanics are built on a tiered engagement model: a $5K Discovery Sprint entry point, build projects priced $25K–$75K, and ongoing retainers starting at $5K per month. The firm holds verified partner-agency status with Astro, Sanity, WP Engine, and Vercel, providing platform-level credibility and likely preferred-vendor visibility. Client mix spans nonprofits, SMBs, and startups alongside larger accounts such as Stripe (evidenced by the Stripe City project at roughly 2.3 million API calls). The business is founder-led, unfunded, and operates as a small consultancy without disclosed external hiring or capital raises.

Name

Bits&letters

Legal name

Bits & Letters LLC

Website

https://bitsandletters.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Boutique NYC website consultancy founded by David Demaree in 2018 that rebuilds marketing sites on headless CMS architectures (Sanity, WordPress, Astro) for design- and developer-focused companies, with a differentiated AI-ready content offering, priced $25K–$75K per project plus $5K+/month retainers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Maplewood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Project-based professional services: Fixed-price website redesign and rebuild engagements ranging from $25K-$75K depending on complexity. Includes Discovery Sprint workshops ($5,000) that can be credited toward subsequent build projects.
2. Ongoing retainer engagements: Monthly retainer support available starting at $5,000/month for post-launch maintenance, continued development, and CMS management.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Bits&Letters is a boutique website consultancy that designs, rebuilds, and migrates marketing websites for design- and developer-focused companies, using modern stacks including Astro, Next.js, WordPress, and Sanity headless CMS. Engagements follow a "Shape to System" methodology combining strategy, design, and engineering, beginning with a fixed-price Discovery Sprint ($5,000) and progressing to fixed-price build projects ($25K–$75K) plus optional monthly retainers for post-launch support. The practice emphasizes headless CMS architecture, AI-ready content systems, custom design systems, and platform migrations from Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, and legacy WordPress.

Product overview

Bits&Letters is a boutique NYC website consultancy offering strategic design, engineering, and CMS implementation services. Their core service offerings include WordPress Development (for complex content sites, $25K-$65K), Sanity CMS Development (for structured content management, $25K-$75K), and Astro Web Development (for high-performance marketing sites, $25K-$65K). These core offerings are supplemented by a Discovery Sprint (from $5,000), AI-Ready Websites architecture, Analytics/SEO/Privacy services, Platform Migrations, Website Rebuilds, Content Systems & CMS consulting, and Design Systems work. The consultancy follows a 'Shape to System' methodology combining strategy, design, and code from the start. Founded by David Demaree, a former design engineer at Google, Adobe, Stripe, and Webflow, the practice emphasizes design engineering and senior-level involvement on every project.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WordPress Development Full-service WordPress website rebuilds for companies with complex content needs, including custom theme development, content modeling using custom post types and fields, and headless WordPress setups using REST API or WPGraphL with Astro or Next.js frontends. Pricing ranges from $25K to $65K depending on complexity; does not include WooCommerce e-commerce builds.
• Sanity CMS Development Design and build of content management systems with Sanity, including content modeling, custom editing interfaces, front-end integration, and hosting. Features real-time collaboration, structured JSON content storage, and portable content architecture. Pricing ranges from $25K to $75K depending on complexity, custom editing features, and integrations.
• Astro Web Development High-performance marketing site development using the Astro framework, paired with headless CMS, delivering excellent performance, SEO foundations, and flexibility to add interactivity only where needed. Includes AI-ready content architecture. Pricing ranges from $25K to $65K depending on complexity, page types, CMS requirements, and integrations, with 12–24 weeks from kickoff to launch and working prototypes in the first few weeks.
• Discovery Sprint Structured working sessions led by David Demaree and an experienced facilitator to clarify the thorniest goals, identify practical solutions, and deliver a working prototype that can be credited toward a build project if the client continues with Bits&Letters. Fixed price of $5,000.
• AI-Ready Websites Site architecture, content structure, APIs, and workflows that make content visible and accessible to AI agents and search systems, with integration support for Vercel AI SDK, OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, and Google Gemini. Uses Sanity with MCP support for AI editing workflows alongside Claude Code and similar coding agents.
• Platform Migrations Migration services moving sites from page builders, legacy WordPress, or mismatched stacks into cohesive systems that teams can operate and future developers can understand. Includes WordPress, Webflow, and Squarespace migrations, with recent client work including Copytree (Wix to Next.js + Sanity) and Everself migration to Astro + Keystatic + Cloudflare.
• Post-Launch Retainer Support Ongoing retainer engagements for continued support, documentation, and maintenance after a build project goes live, available starting at $5,000 per month. Each build project includes 30 days of post-launch support.

Quantifiable outcome

• Near-perfect Lighthouse and Core Web Vitals scores for marketing sites
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

AI capability6 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AstrocoreTechnology or IntegrationOfficial Astro partner agency. Bits&Letters builds Astro websites for content-driven marketing sites, emphasizing speed, flexibility, and growth. Astro is described as ideal for fast, content-driven marketing sites with excellent performance and SEO foundations.
• SanitycoreTechnology or IntegrationOfficial Sanity partner agency. Bits&Letters designs and builds content management systems with Sanity, handling content modeling, custom editing interfaces, front-end integration, and hosting. Deep implementation experience with close relationship to Sanity's leadership team.
• WP EnginecoreTechnology or IntegrationOfficial WP Engine partner agency. Recommended managed hosting provider for WordPress projects, handling security, automatic updates, and managed security.
• VercelcoreTechnology or IntegrationOfficial Vercel partner agency. Preferred deployment platform for Next.js and other React-based projects, offering excellent deployment workflows and CDN performance.
• Blackbox InfiniteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreative collaboration on the Stripe City project. Blackbox Infinite led creative direction and motion design for the miniature city installation, with Bits&Letters building the technical layer connecting live data to billboard displays.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Big Medium: Small digital studio focused on design and front-end engineering for content-driven websites. Operates at similar size and premium boutique positioning with emphasis on CMS implementations.
• Ueno: Boutique creative agency that designs and builds websites, brands, and digital products for startups and tech-forward companies. Comparable premium positioning and modern stack focus serving similar design-conscious client base.
• Upstatement: Boston/NYC-based digital agency specializing in editorial and content-driven websites for publishers and mission-driven organizations. Similar premium boutique positioning with deep CMS and design systems expertise.
• Viget: Full-service digital agency headquartered in the DC/NYC corridor that offers strategy, design, and custom web development with strong CMS implementation capabilities. Operates a similar boutique-plus-network model serving design- and developer-focused companies.
• Bluecadet: Philadelphia/NYC-based experience agency building digital products, websites, and interactive exhibits for cultural, nonprofit, and commercial clients. Similar multi-disciplinary strategy-design-engineering model.
• Phase2: NYC-area digital agency that designs, builds, and supports enterprise CMS platforms and custom web experiences. Highly comparable CMS- and content-system-focused work for marketing and editorial teams.

Broad incumbents

• Movement Strategy: NYC/LA-based digital agency with creative, strategy, and digital production capabilities for major brands. Larger incumbent offering overlapping web and campaign experience work for enterprise marketing teams.
• Instrument: Portland/NYC creative and digital agency that operates across web, brand, and product design with substantially larger scale. Overlaps with B&L in custom website and digital experience builds for enterprise clients.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bitsandletters
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bitsandletters

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bits&letters