Key takeaways
- I provide hourly IT support in Dallas with no monthly contract: $100 an hour remote and $150 onsite in business hours, $150 remote and $225 onsite after hours, one-hour minimum.
- Pay-as-you-go fits offices that are small or simple, that have a capable person inside, or that want to try a new IT person before committing to anything.
- It stops making sense once your office depends on shared systems nobody is maintaining; at that point the hours you are not buying cost more than the ones you are.
- Even my managed plan is month-to-month with no long-term agreement, so no-contract does not have to mean no coverage.
- Having your admin passwords, internet provider details and a clear description of the problem ready turns a two-hour call into a one-hour call.
The short answer
Yes. I provide IT support for businesses in Dallas with no monthly contract, no minimum term and nothing to sign. You call when something breaks, I fix it remotely or come to your office, and you pay by the hour at published rates: $100 an hour remote and $150 an hour onsite during business hours, Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM Central; $150 remote and $225 onsite after hours, on weekends and on holidays. There is a one-hour minimum. That is the whole arrangement. Full details are on the hourly IT support and break/fix page.
I am Anthony Omini, the owner of Cross River Tech and the person you deal with, based in Dallas and working across the DFW metroplex onsite and anywhere in Texas remotely. Many managed service providers in Dallas will not take a client without a monthly agreement. I will, and I will also tell you honestly when pay-as-you-go is the wrong fit for your office, because there is a point where it costs more than a plan and covers less. The rest of this article is the pricing, the process, and that honest assessment.
What does pay-as-you-go IT support cost in Dallas?
My rates are published and do not change based on who is asking. Business hours are Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM Central. Everything outside that, including weekends and holidays, is after hours.
| When | Remote support | Onsite in Dallas–Fort Worth |
|---|---|---|
| Business hours | $100 per hour | $150 per hour |
| After hours, weekends, holidays | $150 per hour | $225 per hour |
A few things to know about how the billing works so nothing on the invoice is a surprise:
- One-hour minimum. A ten-minute fix is billed as one hour. After the first hour, work is billed by the hour.
- Remote first. Most problems can be fixed by connecting to your computer or network over the internet, which is the cheaper rate and the faster fix. I only come onsite when the problem needs hands on hardware, cabling or equipment.
- Onsite by appointment. Same-day visits are often possible across the metroplex, and I will say when they are not.
- Parts and software are separate. If you need a new drive, a switch or a license, I quote it at cost before buying anything.
- No retainer, no deposit. You pay for the hours after the work is done.
Across the Dallas market, business-hours hourly rates for small-business IT are commonly quoted somewhere around $100 to $200 an hour, and some companies add travel charges or a two-hour onsite minimum. Ask about both when you compare. The pricing page has everything I publish in one place.
What can I fix on an hourly basis?
Almost anything a small office runs on. A rough list of what hourly clients in Dallas call me about:
- Computers. Slow machines, Windows problems, failed updates, a laptop that will not start, replacing a drive or memory, setting up a new computer and moving someone's files and settings over.
- Networks. Internet down, Wi-Fi that drops, a firewall or switch that needs configuring or replacing, a printer that vanished from the network, a new desk that needs a network drop.
- Email and cloud. Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace problems: a mailbox that stopped syncing, a new employee to set up, a former employee to shut off, a domain or license issue.
- Software. Installing and troubleshooting your line-of-business applications, from case management to practice management to agency systems, alongside the vendor's support.
- Security scares. Someone clicked a link, a password may be out, an antivirus alert appeared. I isolate, clean up, reset and tell you what to change.
- Backups and recovery. A deleted folder, a failed backup job, a server that will not boot. Recovery is only possible if there is a backup, which is the sentence that moves most offices toward a plan.
- Small projects. A few new computers, an office reshuffle, a switch upgrade. Larger projects such as a move or a build-out get a written quote instead of open-ended hours.
What hourly support does not include is anything ongoing. I am not watching your network between calls, updates are not being applied unless you ask, and backups are not being checked. That is not a criticism of the arrangement; it is what pay-as-you-go means, and it is why the next two sections matter.
How does an hourly support call work?
There is no ticket portal and no account manager. Here is what happens from the moment something breaks:
- You call or email. (214) 612-7080 or [email protected]. You reach me, not a queue. If I am with another client, I call back.
- You describe the problem. Who is affected, what they see, when it started, what changed. Two minutes of this saves twenty minutes of diagnosis.
- I connect remotely. With your permission, I use a remote support tool to see the affected computer or reach the network. Most problems are solved from here at the remote rate.
- If it needs hands, I come out. Hardware, cabling, network equipment, a server that will not respond. I schedule the visit, often the same day, and the onsite rate applies from arrival.
- I tell you what I found and what I changed. In plain words, by email, so you have a record and so the next person, or the next version of you, does not have to guess.
- You get an invoice for the hours. Rounded to the hour, with the rate shown, and any parts listed at cost.
Because I am the same person every time, the second call starts where the first one left off. I already know your firewall model, your email setup and which printer is temperamental. That is the main practical difference between hourly support from a small, owner-led company and hourly support from a business that sends whoever is free.
When does pay-as-you-go IT support make sense?
Pay-as-you-go is the right choice more often than managed service providers like to admit. It fits when:
- Your office is small or simple. Two to six people, cloud email, laptops, no server, nothing shared but a printer and the Wi-Fi. There is not enough to maintain to justify a monthly fee, and a few hours a year keeps things running.
- Someone inside is capable. An office manager or a partner who is comfortable with computers handles the daily questions, and you want an experienced person to call for the things they cannot solve.
- You have a one-time need. New computers to set up, an office reshuffle, a migration to Microsoft 365, a security clean-up after an incident. Hourly or a fixed project quote is the natural fit; I cover the first of those in one-time IT help setting up new computers.
- You are between providers. Your previous IT company has gone quiet and you need someone now, without committing to the next long agreement while you decide.
- You want to try before you commit. Frankly, this is the best reason. Call me for a problem, see how the work goes and how I communicate, then decide whether a plan is worth it. Many of my managed clients started with one hourly call.
- Your business is seasonal or project-based. If the office is busy four months a year, paying for twelve months of coverage may not fit.
In all of these, what you are buying is an experienced person you can reach, without paying for the maintenance you do not need yet. That is a fair deal for both sides, and I am glad to work that way.
When does it stop making sense?
Here is the honest part. Pay-as-you-go stops being cheaper, and starts being risky, at the point where your office depends on shared systems that nobody is maintaining between calls. The signs are usually visible:
- You are calling more than once or twice a month. With a one-hour minimum, four short calls are four hours. At that rate an office of 8 to 10 people is spending close to what a plan would cost, and getting only the fixes, not the prevention.
- You have a server, or data you could not recreate. Client files, patient records, policy documents, drawings. If losing them would hurt, someone needs to be checking the backups every week, and that is not a call anyone makes.
- You have confidentiality or compliance duties. A law firm, a dental or medical practice or an insurance agency needs updates applied, accounts controlled and security monitored as a matter of routine, and a cyber-insurance application will ask about exactly that.
- The same problem keeps coming back. Recurring Wi-Fi drops or a printer that fails weekly usually mean something structural, and fixing it properly is cheaper than paying to fix it repeatedly.
- Nobody is applying updates. If the last time your computers were patched was the last time I was there, the gap between visits is where incidents happen.
When I see these, I say so. The alternative is not necessarily a long agreement. It might be a fixed-price project to fix the structural problem and set up backups properly, after which hourly is fine again. Or it might be a monthly plan. I go through the arithmetic for that decision in hourly versus monthly IT support, with my real rates, so you can run it yourself.
Does no contract have to mean no monthly plan?
No, and this is a distinction worth making, because "no contract" means two different things to the owners who ask me for it. Some mean they want to pay only when something breaks. Others mean they do not want to be locked into a long agreement, and would be happy with ongoing coverage if they could leave whenever they wanted.
If you are in the second group, my managed IT plan is month-to-month. You can cancel any time. There is no annual term, no automatic renewal window to miss, and no early termination fee. It is billed per user or per device, quoted after a short conversation about what you have, and it covers the things hourly support leaves out: operating system and application updates, unlimited remote support, onsite visits at no extra charge when remote cannot fix it, antivirus and email security, managed backup and disaster recovery, and management of your internet, router, firewall, switches, access points and printers.
So the real choice for a Dallas business is not "contract or no contract." It is "pay per incident, or pay per month with the freedom to stop." The first suits small, simple or occasional needs. The second suits any office that would rather not think about IT, without being trapped. I offer both, I do not push either, and the arithmetic in the sections above is how I decide which one to recommend. The comparison between month-to-month and annual terms generally is in month-to-month versus annual IT contracts.
What should I have ready when I call?
Hourly support is billed by the hour, so anything that shortens the hour saves you money. Here is what makes a call go quickly:
- A clear description. Who is affected, what the screen says, when it started, and what changed recently: a new device, an update, a power cut, a new employee.
- Admin access. The administrator password for the affected computer, and for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace if the problem is email or accounts. If nobody knows where these are, that is the first thing to fix.
- Your internet provider's details. Account number and support line. If the internet is down, the first call is often to them, and I can make it for you if I have the account information.
- Equipment basics. The make of your firewall or router, and where the network equipment lives. A photo of the rack or the closet is worth a lot.
- Your software vendor's support contact. For line-of-business applications, the fix sometimes involves the vendor, and having their contact saves a search.
- Someone available. A person at the affected computer who can click when I ask, or let me into the office if I am coming out.
If you are not sure about any of these, call anyway. Part of the first hour is usually spent finding this information, writing it down, and handing it to you so the next call is faster. That written record is yours, whether you ever call again or not.
To get started, contact me with a sentence about what is wrong, or call (214) 612-7080. No account to create and nothing to sign; if it is a remote fix during business hours, it is $100 for the first hour and you will know before I start whether it is likely to need more.
Questions people ask
Can I get IT support in Dallas without signing a monthly contract?
Yes. I provide hourly break/fix support for businesses in Dallas and across the DFW metroplex with no agreement, no minimum term and no retainer. You call when something breaks, I fix it remotely or onsite, and you pay by the hour at published rates with a one-hour minimum. Remote support is available around the clock at after-hours rates outside business hours, and onsite visits are by appointment, often the same day.
How much does pay-as-you-go IT support cost in Dallas?
My published rates are $100 an hour for remote support and $150 an hour onsite during business hours, Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM Central. After hours, on weekends and on holidays, the rates are $150 remote and $225 onsite. There is a one-hour minimum and work is billed by the hour. Parts and software are quoted at cost before I buy anything. Across the Dallas market, business-hours rates commonly run somewhere around $100 to $200 an hour.
Is pay-as-you-go IT support a good idea for a small business?
It is a good idea for offices that are small or simple, that have a capable person inside for daily questions, that have a one-time need such as new computers, or that want to try an IT person before committing. It stops being a good idea once the office depends on shared systems, has data it could not recreate, or has compliance duties, because nobody is maintaining anything between calls. I will tell you which side of that line you are on.
What is the difference between no-contract hourly support and a month-to-month plan?
Hourly support bills only for the hours you use, and nothing is maintained between calls. A month-to-month plan is a flat monthly fee that covers updates, unlimited remote support, onsite visits when remote cannot fix it, security, backups and network management, and you can cancel any time. Neither locks you into a long agreement. The first fits occasional needs; the second fits offices that want ongoing coverage without being trapped by a term.
Do you come onsite for hourly work, or is it remote only?
Both. I fix most problems remotely because it is faster and costs you the lower rate, but when a problem needs hands on hardware, cabling or network equipment, I come to your office anywhere in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex by appointment. Same-day visits are often possible and I will say when they are not. Onsite work is billed at the onsite hourly rate from arrival, and businesses elsewhere in Texas are supported remotely.
Can I switch from hourly support to a managed plan later?
Yes, and it is the most common path my clients take. Start hourly, see how the work goes and how often you actually need help, then move to the managed plan if the hours add up or you want the preventive work handled. The plan is month-to-month with no long-term agreement, so it is a small step rather than a commitment. If your office later gets smaller or simpler, you can go back to hourly just as easily.
Sources and further reading
Market price ranges in this article are my own observation of quotes in the Dallas market, not a published survey. Where I state a rule or a standard, the source is linked above.
